Schools, in my opinion, are just reflections of the communities in which they serve. I tell students all the time that in some ways, it is harder to go to school than to be an adult because as an adult, i can choose where I work, where I go, and the people in which I associate with on a daily basis. As a student, I have to go to school in the district in which I live. Which means I have to deal with people that i may not get along with, and have to do so until I graduate high school, or someone either drops out or moves!! This is a difference in today's school. We as a generation of "child raising" adults, have taken this concept of "You know, life is not always your cheerleader, and you will have to suck it up", and turned it into a disability or better yet, a choice. Our students are surrounded by a world in which they are drowning in information, some worthwhile, most is just trivial "water-cooler" talk, and yet they see conflict and dealing with problems as choices.
A few generations back, Americans volunteered to fight in a war because the country needed them. They understood what the issues, what the costs of action and no-action were, and made the choice. Today, are schools used for what they were intended to do? Are we preparing a generation for fulfilling lives, citizenry, and gainful employment, or are we now the puppets of every whim and social experiment coming down the pike? From this perspective, I do wonder if maybe the "good old days" were truly the good old days?
A few generations back, Americans volunteered to fight in a war because the country needed them. They understood what the issues, what the costs of action and no-action were, and made the choice. Today, are schools used for what they were intended to do? Are we preparing a generation for fulfilling lives, citizenry, and gainful employment, or are we now the puppets of every whim and social experiment coming down the pike? From this perspective, I do wonder if maybe the "good old days" were truly the good old days?
How can we prepare student's for the 21st century when we as educators are bound (literally and figuratively) to one philosophy and cannot use resources unless they are "blessed" by the holy mother of BCS? I know what my student's need to succeed and what they need to do in order to meet the NCSCOS for the last time. I know what is working and what is not? Why am I forced to use something I know will not work and will continue to do nothing but frustrated the lower end of the spectrum or bore the upper end?
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