Education Americana

While talking about the American education system in class today, I started to become frustrated.  We talked about how bad the system of quantifying learning and forcing achievement through the numbers destroys the necessities of a playful and happy childhood.  We talked about how achievement on standard tests is so worshiped that schools spend hundreds of hours preparing for the test without making sure the kids know the material,  comprehend it and ask questions if they aren't sure.  Mr. O'Connor described a "bulimic" education system, where kids take in the material, spit it back out, and forget all about it.  Some of these themes were described in the film, Race to Nowhere, which is promoting education system changes.  A link to the web site for the movie and to change opinions can be found HERE.  I have experienced these education problems by forgetting the same material for math tests that I learned for three years in a row.  I still don't know how to do a logarithm.

However, as nice as it is to bash the education system, and point out all its flaws, I think this form of argument is flawed.  I have always learned that unless I can suggest a better alternative, I shouldn't complain.  So I started thinking.  One of the problems I encountered was that the mentality of having to perform better than everyone else and out-compete them is ingrained into our society.  It scares me to think that if I just let go of everything and enjoyed myself, I may not be able to get a high paying job, or create a good life for my children.  I am also afraid of the damage I might inflict on my kids if I don't change my way of thinking a bit.  But the obstacles that an activist faces are gigantic!  We're talking about a whole overhaul of the way parents and kids envision the future and try to prepare themselves and others who depend on them.  This is as big of a change as Martin Luther King Jr. had to face to change people's minds about racism. 

So how can a person or even a whole school change things?  New Trier, even the whole North Shore, is only a drop in the bucket.  But as the Chinese proverb goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.  So clearly change is possible, if improbable.  One idea is to start programs at New Trier to educate parents, kids, and faculty about the best education models, and put ourselves on the right track.  After that, other schools in the North Shore may look at New Trier's model, and change a bit to help their students grow as people as well as be intelligent.  If this model follows, and the Chicago-land area is well know for its positive and well-rounded education, then this idea may show up in the national news.  Although it would take a lot of time, I believe change is possible, but only if the hearts of the students are devoted to it.

Has America Been Emancipated?

In class we talked about how some remnants of the slave trade and of Jim Crow times may still remain and not allow African American citizens to enjoy the full freedom that others have.  For example, statistics show that African Americans have on average lower income, poorer standard of living, higher percentage in jail, and a greater percentage have terminal illnesses than Caucasian Americans.  In Barack Obama's speech on race, (the full text of which can be read here) he purposes that many of the problems that African Americans face can be traced back hundreds of years.  To quote directly,

"But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow."

However, I am not so sure this is true.  There have been many African American people who have worked hard, sent their children to school, and are now living high end lifestyles.  Take for example Nelvia M. Brady, who has her PHD and is an author, columnist, and owner of This Mother's Daughter, Inc., Chicago, IL.  (Many more successful African Americans can be found HERE)  Have these certain few been given some sort of advantage?  I do not believe so.  They or their parents have worked hard in positions and jobs that may have been les than desireable, but through hard work they have ascended to the top of the socioeconomic ladder.  This is part of the American dream.  Like many presidents (like Obama himself), CEOs, and millionaires, an American can grow up poor, work hard, and die rich.  African Americans who experience poverty could climb the ladder too.  All they have to do is put their foot on the first rung.