| We the Experts on Schools
by
Daniel J. Dyman, Ed.D.
Some by good fortune have been entrusted with the great responsibility of public trust to oversee the education of our children. That should seem knee buckling.
However, driven by the given mandate, perhaps believing to have been sent forth on a mission, these select few reasonably assume an assortment of commitments.
First, they take for granted the merits of the fabricated proposition that no child be left behind.
In addition, these chosen may also presume that schools need fixing dependent upon dubious proficiency-based standards that are linked to flawed testing and an auspicious structure of accountability intended to upgrade and resolve all issues conceived as shortcomings.
In effect, the sum of these notions may well force the in-front-of-the-class educators to be relentless in the pursuit of the mundane and trivial that are perceived to meet the minimal mark of competence, without a doubt, a travesty.
However incompetent, compelled by some imperious emotional platform perhaps to do some significant good or even to serve out a contrived vendetta, those chosen elect generally lacking in what ought to be prerequisite academic know-how are at best limited to oversee only the physical setting and its innocuous parameters. This may include actions on job description changes, budget allocations, and bus service.
With misconceptions coupled with only marginal notions about the ideal academic environment some are more concerned with how the children will be disciplined for wrong doing rather than how they will take on purposeful self-responsibility. This exemplary board member had incorrectly presumed that discipline is a procedural response for correcting what may be judged as inappropriate behavior. Properly, enforced behavioral management is that of rewards and punishments. Discipline is a disposition dwelling within the mindset of an individual.
In another instance, one board member is known to have applauded a principal for instilling fear into non-compliant students. At best the effect is marginal. These students are well acquainted with fear and deal with it as they see it for whatever it may be worth. On the contrary, when asked what they expected in a teacher, all but one in a group of nineteen students explicitly responded, “I want a teacher that I can trust.” Perhaps the noble attribute, trust, ought to be inspired and cultivated. Certainly, it would be better than the commonly offered even kindhearted reprimand or censure intended to correct deviance in any form.
Squelching the mind and presuming its needs may be seriously detrimental. Surely, encouragement is more important than reproach even if deemed appropriate. The mind should be properly prepared, made ready and made supple, for it to conceive ideas that can grow into awesomely enriched perspectives. Enable the mind. It will respond to trust.
Adopting the adage, “When the mind is ready a teacher appears” seems to be a more fruitful course for preparedness in a global marketplace where “Good Citizens of Earth” may prevail.
Questionably, one leader in academia has pleaded as determined by some correlation study that students who are enrolled in a high school senior course of mathematics will more likely choose advancement to a college education and there will supposedly fare better in their experience. Furthermore, this academic coryphaeus generalized that mathematics will better equip students with “habits of the mind” as well as “problem solving skills.” Consider that these coveted mental qualities may be derived as well from countless other sources that now unfortunately may be discounted by some such statistical founded bias. It is possible that a course in sewing, auto mechanics, or biology will do as much.
The mind is a marvelous entity but before the development of its attributes can be assigned to a single path of study consider that ideally its development should be in accord with its natural inclinations. Forced into a compartment where “one size fits all” may be counterproductive.
Truly, the “mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Unfounded assertions may well stifle the genius within. Individuals are needed who can think ahead, in anticipation, and can make associations, perceiving relationships and connections, as well as synthesize and evaluate.
Not always does the cream rise to the top. Many representing the needs of education are unqualified to make decisions concerning the proper activities of teaching and learning. These are clueless about the needs and requirements yet they persist in behalf of all concerned, community, teachers, and students.
They need to understand that the quality of an educational system is not in the curriculum or in the variously selected textbooks. It is in the hearts of those whose actions enable and allow for participation and engagement within the system.
Know that schools cannot be improved by changing the length of school day or even by changing the calendar. The requirements are deeper and far more reaching. Tinkering should not be an option. If education is broken, fix it. If needed turn it inside and out or even upside down. Do what is meaningful.
Those who oversee the schools need to understand that those enrolled need care givers, individuals with proper dispositions who are interested in achieving positive outcomes not bullies who attempt to set regulations and impose rules who seek to instill trepidation, who by their actions create a disposition of resistance. Without regard, an established negative mindset is likely to be irrevocable impacting all areas of academic pursuit. These contrary actions little by little chipping away bit by bit often if not frequently reinforced may well kill the spirit of curiosity, the very quality needed for learning.
Get the involved individuals involved. Interview the recipients of any edicts of reform. Hear their story. Understand their point of view. Just maybe their combined input when synthesized can steer a better course for actions.
Regularly, small groups of students as well as teachers should be gathered. The approach must be collaborative such that authentic sincerity is obvious. Know that a meeting that is perceived as genuine will elicit a response that is equally genuine. Inquire about every element of education the entire scope of an academic environment and all of the intricacies of teaching and learning. Continuously upgrade every element, every nuance of education. Then, hold the gains.
1/28/09
Dyman Associates
27916 Crestview Drive
Elkhart, IN 46517
574.295.9098
http://www.DymanAssociates.com
Creation date : 30/01/2009 @ 19:07
Last update : 30/01/2009 @ 19:07
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