The Handlebar Club Forum

PM on #coastingschools: we’ve got to start demanding excellence and confronting complacency

Here is the link to the article.

http://bit.ly/yw5O2P

As a public school teacher here in the states, I am always interested in how other countries do their education and decided that the Handle Bar was the best place to discuss, if you are so inclined.

What I found VERY interesting in the article is this quote, "Every teacher, every head and every school should be aiming for excellence – no lower." We have a similar trend here in the colonies, but it leaves out a VERY important part.... the student. The building, the people who work in that building can do nothing if the people being taught are not part of the solution.

What do ya'll think, is it enough to just make sure the teachers and heads are aiming high?



Thanks!

Yes I think so - where else should they aim?

I am concerned that many western governments look upon education simply as means of turning individuals into into square pegs that fit neatly into the square holes that their capitalist system demands.

Speaking personally my wife and I became increasingly frustrated with our current local school system, both public and private, that we chose to remove our son from it and educate him ourselves.

This is an interesting and complex issue. Obviously, teachers should strive to be the best they can be. A boring and unmotivated teacher produces unruly and unmotivated students. However, not even the best teacher will be able to motivate students with a distressing private life - who cares about school when life sucks? In such case, there are others better suited than teachers to motivate kids to become more positive and hence love to learn... family, friends, clubs, social workers, etc.

With regard to schools churning out drones, I must say I sadly agree. I always did very well in school and hated it the whole time. It bored the hell out of me. Maybe I was in the wrong place? Not that I am complaining. I love my life & especially my moustache!

All that being said, I do think that politicians like to use teachers as a scapegoat and often legislate policies that result in more work for teachers with few tangible results.

Again, I am a weird bird, but I am openly teaching in a public school science classroom for teens to strive for free thinking. With the exception of a handful (literally 6), My current clientele are over age (at least one year for middle school, my students are aged 13 to 16) and socioeconomically at or below the poverty level from a disparaged part of the city (we bring them here because the building they were in was "bad"). They have parents who do not seem to have a goal for their children's success in school and are dependent upon our government for the majority of their income. I deliver technology rich, engaging lessons designed (on purpose) to get the students to engage that muscle between their ears to come up with unique and thoughtful positions on a myriad of topics like the Big Bang, the Theory of Relativity and coming soon, Evolution without overly putting forth what my position on anything is. The response to this is overwhelmingly apathetic and non-existent. Instead of hearing discussions on these topics, the majority of students would rather practice insulting each other and engaging in fart and penis jokes (which sometimes are REALLY funny). When contacted about improper comportment in the classroom, I have found that the apples do not fall far from the trees (really, Kellum, a Newtonian pun).

To stay somewhat on topic, when the student fails to perform at the level determined as "on grade level," it is my fault. In this state, half of my salary is based on those student's performance... I look at it like this. I cannot form a helmet of steel out of a mound of clay.

If I ever win the lottery (which I have done many times in Nigeria, I have been told), I am opening a school for orphans!

Thanks for letting me vent a bit! The stress kills the stache!

Kids need to understand that although they have had a crummy situation so far and may feel like there is no hope, they have to make effort themselves to break out of that cycle. The great plague of humanity is seeing others as both the problem and the solution and themselves as victims, helpless and powerless. If they look at those who have become successful in life, even risen out of poverty and disadvantage, they will see that it is those who have NOT been apathetic, played helpless victim or dwelt on the "unfairness" of life or the abuses of others. I would think that an essential course of study in such a school would be to understand this and how people have motivated themselves to succeed and rise out of their situations. Anyone who gives up in the face of a challenging world is their own enemy.

I am of the opinion that with the exception of the mentally deficient, the poor are poor because of choices they make. Actually, let me rephrase that. Poor is a condition, broke is a state of mind... The poor are broke because of the choices they make.

Here's a bit from an article I'm writing for a new blog of mine on higher consciousness: "I believe that the poor are poor because of passivity to conditioning by an environment. As children we are sponges and easily imitate those around us. It's too rare they have the spirit to see and go beyond that and take action to make something of their lives. We all have experiences that shape us if we let them. I have things I am still unlearning from my youth that have hindered my success. I have to look at myself and define myself contrary to the limitations I took on from the input of others and my exposure. Children - anyone - too easily takes on assumptions about the world and themselves. You have to dare to go beyond that which doesn't serve your hearts vision for your life. Yes, they make choices, but if a choice is made in cooperation with a limiting assumption/observation and done without consciousness and initiative, an independent, self-defining mind then they are just conforming, not choosing. Real choices always make us better off. Submission to society, to the past and even the present is death to the self. Nobody really wants to choose a lesser life, therefore I believe such is not a choice but conformity. Yet it is all experience, and who knows where it will take them. Some say it's karma, or life lessons, or a way to be positioned in the right place so as to someday be of service to others. Ultimately, we cannot judge. Only love, compassion and patience make a difference. It's how we view the world that matters, not how the world is that we view, that is the essential first step in transformation."

I like it.... more later, but I like it! A lot.

Perhaps those of you that are parents and educators will be interest in this and help with a paradigm shift. The bit on ADHD caught my attention - no pun intended.

I DID see this. Fascinating. Sadly, with me teaching Drop out Prevention, I am more teaching to make factory workers and less teaching to make independent thinkers.

My Gram was a teacher (1930s-1950s). She used to say "Everyone can learn to read and write but some kids are just plain stupid." But she made sure they had the basics and spent extra time with kids who were struggling (what would now be diagnosed dyslexic or learning disabled but probably not then). Later she worked in city and state welfare but had no patience for those who didn't want to work!
I think it's a mistake to think that schools are going to create the next Einstein (did he even graduate?). Not enough of the basics are being taught and too much time is spent on junk. I loved history but had to learn most of it on my own from books I searched out and I suspect the same is true of others who might take a shine to math or science or literature. The students have to push to learn and want to learn. If they don't try, all the teaching in the world can't learn them anything.
I don't know. To quote Monty Python, "Alright, I did it but it's not my fault. It's society's." "Okay, arrest society!" (That was from the murdered bishop skit from one of the live shows but on tape.)
AndyB.