Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Education reform begins at home
Once upon a time I entertained notions of becoming a secondary school instructor. During an introductory education course, I was asked to interview no fewer than three practicing teachers, if you will. I had instructions to ask each teacher the following question: As a teacher, what is your biggest continuing challenge?
My instructor had spent many a class period bemoaning the lack of funding for K-12 education (she was a member of the Tennessee Education Association, you see). She fully expected her charges to return their interviews having extracted we-need-more-money answers from the teachers who'd been interviewed. Alas, such did not occur.
Most of the teachers with whom my classmates and I spoke said that lack of parental involvement was the biggest (and most frustrating) challenge that they continually faced. Indeed, two of the three teachers I'd interviewed said as much; and the third, after dissing the "bureaucracy," finally got around to dissing parents who spent little time thinking about the education of their young'uns.
I couldn't help but think back to my brief career in education when I came upon the following letter in the Wall Street Journal, which was penned by Richard Mead in Clovis, California. Though brief, it hits a very large nail on its very large head. To wit:
"I found it highly ironic that [NYC] Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg indirectly mentioned one of the true reasons there are failing kids in schools. He states, 'And parents must recognize that the schools can't do it by themselves; values and ethics begin in the home.'
"I couldn't agree more with Mr. Bloomberg's ideas of education establishment accountability. It is indeed a monopolistic, bureaucratic and socialistic way of educating children. But how do we hold accountable the reciprocal of education (parents), who use television to baby-sit, allow their children to stay up late on school nights, don't ask their kids to show completed homework or take their children out of school for vacation on non-vacation school days?
"I can remember when my parents actually asked the teacher what they could do to help me improve. These days, many parents remove any responsibility from themselves by blaming the teacher for poor grades and not their undisciplined children." (Emphasis mine)
My instructor had spent many a class period bemoaning the lack of funding for K-12 education (she was a member of the Tennessee Education Association, you see). She fully expected her charges to return their interviews having extracted we-need-more-money answers from the teachers who'd been interviewed. Alas, such did not occur.
Most of the teachers with whom my classmates and I spoke said that lack of parental involvement was the biggest (and most frustrating) challenge that they continually faced. Indeed, two of the three teachers I'd interviewed said as much; and the third, after dissing the "bureaucracy," finally got around to dissing parents who spent little time thinking about the education of their young'uns.
I couldn't help but think back to my brief career in education when I came upon the following letter in the Wall Street Journal, which was penned by Richard Mead in Clovis, California. Though brief, it hits a very large nail on its very large head. To wit:
"I found it highly ironic that [NYC] Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg indirectly mentioned one of the true reasons there are failing kids in schools. He states, 'And parents must recognize that the schools can't do it by themselves; values and ethics begin in the home.'
"I couldn't agree more with Mr. Bloomberg's ideas of education establishment accountability. It is indeed a monopolistic, bureaucratic and socialistic way of educating children. But how do we hold accountable the reciprocal of education (parents), who use television to baby-sit, allow their children to stay up late on school nights, don't ask their kids to show completed homework or take their children out of school for vacation on non-vacation school days?
"I can remember when my parents actually asked the teacher what they could do to help me improve. These days, many parents remove any responsibility from themselves by blaming the teacher for poor grades and not their undisciplined children." (Emphasis mine)
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, December 20, 2006 
