T-School stands for Traditional Schooling. Traditional Public Schooling has dominated and occupied the minds of American students for over 150 years. It has been dubbed a ‘necessary evil’. Education must be preserved for power, no matter the president, political party or or a pandemic.
Compulsory education commandeers kids forcibly and forebodingly. Obligatory ‘learning’ has made us sick, tired, and crazy by design. We are:
One Nation Under Education (#Copyright)
Block 1
The Purpose of Education
“Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd, but
Please tell me who I am” Supertramp, The Logical Song
Scroll through any schools webpage and you will find a ubiquitous “mission statement” posted somewhat prominently as a top or bottom page quote. Ask most any person in that school if they know the mission statement verbatim or at least grasp the crux of its promise, and unless you helped generate it or memorized it due to circumstance, I doubt it. But I can tell you the basic 21st Century gist. It goes something like this: Working collaboratively to ensure every student achieves success academically, socially, and emotionally. Or, Empowering and inspiring all students to excel as life long learners. Or, A high achieving multicultural community for learning. Or, facilitating a safe learning environment; a progressive global leader in education, providing a dynamic and inspiring learning experience where all students graduate ready for success (actual school mission statements). Um, What?! What exactly does that mean? I know it sounds absurd, but please tell me, what is the Purpose of education?
Seems like a good question. What is educations primary role? Is it to provide rigorous academic instruction? Is it to encourage good citizenship? What about a skill or a career-ready workforce? Funny, in nearly three decades of teaching I don’t remember a staff development activity that addressed this ‘elementary’ question. And I think I know why. It’s incredibly contentious.
An example of this can be expressed by insinuating that schools are patterned after factories. “Industrial era schools” or “Factory model schools” are terms used to describe both the function and physical structure of schools since the Industrial Revolution. Characteristics include “top-down management, outcomes designed to meet societal needs, age based classrooms, efficiency and a focus on producing results.” “The American education model was copied from the 18th-century Prussian model designed to create docile subjects and factory workers.” Brooks, David NYT.
Without going further into the history of education it is important to note that the structure and architecture of classrooms are still modeled after the “cells and bells” framework of the early 20th century design. 800-900 feet, seating approximately 28-35 students about the same age. “Portables” or “temps” were introduced later for the overcrowding of schools after the baby boom. Source: Factory Model Schools.
Politics have differed over time in regards to education but for the most part, not really. Conservative or Liberal, the cells and bells system is rooted. And rooted deeply. Top-down management dictates overarching curriculum which most often conflicts with bottoms-up common sense. Thus educators are caught into a constant struggle into trying to help the ‘whole child’ (between 30-150 lil darlins’) while also catering to dogmatic standardized testing and data collecting.
Why change? This system is working well for top down- big business. If the purpose of education is to create docile subjects and corporate workers, well done indeed. Keep kids tired, apathetic, bored, busy with non-essential tedious work for elongated hours in the hopes of being ‘successful’ (whatever that means). Use fear to drive conformity, complacency and confusion. Allow banks and other big establishments to prey on weakness and make a profit from pain (examples to follow). Top down motto remains- profits over people. Always. Data drives dollars. Mission statement: Education is Big Business.
So when I ask myself what is the purpose of education, I have a real problem of cognitive dissonance.
On the one hand I emphatically believe knowledge is empowering. There is no better feeling than to authentically, intrinsically learn something. Well, one better feeling is witnessing individual students making connections for themselves.
On the other hand, I feel pressure to administer standardized tests, collect data, follow mechanized-generated lesson objectives, attend countless questionable agenda-driven and capricious meetings. There is no doubt as to who and what are driving learners nation wide.
Assignment (or not): Have a conversation with someone about the purpose of education. Don’t go to the person you know will agree with you, and don’t go antagonize someone just because you want to rile up a relative. Be open to curiosity. We talk a lot about education and schools but are we saying much? What do you think the real purpose of education is? Be careful. Education effects all of society and all of society affects education; so emotions and opinions run high for those who don’t really have an answer. Do you?
