The above links will lead you to sites on both sides of the debate over Zero Tolerance in schools. I leave it to you to read them, make your own conclusions.
I won’t summarize them, but give you some observations:
A school with a strongly worded rules on dress code and school behavior online, with the consequences for infractions clearly stated. Syllabi/Lesson Plans, posted online as well, readdressing the same concerns. The conduct rules are posted in the main office as well.
What was seen: two students being taken out of the school in hand cuffs by police officers; not one student dressed in the very well laid out dress code (hoodies and hats were worn; scarves as head wear; tee shirts with graphics; etc); students walking around the hallways by the front door guard, near the main office, sitting on the floor; a school official hugging a student (one “rule” was “no contact between students of any type, hugging mentioned); a student walking into the office, talking to a secretary, her trying to send him on his way to class but he cut his class, as he came back in less than fifteen minutes later to “hang out”; and during the classroom change, uncountable number of cell phones and electronics being used in a school they are supposedly banned.
This was one school, but I’ve seen variations played out in many.
I made a mention of this, at times. to various teachers or staff, and the answer is almost always the same: a shrug of the shoulders, or the complaint that no one enforces it, or they can’t enforce them. They don’t get support from any number of sources (parents, the principal, whoever).
I’ve also seen schools where the parents are very involved and supportive, where the rules of conduct and dress are enforced. Are there still problems? Of course. You are dealing with a wide variable of situations. Yet, when rules don’t matter, consequences are basically non-existent…
I haven’t written here in quite awhile. Observing what I have in the last half a year (really, last four years) has sometimes left me dumbstruck. This experience just left me shaking my head.
One of the most disturbing things that I have heard from a student was:
"Why should I try? I'll only be working at McDonald's."
I was an Artist-in-Residence for a year for a large school district in Westchester County, NY. Still early in my profession, that statement was both a shock and a revelation of a point of view I had never considered before: low expectations given, and projected; leading this student to live that that is all they can do.
While I have been slumbering, figuring out what to say/do with this blog, someone "liked it' this morning: rereading it, it gave me a renewed sense of purpose. I am job hunting, and that has taken over most of my concentration. Today I have two interviews, both for Director/Manager of Education position in arts administration. This post already has helped clear some of the cobwebs I've laid in my own way. Thanks for the like, Isurrett2.
One of the most disturbing things that I have heard from a student was:
“Why should I try? I’ll only be working at McDonald’s.”
I was an Artist-in-Residence for a year for a large school district in Westchester County, NY. Still early in my profession, that statement was both a shock and a revelation of a point of view I had never considered before: low expectations given, and projected; leading this student to live that that is all they can do. The young lady who said that to me was in a ninth grade repeat class. Most of them, I was told much later, were on their THIRD repeat of ninth grade.
Yes: she was a third timer.
It was not that working at McDonald’s is such a negative job, but the expectation of that is all she could expect in life is. There are jobs that many would never consider ever doing in their lives as “beneath” them; there are people who feel that there are jobs that are forever out of their reach.
I worked at a private Prep school (the capital P is on purpose) for five years. They were a usual sort of kids, except for one basic thing: their parents had power (=Money). Money enough to afford the very high K-12 tuition. If I remember correctly, all of these students went on to Ivy League universities , or “back-packed” across Europe, before coming back to such schools.
Were they born smarter, more diligent? Driven, yes, by their parents status. Academically as well. They were not taught to pass a test as the NYC public schools are (and have been) but really had a well rounded curriculum.
I’ve already written, a number of times, about this inequality in teaching. If Bloomberg and other mayors really cared, they’d look at the educational platforms that these private schools use. Yes, money pushes those kids along. We can’t fight that, but…we can elevate the level of how students are taught, what the curriculum is, and the entire structures of schools. I wrote about some ideals of mine in What Constitutes Education? and also in Public vs. Private Schools (there is a comparison of NYC schools and the same private prep school mentioned above…hopefully, it’s eye opening).
The other part, and it is a huge part: The Parents.
Parents have to be involved. Not just in making sure that their kids do their reading/homework, but support them, encourage them, take the time to invest in what they are learning, get involved in outside of school learning (excursions outside of their neighborhood)…being parents, not just adults whose house the kids reside in.
So, the next time you see your lawyer go to a McDonald’s drive through (or his/her aide), think of who is doing the ordering, and who is serving.
