Thinking About Superman

I see that new documentary, Waiting for Superman, will be opening in Ottawa tomorrow. I’m not entirely sure why a film explicitly about the American educational system is relevant to Canadians, but it’s coming regardless. Not that it shouldn’t, but let’s not jump to too many hysterical conclusions about the Canadian system based on this evaluation of the system to the south of us. Let’s also not forget the fact that there is no one Canadian system, and I’m pretty sure that the same is true for the good old US of A, and I think that needs to be remembered.

Since I haven’t seen the film and don’t intend to, I cannot fairly critique it. However, based on newspaper reports and Oprah’s episode on the topic , I am afeared that it might be a complete trashing of the whole American system. I gather it’s a call to action and not meant to be an unbiased evaluation, and that’s fair enough as I’m sure the problems that the film documents are real enough. I am also quite confident, however, that there are thousands of fine public schools south of the border with tens of thousands of wonderful teachers and hundreds of thousands of incredible students. I think it is important to recognize that.

It seems to me, and not just in this instance but in general, that when people criticize the educational system, they tend to forget one thing: we tend to get what we want and ask for.

Schools are a mirror of society. If it is important for schools to become better, then it is of great importance that parents and communities also be willing do better. If society’s wish is for everyone to pass and feel good about themselves at minimum expenditure, then that’s what schools will learn to deliver. I can’t fault the goal of ensuring that all students should succeed. Obviously, they should. Just as obviously, we should want all students to think of themselves in a positive light. Unfortunately, implemented properly, such goals carry a price tag, for it requires proper identification and remediation. Resources and support staff need to be made available, and that costs.

Parents also must be willing to be part of the solution and not just be vociferous complainers. If parents refuse to step up and be supportively involved in their child’s educations, they can only expect the school to accomplish so much. One example: if parents don’t insist on their child doing homework and many don’t, then teachers tend to stop assigning it or at least very much. It only makes sense, for if only a third or less of the class normally completes the work , the teacher is left with a difficult dilemma: to leave the two-thirds behind, or to try to pull the majority along even if it means having to slow the achievers down. In my experience s/he will most likely decide to try to teach as much as possible to as many as possible, leaving as few in the dust as possible. Put like that, who would have it any other way?

So, by all means, let’s examine the educational system and try to ameliorate its flaws and weaknesses, but if the goal is to make significant advances, the issue must be framed properly in the wider societal context. Otherwise, despite our angst and railings, little will be accomplished in the long term.

It's Not That Easy

You've heard about Facebook, I suppose. I have and have even glimpsed it in operation, but I have yet to sign up. As Thesha says, she and Daboy are on the old side for Facebook, so where would I fit in, I wonder. For I don't suppose that too any of my contemporaries are flocking to the site for me to connect with. However, I will probably succumb sooner or later.

One thing that stood out to me, however, in the article about Facebook that I read in the Toronto Star today was the following sentence: "In fact, educators should seize these opportunities to teach students about both the benefits and drawbacks of social media, while encouraging them to use the tools in positive ways." Like everybody else in the world, I can see the benefit of this, but it rather flummoxes me how glibly people say such things.

As a retired teacher, I still recall not being able to cover the curriculum as it was. I recall the heavy workload and the stress. I recall the job becoming more and more difficult. For example: when I left the job, the teachers in our school were being told that next year they should have eight separate mark lists for each class — eight categories where they could evaluate students. In a perfect world, that would be great, but in an imperfect one, it's a rather ridiculous expectation.

So, exactly who would teach the students the responsible use social media? Would your friendly physics teacher walk into class one day and say, "By the way, I became an expert in Facebook and social media last night, developed a curriculum, and am ready to lead you to the promised land today"? What about working it into the languages curriculum? History? Math? Technology?

Well, of course, it could be worked into a course somewhere. Maybe computers? But not many students really enroll in computer course per se; most computer usage in this jurisdiction at least is actually left up to the various subjects. For example: as a geography teacher I would show them how to use computers to manipulate statistics, construct graphs, and create and analyze maps, but most teachers weren't as up on the technology as I. It's really not an easy thing for most teachers to do; in fact, most students are much more computer savvy than most teachers.

The point is that most curricula are already jam-packed, and most teachers are already frantically pedalling into a stiff wind just to try to keep pace. I'm sure that schools will find a way to teach social media at some point, but there's more to it than someone glibly observing that educators should just up and do it never mind "seize the opportunity." It's simply not that easy.