“I said, watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical
Liberal, oh fanatical, criminal
Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're acceptable
Respectable, oh presentable, a vegetable”- Supertramp, The Logical Song
Block 2
Work Ethics
“And I try, oh my God, do I try
I try all the time in this institution” 4 Non Blondes, What’s Up
Education instills “positive” work ethics into students. “Pull up the boot straps and git-r-done”, right? But for whom? If the purpose of education is to create conformity (among other things), then the work ethics must support top-down management values. Oh, kids will work very hard for an authority figure. Be obedient, but don’t question why. We are implicitly teaching kids to conform and explicitly telling them to be individuals. You are considered a “good” student if you obey and just do the work.
If you don’t obey you are lazy according to management. And what is lazy? Dull, indifferent, lethargic, sleepy, tired, weary. Perfect. If students are complacent, dull, indifferent, lethargic, sleepy, tired, weary, and fearful they make for very obedient and complicit workers. Especially when under duress, fear of retribution and punishment fosters intimidation through conformity. Simple psychology and it works.
Business dictionary.com defines Work Ethics as “a belief that hard work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities.”
“Moral, inherent, virtue.” Language to reinforce work ethics. Guilt and shame kids into working. What is moral, inherent or virtuous about kids spending days taking some 112 nationally mandated tests under the No Child Left Behind Act 2002? Washington Post. And what about all those classes you took in high school? How many do you remember?
Businesses warn of “negative” work ethics. “Negative work ethics is a behavior of a single individual or a group that has led to a systematic lack of productivity, reliability, accountability and a growing sphere of unprofessional/unhealthy relationships.” Chron Agreed. But why? Let’s flip this to school. Lack of productivity. Students are not motivated to take more tests. Do you blame them? Lack of reliability. The pressure for high stakes testing creates an atmosphere of cheating. Make sense to me. Blame the kids and not look at the bigger picture of why would cheat in the first place. Accountability. Right! Who is held accountable for backwards work ethics? Businesses who profit off the backs of our kids, or kids?
Challenging Work Ethics- The French Philosopher André Gorz (1923–2007) wrote:
"The work ethic has become obsolete. It is no longer true that producing more means working more, or that producing more will lead to a better way of life. The connection between more and better has been broken; our needs for many products and services are already more than adequately met, and many of our as-yet-unsatisfied needs will be met not by producing more, but by producing differently, producing other things, or even producing less. This is especially true as regards our needs for air, water, space, silence, beauty, time and human contact.”
I just thought about the Dwarf Work song from Snow White:
“We dig up diamonds by the score
A thousand rubies, sometimes more
But we don't know what we dig 'em for
We dig dig dig a-dig dig”
Sometimes that’s how I feel in school. We test em test em every day; fill in bubbles no more play; We make them rich if we obey… test test test a- test cliche.
Anyway, the ‘rigor’ of work ethics is demeaning and harmful to kids. And yet we still continue to support this system by simply going along with it and waiting for someone else to fix it.
What are your work ethics? Are they yours? Are you sure?
When I hear teachers complain and almost boast about staying at school past hours or grading at night and weekends, I get the sense it sounds like honor. It is inferred that the more work you do the better. I have come to believe this to be a falsehood propagated by the business model to always look and be busy.
Work ethics are important to be sure. My work ethics are just higher when I know the work I do is actually benefitting myself and others and not a ruse for profiteering.
"25 (52) years and my life is still Tryn’ to get up that great big hill of hope for a destination.” 4 Non Blondes
The Pledge of Allegiance
Once, my youngest child came home from first grade declaring: “I just love that Richard Sands!!” Who? I had no idea what they were talking about until I volunteered at school and watched a class of six year olds stand at a tv monitor with a patriotic waving flag reciting the pledge of allegiance. When the murmurs got to the part of “for which it stands” I watched my child proudly declare loyalty for ‘that Richard Sands’. Cute story, questionable practices.