Nothing encourages creativity like the chance to fall flat on one’s face. ~James D. Finley
Creativity takes courage. ~Henri Matisse
Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try! ~Dr. Seuss
I live a creative life. I don’t think – no, I know – I would not be happy living any other way. I do not think in a linear way and I am not the most pragmatic of people. I have my anal/stubborn periods that keep me fixed and inflexible. I do try to work on that. It is not an easy lifestyle due to the fact that there is not always a lot of money in it. That makes it hard especially for people who are very concerned with security and providing for their families. Still, it is my feeling, and my opinion, that living a creative life is a great way to live.
Not everyone embraces this way of thinking. Many have trouble wrapping their heads around the concept of living a creative existence. That’s all fine and good, but why do they have to put judgment blocks and hamper the creative process? Albert Einstein, one of my favorite people to quote as you well know, said “Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds.”
A number of corporations and businesses get locked down into the numbers game. Schools, supposedly a hotbed for critical and creative thinking, or often anything but that. Too many school systems are playing the numbers game as well, although this has nothing to do with income but staying the course and remaining open. It has little to do, and very little regard, in what students are actually learning.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will be having some guest posts from people with various areas of education and business. They will be discussing what creativity is for them, and why creativity is important. To be fair, I would also like to find people with the opposing view. I really want to see both sides of the picture. What works for me does not always work for another. I understand that. What I’d like to try to do is put myself into other persons shoes.
I just hope that they would like to try my shoes on.
Photo by Ian Crowfeather
Have you tried to look through someone else’s POV?
“Our large schools)..are organized like a factory of the late 19th C : top down, command control management, a system designed to stifle creativity and independent judgment.” David T Kearns CEO Xerox
‘The guiding principle being put forward is that schools must be self directing.’ John Goodland
‘It is, in fact, little short of a miracle that the modern methods of education have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail.’
I do not believe education happens in just a school setting. If we are open to new things and explore what is around us, there is a lot of real education available. There is a whole wide world at our fingertips now. what we learn from it, what we take from it, is up to us. Or just you. YOU need to find what is out there.
We mainly think in terms of our children in education (unless you are into Continuing Ed classes or going back, like I did, for your Masters/PhD later in life). If you are not seeking out “formal” paths of paper certified education, don’t think you still can’t, or worse, don’t, have more to learn. Opening yourself to lifelong learning is, to me, a very important part of life.
‘Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it.’
— Albert Einstein
I’m now involved in the planning committees of TWO proposed Performing Arts Charter Schools. My work in curriculum development is being utilized here, making arts integration the main foundations of the schools. Yes, I want separate arts disciplines to thrive on their own, but the guidelines and rules of these Charter schools get in the way. Yes…the states mandates still get in the way.
If you’ve noticed, I have been somewhat quiet about educational subjects lately. Personally, it has been a frustrating period, and I have been trying to wrap my head around the restrictions imposed the two projects. If you look at the second link above, you’ll find a slew of alternative ideas out there. I am doing more research, so more on new(ish) ideas and thoughts to come.
The Bosch painting that heads this is how I see what is going on. My interpretation: we are fractured in our murky confinement. Boxed in, and boxed in again. Encased, closed off, separated, and just uneasily floating in a bubble that is waiting to burst.
What Constitutes Education?
In no particular order, MY answers to this are as follows (but, really, are not closed: I’m always open to a new idea, or simply one I forgot):
Inquiry Based Learning
Peer to Peer Mentoring
Freedom for Failure (learning from the “mistake”, not making it a negative)
Open ended process at times, to allow interpretations (doesn’t always work in Math & Science, but…)
Feeling safe in stating/putting out your ideas
Dialogue & exchange of ideas (see above)
Exploration of the world around us (parks, museums, historical sites, using the internet properly, etc)
LISTENING and focus
Not settling for mediocrity,
Not rewarding for least effort/what was required; only for going beyond what was expected
Drop all the PC garbage, which creates this new fear & loathing, and really teach the history behind something, to…
Allow ourselves the freedom to think, create and critique for ourselves.
I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. ~Lily Tomlin
School may have started already, or, as in NYC, it is just about to start. Getting the room ready, setting up your files, your lesson plans, backward planning your curriculum map (what do you mean, what’s that?), putting up the new bulletin boards outside your rooms, hanging up this or that, taking inventory of the classroom library: all this and more. You’ve been to the store a few times, at least, and you’ve most likely come close to spending a lot of your own money that will not be reimbursed for the coming year.
You gab with those you haven’t seen all summer, gossip with those you have, and already start thinking about where to go Friday after school for drinks. Don’t deny it. Plans for vacations will probably come up once or twice too, and the kids haven’t started yet.
