Nearly fifteen years ago, I wrote my senior project research paper about protest movements and attempts at revolution. I remember how painful it was, certainly, but I remember little else besides the general thesis: modern protest movements (and other attempts at revolution) fail more often than not because the people fighting the establishment for change are so divided amongst themselves--they cannot mount a sustained charge because their energies are diffused.
Modern people want what they want, exactly how they want, and they want it now. So the arguments become What Is The Best Way To Save The Whales & You're Not Doing It Right, instead of Whales Need To Be Saved.
Do you understand the difference?
Most people in education, at least those who are, say, conscious, think our contemporary system is badly broken. Some of us are working from within the system to break down walls and barriers to learning for the kids we have in front of us, right now, because they deserve the best we can do, given the circumstances. Some are outspoken outsiders, just as passionate, proposing potential solutions to the problems that plague us.
Here's the thing. We need both groups.
And the even more important thing is that these two groups HAVE GOT TO STOP FIGHTING EACH OTHER.
The children of Today can't wait for the revolution of tomorrow. And the children of tomorrow deserve better than what we are able to deliver today, given the current climate.
But nothing (Nothing!) is going to change about the educational Tower of Babel unless we start working together against the established structures instead of each other. A house divided cannot stand. We understand this cognitively, historically (at least until it's one of our pet positions that is being threatened). Let's understand it in our hearts. And then let's do something about it.
Modern people want what they want, exactly how they want, and they want it now. So the arguments become What Is The Best Way To Save The Whales & You're Not Doing It Right, instead of Whales Need To Be Saved.
Do you understand the difference?
Most people in education, at least those who are, say, conscious, think our contemporary system is badly broken. Some of us are working from within the system to break down walls and barriers to learning for the kids we have in front of us, right now, because they deserve the best we can do, given the circumstances. Some are outspoken outsiders, just as passionate, proposing potential solutions to the problems that plague us.
Here's the thing. We need both groups.
And the even more important thing is that these two groups HAVE GOT TO STOP FIGHTING EACH OTHER.
The children of Today can't wait for the revolution of tomorrow. And the children of tomorrow deserve better than what we are able to deliver today, given the current climate.
But nothing (Nothing!) is going to change about the educational Tower of Babel unless we start working together against the established structures instead of each other. A house divided cannot stand. We understand this cognitively, historically (at least until it's one of our pet positions that is being threatened). Let's understand it in our hearts. And then let's do something about it.
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