Written by a Socialist for a children’s magazine, the pledge was altered, legally enforced and repeatedly changed by Congress due to Cold War practices. Adopted and inscribed for education, even the author said the pledge was “a bunch of ideas rather than concrete names . . . this pledge would seem far better adapted to educated adults than to children.” Ya think?
Yet the pledge has been a staple for most schools nation wide. Notably wealthier schools. Encouraged to recite “for liberty and justice for all” is far more plausible for those in power. So what are we “pledging” our “allegiance” to exactly? A flag? The notion of liberty and justice? Indivisible? Under god? These are deep philosophical topics that ought to be taken seriously and discussed for understanding before ritual. Nevertheless, anesthetized and preoccupied students complacently mouth the words almost every day with no such comprehension.
So it begs the question, what is the purpose of the pledge? Interesting parody by The Whitest Kids U’ Know:
Block 3
WMD’s
Weapons of Mass Distraction
Oompa loompa doom-petty doo, I’ve got a massive riddle for you. Oompa loompa doom-petty dee, if you are wise you will listen to thee; what do you get when you gaze at the screens, weapons of mind like a war machine. What do you do when you’r forcibly drugged, I say you go un-plugged.
If you’re not greedy you will go far. So says the Willy Wonka song. Many teachers are instructed to take phones away. I get that. We are told “screens are bad for kids”. Ok. So far so good. Curiously, I walked into my classroom one morning and a (brand name) “Numbered Classroom Sundries Pocket Chart for Cell Phones Holder Wall Hanging Organizer (36 Pockets Blue).” was mounted to my wall. No notice, no asking, It’s not my school after all. Not my property. We were instructed to enforce mandatory removal of phones from kids with an organized system of pockets. It went against my philosophy because I want to teach kids to use phones, silly notion. Seniors in high school.
I didn’t get it. Until- Mandatory chrome books were issued. All students were commanded to get a free laptop. You must have one issued, you will be tracked if you don’t register your free laptop, and you will pay if you lose it. Ah, Competition. Take away the apple and give them a pair. A pair of screens to contend with. Schools have been a battle ground for technology since as long as I can remember a computer.
Google search chrome. You will get ads, obviously. Ads that look like a news source, sound like a threat. “A laptop is a necessity during the current pandemic and choosing between a MacBook and Chromebook can help in the search for the perfect laptop.” The review ended with a recommendation leaning toward a chrome book , but if you have the money apple is the “right decision for them”. “Laptops from Apple and Google are both very well made and offer high-performance, so either way you won't be disappointed.” Right. Schools have been a final -frontier battle field of the apples/ windows war for decades. One year we were trained for macs, the next year was an overhaul of windows, back and forth, fighting for control of the classroom. But the casualties are the students. Used by big tech to win the war of their minds. Weapons of mass distraction for kids. Data collecting and a ‘cradle to grave’ motto for the business model types (bm’s). Personalized ads for the rest of their life. The younger the better to devour you with.
“Free” chrome books sounds inviting, heroic, having a savior like quality. Oh, thank you for saving our schools. The reality is the sinister ways companies get kids to do their marketing for them. Social media apps, geofilters, product reviews, hashtag campaigns. (Mediassmarts) All designed to viciously ensure profits… from children. (How Google Took Over the Classroom NYT)
Concerned groups haves solicited Congress, the media, and the American Psychological Association (all businesses) that they “undertake efforts to help children” who are too young to comprehend the carnivorous cancerous corruption of corporations. Distractions that prevent attention to anything else.
Psychological warfare. Companies, sorry the media, will provide plenty of shameful articles blaming you, “how you need to limit your kids’ screen time.” Shame you and your kids into feeling bad when it’s the businesses that are force feeding screens to teens, and tots.
Ooompa loom-pa doopad-ee- da, if you are wise then you will go fa-r; ooopa loom-pa doopa-dee dum, if you are not than you will be crumbs.