Now, that’s if you’re in an area that puts something into the schools.
Now, I have been a school teacher in New York City. I’ve seen first hand the overcrowding. I’ve heard the complaints about no funds for copy paper, new books, material, and more.
According to the link above, this is ONE classroom of an elementary age school. Siblings of various ages are put in the one room, with one teacher. ONE TEACHER.
Should we not expect the best for the children of the world?
Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~Albert Einstein
What’s my point? Yes, we want the best, the cleanest, the newest, the ability to have the most resources for our students.
It’s not going to happen, unless everyone gets behind the Educational System, and not only go beyond the care of the aesthetics of the school (the bulletin boards and such) and really get back to what is important: allowing education to happen. Concentrating on how to reach and engage the students more than buying the right color choice?
Can that one teacher lead those in his or her classroom as effectively without the frills and gadgets? Yes, of course. Those things are only gloss and the razzle dazzle. Test scores as the only means of assessment are only razzle dazzle. They obscure the basis of what is real: finding the way to reach students that are getting more difficult to reach, and in some cases, more difficult to manage.
What Would YOU Do With This Empty Classroom?Is The Room More Important Than The Student?
“The arts are an essential element of education, just like reading, writing, and arithmetic…music, dance, painting, and theater are all keys that unlock profound human understanding and accomplishment.”
– –William Bennett, Former US Secretary of Education
As much as we want there to be dedicated instructors of all the arts disciplines in schools, we have to face the current financial reality and the mindset of the policy makers: it’s going to take a lot to get new programs in the arts going in schools. This has happened before, and it will happen again. The arts are among the first things to get cut when things get tough, and when education is attacked.
Test scores become the only means of assessment that mean anything to the policy makers. Scores are fairly tangible. They can be put into statistics. They are understood by business minds. They present pretty graphs and charts and can be easily defined. The policy makers don’t have to work hard to understand anything other than numbers and line charts. They don’t see the value in other means of assessment.
They do need their eyes opened to other ways so the children in our schools today are not harmed further.
Until we get back to the practice of supporting the individualistic arts in our public schools (and bless the school leaders who have retained the treasures they do have in place and have kept them), Arts Integration should be on the minds of all parents and educators.
Most teachers already do art integration without acknowledging it or realizing it’s part of their plans. How many dioramas, Readers Theater, play readings, recorder lessons, science fairs, etc. has your student gone through. Presentations are often accompanied with fine art, music accompaniment, dramatizations and more. It’s more prevalent in Elementary school. Role playing in discussions happens in the later grades as well, as does art. Dance is subjective, but a good physical education program incorporates body movements (synchronized anything). Dance incorporates Math and easily explores literacy as another means of interpretation.
The core subjects are enhanced and reach more students when introduced in interesting ways. When I was leading the American Voices project for the NYC Department of Education (integrating Theater Arts into 8th & 11th Grade SS curriculum), I personally heard students say that this was the first time they actually enjoyed learning Social Studies. I saw students in many schools interact and show great interest in a subject that they normally were not engaged in. That last from the teachers who participated in the program.
They were introduced to the time period they were studying, the socio/economic/political structure of those eras, through great American plays of the time or that spoke for that time. They had art, music, dance, theater, history, literacy, math and science tied into the units.
The best part: they learned and were interested.
“We need people who think with the creative side of their brains—people who have played in a band, who have painted…it enhances symbiotic thinking capabilities, not always thinking in the same paradigm, learning how to kick-start a new idea, or how to get a job done better, less expensively.”
–Annette Byrd, GlaxoSmithKline
There are a number of sites that have lesson plans for educators already set up. The best, in my opinion, is ArtsEdge from the Kennedy Center. When I was just starting out and planning my curriculum map for the year, ArtsEdge proved to be among the best. It gave me units to work with, lesson plans that were easily modified for my individual classes, source material, printable diagrams, and more ideas for other projects. I used a number of them, and a number jump started me into creating my own curriculum ideas.
What’s great is it has lesson plans for ALL grade levels, extending into Middle and High School ages. The range is extensive and can help any teacher who feels they want to try something new.
I strongly support trying new things, for yourself and for your students. It’s a new school year. Find a new way to engage and still work towards the goals of the test. I think you’ll be happily surprised.
Do you have other Arts Integration sites you love? Share them here. I’ll be happy to post a follow up.
