© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “The
greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling
short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” Michelangelo
First, we Americans are not aiming
high enough for our students and assuming this generation cannot do things.
They can do what they think they can do. It is critical to awaken the curiosity
and passion inside each student early in their education.
Example: public schools are telling
young students that they simply must go to college. What about our society’s
artists, artisans and trades people? We need electricians and woodworkers. But
the Educational Industrial Complex needs students to go to college to keep those
educational dollars up.
The second statement is central to
the dysfunction in our public schools. Michelangelo wrote: Every block of stone
has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. The educational
leadership task is to reveal what is inside of each student as to their curiosity
and passion to learn.
Instead, the Factory Model of Education
believes the public schools should mold the students into something useful for
the society, not necessarily useful for the students. Public schools are not
looking at the wondrous statue inside of the child, rather, they are only
focused on their own self-perpetuation.
Example: in 2009 Sir Ken Robinson
gave a talk about creativity. He found a music teacher in Liverpool, England
who at one time had both George Harrison and Paul McCartney in his class. He
had half of the future band, The Beatles
but he noticed nothing creative about them.
How many truly exceptional people
are languishing in public school because the factory model is not looking for
exceptionalism or creativity, it only rewards compliance with rules and
learning to take tests well.
The huge problem is that public
schools are run by distant autocratic administrators who rarely see the little
blocks of marble. Certainly, the administration does not see anything but test
scores. How sad.
The teachers can get a glimpse of
greatness in students but are threatened with being fired if they do anything
with the students other than what the administrators command. Why even have teachers,
eh?
The leaders of our educational
systems must support the students rather than the adults working in the system.
Superintendents of Public Schools must see that the students develop according
to their curiosity and passion, not just to be a widget in society.
That is an awesome responsibility
that these leaders have. Can they be true to the students? We must watch for
the student’s sake. Forget all the testing administrators. Our society needs more
public school teachers who understand curiosity and passion in their students.
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