Block 4
De-Grade-ing
Milk Money
This is about school grades, not milk. Although ‘milk money’ has an urban dictionary flair, and we are not going there.
De-to do the opposite of; to remove.
Grade- Value, worth degrade = to remove your worth.
The word ‘Grade’ is a 16th Century French word of origin, which meant to take a step or climb toward something greater. Simply put, a “degree of measurement”. Climbing a ladder to reach something higher through stages, for example, but the meaning has changed.
From its re-inception, the word ‘grade’ has de-evolved into de-grading the individual.
Every student starts their academic year with a 100%. A milky “A” to start. It seems fresh and hopeful at first, but starting at 100% means every student has no place else to go but down! Doomed to deteriorate from day one.
While the Industrial Revolution was taking form, the word grade went from 16th Century ladder analogies to a "class of things having the same quality or value; a "division of school curriculum" , "letter-mark indicating assessment of a student's work" is from 1886. Grade A "top quality, fit for human consumption" (originally of milk) is from a U.S. system instituted in 1912. To figuratively make the grade "be successful" is from 1912; early examples do not make clear whether the literal grade in mind was one of elevation, quality, or scholarship. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=grade
Milk? American industry began using the term ‘Grade A’ to define milk as ‘top quality, fit for human consumption?' Ah! So the soul-crushing blood-letting notion of grades which seemed fit for human ‘consumption’ such as in “milk” is the foundation for our education systems standards? Great! Government subsidized dairy policies have been linguistically transformed into institutionalized subjugation of the youth. Check.
So, who is driving this milk truck? Drunk Milkmen? Dead Milkmen? Expired, curdled sour relics of past pasteurization. Grades and milk, milk and grades. Flash-crash grades. Grades of 4, grades no more. Referencing a Scatterbrain song:
“Drunken milkmen driving drunk,
Swerves on the curves.
Chevrolet heads his way...
A flash - A crash!
Milk and blood, blood and milk
Family of four, family no more.
Drunken milkmen driving drunk.” Milk money. Meow, thats another milk market symposium.
Block 5
Math and Science
“Don”t know much about algebra, but I know kids have stamina. Don’t know much about a science book, or all the math and science that we took. But I do know one and one is two, and I know that if you love me too, what a wonderful world this would be.” Sorry Sam
“The king is dead, long live the king!” Math and science is dead, long live math and science!
The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) was signed into law in 1957. It was a reaction to the US falling behind scientists in the Soviet Union. You know, Sputnik and all that. Billions of dollars were funneled into science and math programs. And bonus- points- it was also the aftermath of McCarthyism so recipients of government funds were required to complete and sign a form of allegiance that they would “not try to overthrow the US government.” Suspicious educators put two and two together and tried to protest. There was also a shortage of mathematicians in the United States. “European refugees” remained an “important resource”, to the government politicians knew it had to “drastically increase its domestic supply”. The National Defense Student Loan program was designed to provide learners with “specific defense oriented personnel.” NDEA- A war machine. Let’s not forget about segregated schools, and stories about black women scientists, for example, who don’t get recognition until businesses can profit off those stories. Anyway…
Math and science are the most honest and truthful languages in existence. Universal truths. They are as close to Truth as we humans can possibly get.
However, we teach kids Algebra and how to have the stamina to endure abstract mathematical concepts because of cold war politics and big business. What we don’t teach kids is how to budget, practical finances, the dangers of credit cards and student loans. (I’m know many teacher do, but it is not in national curriculum.) And that’s the point! Distractions from truths. Curious scientists get bogged down in high school tests and mandatory, complicated homework assignments. Curiosity gets curtailed. And it’s bad for all. Many gifted math and science students get bored waiting for a teacher who is helping 25 other students in class who don’t get it.
We take miraculous conceptions of math and science and reduce them into hurried rigorous math and science ‘standards.’ I know plenty of students who went on to be scientists and math-a- magicians and most will likely say two things- they got excited about those subjects because of a teacher, and high school math and science classes could have been better if there were less requirements, fewer students more independent learning.
