| Resolution for 2009: Fix the Schools
by
Daniel J. Dyman, Ed.D.
At the end of a school year, student pranks are customary. At the closing faculty luncheon marking the end of one school year, after describing a not too malicious student caper the principal said to the staff, “That is why they need us.”
Unfortunately, he got it wrong. We desperately need them to be all that they can be: truly, Good Citizens of Earth.
Obviously, “No Child Left Behind” is a better slogan than a success most likely because it is punitive rather than rewarding. The only focus has been to succeed on achievement tests that may well be “fudged” enabling students to appear academically successful, measuring up to somewhat questionable standards.
In a few notable cases, “czars” of educational reform have been brought in but at best their effort has been managerial focused on moving equipment, closing schools, and the weeding and sorting of administrators as well as faculty confirming that certification is not a guarantee of ability. Many capable individuals are blocked out of opportunity because of the falls-short stumbling block, licensure.
When will we get it?
Fixing schools does not begin with the implementation of pre-school programs.
If they are to be effective, schools need to be re-configured from top down and those who prepare teachers need to be themselves teachers. Higher education would do well to fix itself or get out of the way.
We do not need a principal who shouts commands to students, “Get on the bus. It leaves in five minutes.” And, we do not need a principal who handles public relations, supervises the maintenance of facilities, or is involved in the construction of athletic accommodations. We need a master teacher who can oversee the totality of effective teaching that translates into efficient learning. We need someone who is immediately responsible for the implementation of internal accountability measures, the development of instructional systems, the design of the various curricula including perhaps textbook-like provided materials.
Furthermore, the demands upon students need to be realistic. Imagine that teenagers may be expected to work harder than their parents: having to get up before day break, yawning on the way to school, sitting receptively on hard chairs, giving relentless attention at an assigned desk, having first to obtain permission for a “potty break,” and dealing with after school assignments that consume time that could be well spent in mental regeneration. Indeed, the next school day will be as exhausting as the previous one and the one before that.
We tend to have justification for poor discretionary judgement. Give them a break. How about some “R & R” opportunities during the school day. How about the opportunity to be teenagers before they have to become adults. The chastisement of a father to a son whose two year old son was exploring, “If today you expect him to behave as a man, when will he be a child?”
In addition, would it be good to have in place a well-conceived motivation and encouragement program such as Think and Achieve specifically designed to promote positive and receptive dispositions that are in reality cooperative in a learning environment.
We may well need teachers who make the leadership “edgy” who want to do today what should have been done yesterday. We do need teachers who rather than impose fear as a classroom underlayment focus upon helping each student learn as they can, bolstering for each individual the opportunity for success.
Recall, we need them well prepared in every aspect of the global marketplace.
Dyman Associates
27916 Crestview Drive
Elkhart, IN 46517
574.295.9098
http://www.DymanAssociates.com
Creation date : 01/01/2009 @ 17:41
Last update : 01/01/2009 @ 17:41
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