I had no idea until this morning that I was nominated/asked to join in on a blog thingy: the #My7Links meme/project/linky blog hop. A wonderful woman from Australia, Janine Ripper, who writes Reflections from a Red Head, gave me one of the first honors…and I missed it completely. So, my deepest apologies Janine. Sometimes you have to hit me in the head. I was so busy with directing “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” this summer that a number of things scurried by me.
BTW, this blog thingy was sent to her by another Australian red head, Vicki Potts, of RedHeaded Travels. If you like, you can twit her at @redheadedtravel.
So, Janine was tasked to leave links to SEVEN of the her blog posts that stood out for her in seven different categories. Having done this, she was also instructed to pass this on to FOUR others (why not seven, Vicki?) to follow along. And so forth, to wit, and all that jazz. ONE thing Janine forgot is: I write two blogs, this one and Tale Spinning. She bestowed this upon me by @stustoryteller, but not by which blog. Sigh…guess I have to make it difficult for myself and make this a double whammy: I’m gonna give you 14 links, 7 per blog, and let you discover them on your own. Afterwards, my four to give a headache to award.
OK..this one I’ll tell you why: I LOVE this world that I’m playing with, and I’m really happy with the six parts I’ve written so far. THIS is what I feel is going to be my first fantasy novel, and I could not be prouder of the work I’ve done on it. Look on my side-bar for the other stories. Links are in the later ones.I won’t name them here simply ’cause that’s outside of the #’s.
Now, to the four who might hate me forever for doing this to them. I’ve linked their blogs to their twit names. Hope you like them. Support The Arts!!
“We look at parents as partners. We’re partners in working towards their kids’ success. The last thing we want to do is to get in this adversarial relationship, but when you’ve exhausted every available option, there must be some bottom line, and there must be some point where you say you must obey the law.”
Education of and for the children is 24/7, 365 days a year. Period. It does not happen solely in the school building, or whatever “institution of education” you subscribe to. If a parent is NOT involved, then they are not doing their job. It’s a shame so many have to work with hardships (financial; little to no familial support; etc). I do empathize. BUT…once you’ve brought a child onto this planet, YOU have a commitment that has to override everything else: take care of the kid, show him/her discipline, focus, love, and leading a proper path (which to me is do no harm to yourself or others, and work to the best of your abilities..and then go one step more).
When you baby your babies, you are doing them harm. When you force the school systems to baby your babies, you are really doing them harm. When you support your child’s laziness and bad habits, you are doing them harm. When you threaten but do not follow through with ANY type of consequence, you are doing them harm. When you reward your baby for doing what they are supposed to do, you are doing them harm. When you create an adversarial relationship with your partner-THE SCHOOL & TEACHERS ARE YOUR PARTNER-, you are doing a tremendous amount of harm.
If you don’t see any of the above as actual problems in your parenting style, then you are REALLY doing them, your babies, your children, your charges, your wards, your life… harm.
There are many parents to applaud. I do really believe that, with everything I write. I also believe that there are many teachers, administrators and school systems that are applaud worthy. I do. They need the press MORE than the negative ones that make me and others like me vent.
We should Celebrate more then rehash our venting, so…
I HAVE A CHALLENGE FOR ALL OF YOU:
Write a paragraph or so and send it to me about an AMAZING parent/teacher partnership; an amazing parent/school partnership; ANY outstanding Parent/Education partnership.
I really want to write about these things and post them, especially as we are soon ready to enter the new school year.
Let US know. Send me that email and YOUR story, or another, will become it’s own posting.
Questions I had/have/will continue to have, and answers I’ve been getting. One of the key things that I feel needs to be done here is to provide a forum for voices, on either side, and that dialogue will happen.
The other thing is: I hope it causes even ONE person to get off their complaining duff and DO SOMETHING. That was t
The whole point of yesterday’s Che quote: if you can even spark something in one person, who knows where that lead.
I do kinda sorta expect something to come out of all this. I’m in the process of making connections to do just that: DO SOMETHING. I want to find a way to take this blog to “the streets” and help facilitate some change.
Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. Bertolt Brecht
Thanks to this blog, I have had the GREAT fortune to become acquainted with Ms. Sharon Holzscherer Principal, Mississippi School for the Arts in Canada. I have really treasured our correspondence and phone discussions, and I plan to go to Canada sometime in the Fall to see her school in action. In regards to sharing her personal info here, Sharon said: “I am across the border and safe from witch burnings!”