Math and science is dead and we have killed it.
Block 6
English
'Cause baby, there ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough,
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you, kids’
Ain’t no Mountain High Enough, is a song written by Motown artists Ashford and Simpson. And I was thinking, What if they wrote that in an english class? Ain’t ain’t a word, I was told. Interesting. Who makes up these rules? That song lifts me up, motivates me and I can’t help but sing along. And I can’t help but wonder how language impacts our psyche. Just thing about the definitions of just two words- black and white. One is “free from moral impurity” the other is “sad, gloomy; characterized by hostility or angry discontent.” Wanna guess which is which?
There are many examples of how language and content controls the masses in education. I’ve picked one example.
Lord of the Flies. A “classic book” that sold millions of copies and became required reading for many American English classes starting in the 1960’s. It’s about a group of boys stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves. Themes revolve around groupthink, individuality, morality, logic and emotion. It was written by Sir William Golding in 1954 and made into a film in 1963. The novel is a cautionary tale about what happens to un-micromanaged kids. It ends badly. Rejected many times and re-written with help from anonymous figures, William’s works were mass produced by the British government and then Americanized. Will was knighted and awarded praise for his prose. Meanwhile, millions of kids are required to read this anti-psychological farce. There is a true story about six boys stranded on an Island, Ata, in the Pacific for over a year. Dubbed “The boys of Ata” They went fishing to avoid the terrible school lunch food and were stranded on an abandoned island. The real story is antithetical and worth a read. Ata Boys.
“The kids agreed to work in teams of two, drawing up a strict roster for garden, kitchen and guard duty. Sometimes they quarrelled, but whenever that happened they solved it by imposing a time-out. Their days began and ended with song and prayer. Kolo fashioned a makeshift guitar from a piece of driftwood,….” the story goes on and they became life long friends. What a different lesson!
“While the boys of ‘Ata have been consigned to obscurity, Golding’s book is still widely read. Media historians even credit him as being the unwitting originator of one of the most popular entertainment genres on television today: reality TV. “I read and reread Lord of the Flies ,” divulged the creator of hit series Survivor in an interview.It’s time we told a different kind of story. The real Lord of the Flies is a tale of friendship and loyalty; one that illustrates how much stronger we are if we can lean on each other. After my wife took Peter’s picture (see article), he turned to a cabinet and rummaged around for a bit, then drew out a heavy stack of papers that he laid in my hands. His memoirs, he explained, written for his children and grandchildren. I looked down at the first page. “Life has taught me a great deal,” it began, “including the lesson that you should always look for what is good and positive in people.” Rutger Bergman.
The moral of the story is- he who can not command himself will be commanded. And the commanders don’t want a self-propelling wheel.
Words, stories, books and English classes are a necessity to manipulate minds, but hopefully not the hearts, of kids.
Block 7
Social Studies
“The key to domination is through education.” Think about it. Indigenous peoples, women, slaves… Imperialism. Empires must command social control in order to maintain its empire. The most effective way is through education and the lack there of. Why would we think it could be any other way? America has been historically powerful, AND free thinkers? Think again.
Civics- look at the actions. “no, you can’t go part time, no, you must stick to our curriculum, stand up, say this, don’t say that.” Now go back into your room and teach about how much freedom we have.
Economics- Speaking of freedom, how many people are required to take economics, and how many people are in debt from school loans? Car and mortgage payments? Credit cards? Tied to a job out of necessity while the rich get richer right in front of us. Who controls that curriculum I wonder…
American History- is a battle ground. States, BM’s will do whatever it takes to re-write history. We still have segregated schools. Oh, we may teach Plessy v. Ferguson in schools- the separate but equal Supreme Court ruling from 1896. Teaching it gives us the illusion is must be so. Schools are NOT equal. Why argue about theories, when the history is right in front of us.
