Taking in conjunction the question: “Are we doing what is best for our students, or are we doing what is most convenient for us?” and Karl Fisch’s video, Did You Know, I have to wonder whether any one individual can truly keep up, can truly prepare any other human being for what that other, younger, human being might encounter. It seems that technology and “advancements” move at such an alarming rate that any attempts to stay current could be quite futile. How can anyone know what is to come? Isn’t the point of the video that the future is quite certainly unknowable? How can anyone avoid being depressed by the enormity of the issue?!
And then I think of the student I was. Everything was brand new. Knowledge and understanding were mysteries to unlock. Some things were interesting. Some things were just inconsequential. Adults were often incomprehensible, but some served as guides. Those that tried to force knowledge or ways of thinking were discarded, those who enticed were noticed.
I believe, for an adult, for any leader, who hopes to impart wisdom and understanding to a learner, convenience must be set aside in favor of enticement, comfort must be replaced by preparation, and a love of knowledge itself must be bestowed. However, in an age where big business has gone to school and results are rewarded far more than the process, teachers have had to become assembly workers. When a teacher is forced to choose between a certainty of a contract renewal and whether to pass a student, there is a serious problem. Is the teacher then choosing the more convenient route or does that teacher have to make a choice as to his/her survival? Is it really that simple?
Granted, I’ve not experienced this problem myself since I am not actually teaching, but I have heard enough horror stories to know that things are not great. Teachers across disciplines and grade levels are being forced to set aside their professional opinions in favor of teaching to a high stakes test that creates ulcers in children as young as five (5) years old. Where is the convenience in that?
Yet, what is the solution? Is the public school system in danger of being privatized as so many other government services have become? Is that actually a bad thing? Isn’t a little competition good for everyone? I do not know the answers to these questions, but I do know that to impart a thirst for knowledge is one of the highest goals a teacher can strive for and that is not a measurable task.
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