(Sorry, but I had to do that! Well, I’m not really sorry, but…well, you know…if it floats like a duck…)
1. Why do you care about the educational system of today?
Education is the foundation of society. If we neglect the children then we can only imagine what kind of adults they will become. Education is the medium whereby we pass on history, culture, social mores, and skills. Without education each generation starts from the beginning as raw animals. Education, by the way, does not happen exclusively or even mainly in schools.
2. What is your background (short bio)?
I have been a teacher for over 20 years, in the private sector. I have, just recently, completed my Masters of Education. I am principal of a small private arts high school in Canada. I am also the very proud parent of 4 adult children, all products of my own educational views, and doing great!
3. What do you feel is an overriding problem(s) educators are facing today?
Educators are being asked to take over more and more of the responsibility for the raising of children as parents either abdicate their responsibilities or are too busy to fulfill them properly. Parenting is a full time job. Along with all this responsibility, teachers are being given less and less freedom and power. They are also attributed all the blame when society goes off the tracks.
4. How do you feel this problem (these problems) can be solved?
Teachers need to be respected for the professionals that they are. They need to be given the power and freedom to teach. However, they also need to have better training in pedagogical practices, apprenticeship programs for beginning teachers (at least two years), an independent self-governing body (like doctors and lawyers), and lose the union. They cannot have all the perks and safeties if they really want the freedom to do their jobs. No one can have it both ways. We turn our children over to teachers who have often had barely two years of training for lesson plans, etc. and minimal practical experience. Doctors and lawyers go to school and article or intern for several years. Are their professions harder than ours?
5. What changes/paradigm shifts do you feel are necessary?
Sir Ken Robinson!!! School is not a factory or production line. It is a garden where children grow, exposed to the best in all fields that our society can offer them. We need to rediscover the individual while instilling a respect for others. Nurture the single plant to support the whole garden.
6. What is your view on Process vs. Product?
Economics is not the basis for life. (Heresy! they scream. Burn her at the stake!) Truly, people, when everything is based on its monetary value then we are reduced to products. Production is a by-product of people being healthy, happy, and inspired. Bored, obese, resigned employees produce the minimum necessary to get by. Focus on the process and the product will take care of itself.
7. Do you believe Arts-In-Education are important? Yes or No, can you please explain why you feel that way?
Arts-in-Education are crucial. They not only pass on and develop the culture of a nation, without which a nation dies, but also stimulate creativity. Innovation is the tool of the future. It is always what has made America great – from its innovative approach to governing to its vision of reaching the moon. Imagination has much more power than complacency. Look at your history. When nations stopped doing new things and just strove for more and more of the old, they declined.
8. If you believe we should replace the Standardized Testing process, what form of assessment do you feel the students would benefit more from and the policy makers would be “happiest” with? If you agree with Standardized Testing, could you please explain why?
Standardized testing is a tool. It can be used for an appropriate reason, such as seeing if students need additional help or are too advanced for the proposed curriculum. It has got out of control whereby policy makers no longer care what is being tested as long as Americans score in the top two or three. This need to assess is based on a mistaken belief that teachers are wasting taxpayers’ money in classrooms. The money is being wasted at the bureaucratic level and they should be held accountable. When a doctor gives one a test, the doctor is not then assessed himself and the patient is not assessed against other patients. Let teachers, with their professional training, assess the children and discuss it with the parents. No one else should be concerned. As for the spending of taxpayer money, follow a dollar and truly show how little of it makes it to the teacher’s hand.
9. What role do you feel parents/guardians should have with the schools?
Parents are and always should be responsible for their children. Their job is to partner with the teachers and schools so that their children can be given the skills and knowledge that they cannot give. Schools should deal with academics and cultural experiences. Parents should deal with behaviour, mores, prejudice, respect, and responsibility. Parents should do their job and let the teachers do theirs.
10. You can create the ideal school: what THREE things must be in place that are non-negotiable?
1. Absolute control of the curriculum. 2. Absolute control of hiring and training the staff. 3. Clear understanding of the expectations of teachers and parents and students.
11. If you have one, what is your favorite quote dealing with education?
So many of them are negative that I have yet to find a really positive one that I like. I would welcome suggestions since I collect sayings )
12. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Until teachers leave the safety and comfort of their secure union jobs and truly demand the power and respect they need to do their jobs, there will be no reform. Teachers are the only ones with the knowledge and training to achieve relevant reform. “Life shrinks or expands in direct proportion to one’s courage.”
Thank you Sharon. Comments are Most Welcome!!! More of the Q&A to come!!
Zero Tolerance and School Safety
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