World History- we don’t really teach it. World history teams spend most time on writing tests for a national curriculum thus dominates critical thinking among teachers. Discouraged from going off topic- that’s my experience anyway- teachers are bogged down with time wasting standardized tests and “data”.
I’ve had students deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq and they had no knowledge as to why they really went. Some went because they were poor, some didn’t want to go to college but didn’t know what else to do. I support any decision as long as its informed.
All other “electives”
Music, Art, Health, Shop, Cooking, Humanities, Language… (did I miss any?) Skill based classes have nearly been erased. Classes at the heart and soul of many human beings get cut, underfunded and minimized- disfigured and demeaned in this institution. Deliberately. Psychology? Oh, it’s used all right, but not like you think. Philosophy? A direct threat to the Business Model structure. Pay attention to topics that get made fun of. There is a reason for it.
The College Board
is one big BM. Business Model- types, for sure. Wake up and smell the potty! Ew. This heinous BM, is unstoppable. Yea, I “bought” into it too. AP classes- make money from 1. having strategically placed “news” articles in magazines and newspapers dating back to the 1980’s instilling fear into unknowing readers that AP classes are for the elite- buy your education. 2. Textbook companies, testing books. 3. Colleges. 4. Standardized tests 5. ACT 6. All the “AP and testing resources” sold at more BM stores. They are a Billion dollar “non-profit” entity that has helped to take over schools.
“In addition to managing assessments for which it charges fees, the College Board provides resources, tools, and services to students, parents, colleges and universities in the areas of college planning, recruitment and admissions, financial aid, and retention..”
Of course they do. It’s a huge racket! They have your undivided attention. Ads have fill schools with College Board paraphernalia and have the teachers and counselors do the work. Brilliant! They remain tax free, while imposing fees upon fees upon fees. Revenues are in the Billions! Partnerships with other BM’s created an oligopoly- a word you can buy in many AP study resources, to memorize, pass a test and not realize you are the victim of said oligopoly. High- pressure tests, hurried curriculum to get into a college to accumulate more debt… which goes back to the college board.
I think the College Board is like Britain taking over India. Imperialism. First step? Take over education. Teach English, Politics, Laws, and rules that benefit England, while enslaving India’s peoples. Next-enforce strict laws regulating policies that hurt India, keeps Britain in power. Have “them” make the clothes- English style stuffy woolen suits… then market wool suits back Indians, in India. It works. Have India do the work, while Britain profits. Salt, mining, clothes.. language reinforcing British hierarchy. If you protest? Ever heard of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre? No? It’s probably not in the AP review, and even if it was it loses meaning when it is simply memorized and regurgitated and bubbled in on a militarized type setting in May.
We are prostrated into complying with this grotesque monstrosity. Kids are legally bound to go to school thus indentured servants at the mercy of big money. You know it and so do I!
And for what? How well did standardized tests help kids during covid? I watched the desperation of the College Board when schools went remote that May. Nervous BM’s grasping for control. Constipated chaos. “For the good of the future”. Kid’s ‘need’ to take these tests, remotely, during a pandemic, while the mental health of…. ok, I’m just done.
I’m done talking about the College Board. I have argued with parents, teachers, administrators, and students since 2001. Want to “fix it?” Stop. Refuse ALL standardized tests. (I can hear the excuses now.) Just stop the College-Water-Boarding of children. Period. and stop waiting for someone else to save you. Kids? just say NO. A Silent Revolution.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Just why? Students and parents, unfortunately, have access to grades 24-7. So why the medieval gauntlet of parent-teacher torment? They are staged in a gymnasium. Picture it: Teachers circled like a Roman colosseum, sitting in hard chairs behind a banc awaiting the inquest of parents. Or is it persecution? Thumbs up or thumbs down? You never know if the parent will be friend or foe. Five hours of this on a Thursday night after a full week and full day of teaching. Lessons become pointless on Friday, it’s exhausting. Schools insist on continuing this archaic tradition compromising teacher’s mental health, and for what? To barter for grades? Or is it another bs job to occupy our time and minds? Parents feel obligated to show up so teachers know they care. The parents you need to see are usually a no show, and you would want more than 10 minutes with that one.
