tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post4555481773077452075..comments2024-03-26T07:07:14.304-07:00Comments on Teacher Tom: What Self-Governance Is All AboutTeacher Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-48040986256372724642013-10-31T07:26:07.688-07:002013-10-31T07:26:07.688-07:00Tom,
I am so grateful to you for constantly frami...Tom,<br /><br />I am so grateful to you for constantly framing educating the whole child and his or her unique abilities and needs within the context of a democracy and the need to reach ALL children.<br /><br />We live in an era where we have become consumers in all things: if we don't like our kid's school, "choose" another. We are the consumer and must please only ourselves. There's so little dedication to fixing that which is broken (toss it and "buy" or "shop around" for a new one). All the while not seeming to care or recognize that not everyone can "buy" organic, let alone the basic needs for their family. I love that you remind us of the common good and that you speak for all children... I worry for their futures when we continue to malign those areas where we all should be coming together and dedicating ourselves: public schools, public libraries, public roads, public services. I always love the Dewey saying: " What the best and wisest parent wants for his child, that must we want for all the children of the community. Anything less is unlovely, and left unchecked, destroys our democracy."<br /><br />I am a mother of four who continues to try to raise awareness here in Indiana about the threat of "corporate reform" and the real, organized attack on its cornerstone: public education. I hope there are other parents out there who read your blog who are willing to circle the wagons around public education..not just to protect it, but to improve it. Here is our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Monroe-County-Coalition-Public-Education/374573205902510<br /><br />Anyway: THANK YOU, TEACHER TOM.Cathy Fuentes-Rohwernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-90474709882547247352013-10-30T10:31:17.999-07:002013-10-30T10:31:17.999-07:00@Anonymous . . . I like Peter Gray. I've blogg...@Anonymous . . . I like Peter Gray. I've blogged here about his work, and am a supporter of democratic free schools. In fact, I'm currently reading Gray's new book, but I fundamentally disagree with the idea that walking way from public schools will save them. I understand that we all must find what's best for our own kids, but if we disengage from public schools -- where most kids will get their education -- we leave the field open to the corporate reformers who stand eager to privatize it all. Believe me, they do not envision anything like an "ideal" school. These are our schools, just as this is our government: when we leave a vacuum, however, monied interests always step in and they do not have our best interests at heart.Teacher Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-6206898825873386202013-10-30T07:25:56.373-07:002013-10-30T07:25:56.373-07:00Just an astounding, cogent, com-passionate, string...Just an astounding, cogent, com-passionate, string of words that bowled me over. All true, very wise. <br /><br />Listen to this man, reflect in his words, think on. Then maybe offer a few thoughts. <br /><br />Here's mine:<br /><br />suddenly<br /><br /> (google Russell Brand and New Statesman and Newsnight)<br /><br /> there seems to be a serendipity, a synchronicity, a whiff of coming together,a glimmer of resistance. Let's try to make it a little bit better, that's all we can do.<br /><br />I just wrote this ten minutes before I read Tom's blog:<br /><br />I want to be compassionate about A Bigger Us:<br /><br /> I'm sick of people who are passionate about their hobby, their job, their obsession.<br /><br /> I want to be compassionate about people,<br /><br /> I want to be compassionate with you about things that matter to us. <br /><br />Passionate is all about my ego.<br /><br /> Compassionate is all about us. <br /><br />A Big Us. <br /><br />Not the Big Lunch, <br />or the Biggest Block Party,<br /> fine though they are,<br /><br /> just a bigger thing, <br />not the best, <br />a 'good enough,' <br />humble, a little bit better.<br /><br />I want to be compassionate about A Bigger Us.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-7207069828256408822013-10-29T23:09:59.166-07:002013-10-29T23:09:59.166-07:00Support democratic schools and other alternatives ...Support democratic schools and other alternatives and empower others to opt out of coercive schooling. There are many people who are capable but haven't invited to consider the alternatives. <br /><br />Peter Gray is recruiting concerned individuals to share their inputs to help create a robust resource for families looking to walk away from coercive schooling:<br /><br />http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201306/education-revolution-help-us-reach-the-tipping-point<br /><br />I am optimistic that public schools will be forced to transform when enough people walk away.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-54857864472052676572013-10-29T21:22:08.438-07:002013-10-29T21:22:08.438-07:00@Grace, Anonymous, and Holly . . . I share many of...@Grace, Anonymous, and Holly . . . I share many of your concerns and most of our fellow citizens are going to be educated in public schools. What are we going to do about it?<br /><br />As I wrote, much of the good happening in public schools is what happens "in the cracks," in the process of children from all walks of life simply being together. That is something -- in my case, everything. <br /><br />What are we going to do about it? I'm going to keep pushing because failure is simply not an option.Teacher Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-30090335376611679642013-10-29T17:56:05.718-07:002013-10-29T17:56:05.718-07:00Thank you for this post, Tom. This has for a long ...Thank you for this post, Tom. This has for a long time been a personal conundrum of mine. As a social democrat, I believe passionately in the right of free, quality education for all people. But as an educator myself, the focus on testing and the lack of autonomy afforded to teachers, even in their own classrooms, has completely driven me away. I've dabbled into alternative educations, such as Montessori, and I currently teach in a private Islamic school (not because I'm Muslim, but simply because it's the first non-public job I could land). At the same time, I mourn for public schools. My husband says that I should get in there and make the biggest difference, touch as many lives as possible, and reach the students that need me the most, but I know it would lead to early burnout. It's not a romantic thing to say, I know, but it's realistic, unfortunately. I always feel so conflicted on this topic! How can one believe so passionately in public education and at the same time scorn it to the point of avoidance?Hollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06088817966803643666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-66596111072156165162013-10-29T09:21:17.265-07:002013-10-29T09:21:17.265-07:00I'm all for democracy and self-governance. But...I'm all for democracy and self-governance. But the problem is, our public schools don't prepare children for democratic citizenship. The system is built on oppression. School control what student can learn and cannot learn and how they will learn it. If children grow up in an atmosphere where people get to regiment what they read and write, they're going to become obedient adults who think that's how the world work.<br /><br />I recently read about dozens of high school students wrote about their objections to Democratic Schools. Most of them used the argument that those schools only work for individuals who are self-motivated, and ordinary students are not going to learn without extrinsic motivation. <br />It breaks my heart to see how public schools have brainwashed our children to forget they're naturally curious and capable to learn on their own.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-38128674162543698152013-10-29T08:21:18.907-07:002013-10-29T08:21:18.907-07:00If bullying is rampant, public schools are failing...If bullying is rampant, public schools are failing.<br /><br />If children are being punished for having feelings, public schools are failing.<br /><br />If there's less and less time to play, public schools are failing.<br /><br />If children are bored or hate school, public schools are failing.<br /><br />Not that most private schools are much better at these things...<br /><br />In what way are many public schools AND many private schools not failing our children?<br /><br />To be fair, schools might be better than what some children experience at home, and children might get to interact with and befriend people who don't all look and think like them - significant aspects of school if they actually happen.Gracenoreply@blogger.com