I really liked the way this article talked about school systems. As our world moves further and further into the futuristic, technological systems of schooling, I get more and more worried about my own future as well as the future of education. This has been a constant concern for me, and reading this article, which talks about comminuty building and the general dismay about schools, only broadened my knowledge about my field. I think because I don't see myself working in a "normal" public school, I hadn't really considered how much scrutiny they have been getting over the years. In fact, the thought that homeschooling and charter schools represent the widespread disapproval of public schools had never occured to me at all. In actuality, it is this tension that has led me down the path that I am on, to teach students who don't fit the mold of the average public school.
This is why I got into this article, because I suddenly realized that because schools are set up in such a static, old fashioned way, people have been forced to create other means of education. It seems obvious now but actually having it put into these terms for me was a good experience. I now understand a bit more of the politics behind different schools, how one responds to the other and so on.
As much as I don't want to be a part of public schooling, now I almost feel like it's my responsibility to get involved in those schools and make the changes that I, like so many people described in this article, desire. Nothing will ever really change unless somebody takes the initiative to get inside the public school system and mix things up, rather than passively creating a different style of education in response.
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Great points here, Carrie - about our responsibility, our obligation -as people and as teachers.
ReplyDeleteinteresting - that this piece illuminated for you some of the politics - the details of the "public" school tensions (tensions about different types of schools, opting out, abandoning the public school model, what it means when people choose not to send their kids to the public schools...).
You wrote "In fact, the thought that homeschooling and charter schools represent the widespread disapproval of public schools had never occured to me at all."
right - this is a big deal (as I noted in another post/comment: when people like me, well educated people who understand a little - remember, there's some quotation about how a little knowledge is a dangerous thing - about schools, decide to pull our kids out, and either homeschool or send them to private settings, we are giving public schools a vote of no confidence.)
And, while we have the "right" to do that... is it really responsible?
Anyway, I am really glad that this article laid some of these issues/points out for you in a way that made some of this big picture/democracy/public schooling stuff more clear.
Carrie,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your take on this article. Comparing it to my own feelings I had regarding this piece, I think we feel ironically similar. I saw ironic because to me, I always felt public schools were where I would end up teaching. Like you, I always thought of Charter and Private schools as a necessary corrective for providing students what public schooling "couldn't" or "chose not to."
After reading this article, I now see the danger in that type of escapist strategy. Not only does that not help our public schools and get us building tighter communities, but it also sends an alarmingly elitist message to our future generations-- if you aren't happy with your community, don't fix it, buy your way out of it.
Like you, I also feel a responsibility to take action in the Public School System, now more than ever.