Of course I want to meet with parents! How about something more civilized like have a sign up time- child’s name, reason or request? Simple. I’d make time for parents and it would be nice to know the student and be prepared before a parent shows up, sits down up and says “guess who?”. (Yes, that really happened.)
Professional Development
PD meetings are absurd. The last professional development meeting I remember was, we teachers were given a script. We were instructed to play out a part in which we were students/teachers engaged in a dialogue. I oped out. I sat and researched the author and book- as we were assigned a narrow passage, and I like to do a ‘deep dive’. I recall two things: (unfortunately, I don’t recall the book, trust me) But- One, the author was an 80 year old Canadian who said none of his theories would work without TRUST. How many teachers trust? Trust administrators, trust students, trust each other? Right. Secondly, he said the most influential teachers are those who test boundaries, rock the boat. He explicitly said the most famous people, the most successful individuals when asked about teachers said- it was the weird, crazy ones that didn’t follow the rules that gave them the greatest lessons. Right.
Ok, there was one PD meeting worth while. It was a therapist who showed up for 30 minutes. He gave great tips and advice to stay sane. He was smart, funny and got our attention- not easy for teachers. It was the most popular pd meeting to date- the most requested, actually, the only requested follow up meeting to date. Sadly, he was not asked back, and we were back to sad clinics.
Like a classroom for old people, PD’s further suck the time and life out of educators. Time and again.
Interventions
We need an intervention from interventions. 504’s, IEP’s, ESL, ADHD, MA’s… too tired to rhyme… To the ‘Maladapted youth:’ there are currently 35 acronyms used to categorize kids into camps. If you are not adapted into the fossilized, archaic, medieval structure of school you are deemed “mal-adapted.” Here is my question- again- who would want to ever adapt to this system? Why would anyone want this particular cruel adaptation? Are you with me? Sit down, shut up, listen to 150 years of antediluvian rhetoric and be ok with that. Oh, you’r not ok? Well lets slap on a statutory rubric to display how you are not ok, but this is? And more time wasted. Wasted time on meeting after meeting of interventions telling kids they are mal-adapted.
Outdoors
Who has the time? We ‘force’ kids sit in a desk for 8 hours at arguably the physical prime of their lives. Sure, lots of kids have sports- after school. But, I think we need to have kids outside more.
Everything is better outside!
Retirement
For the record, this page has been the most challenging to complete. It is a painful realty. But I am a truth seeker- I can take it. I started writing this in the fall of 2020. I have written hundreds of pages to be released after my official retirement, but One Nation Under Education is more ‘shaking woman’ more ‘pickle jar pew,’ more retched nausea fight club behavior than originally scheduled. (You’ll need to read more to understand my references.) Think retirement will lesson your school daze? Think again. If you are in education and are passionate, you will never stop thinking and dreaming/ having nightmares about school. That’s not a threat, its a truth. Work, buy, teach, die. When I officially retire from being a public servant, I chose to continue to be a public servant- my style. I-Style. But first I want to continue curiosity on this caustic causation of classroom culture.
A Revolution
So you say you want a revolution? Well, what do you think a revolution is? When I tell people I want to start a revolution I get a mixed bag. We have a cartoon, history channel mentality to revolutions. Define revolution.
A revolution simply means change. Like a revolution of the earth around the sun. Slow but constant. My revolution is to do less, know more. And just write. Peacefully, I hope but with the intention to change the current system. Slowly, dismantle and change the direction. A Renaissance for the new Middle Ages.
Prediction: Watch for evidence- School years and days will slowly get longer. Requirements for teachers will get lessened. Example, in some places a degree is no longer required to teach. High school age teachers, teaching high school. Why? make schooling a business model- like fast food and grocery stores- it works.