I HATE SCHOOL

School should be a place where children see their hope and dreams come alive. School should be a place in which children are valued. Their questions, their curiosities, their imperfections, failures, missteps, as well as their shining successes should be cherished.

After 10 years of teaching elementary school, I cannot honestly say that most institutions that I have been a part of are more interested in rules and regulations, procedures and protocol, than any actual human growth. Schools are places where children are most valued when they are silent, cookie-cutter conformant, orderly, and above, all, obedient.

Schools are places where teachers hold all the knowledge and the power, and children have none. These four stone walls enclose the place where children come to be weighed and measured and then neatly sorted into pass and fail.

Schools are about control and measurement, not about encouraging any human growth. The only growth that is valued is the kind that happens in neat 30 minute blocks, where no one works too slow or too fast, and all answers and outcomes are predictable, measureable, and "accountable."

What could these four walls do with epiphany? miracle? surprise? or inspiration?

What numerical value do we assign the soul?

How do we hold the adults accountable for "joy"?

Yesterday, I played basketball with the same group of friends that I play with every Wednesday night. We were playing three on three, as we often do, but in an unusual configuration. Brad, Frank, and Derrick versus Toby, Mohamed, and myself. I was angry. My team can't win under these circumstance! Ok, Toby can beat Brad, he's taller and has a really good inside game. But Frank and Derrick? Both are famously formidable. Both are lightning quick, have excellent court vision, can set picks, and above all, shoot. Both can get to the basket for an easy layup anytime they want even with double coverage. And both can make a shot from anywhere on the court, especially Frank, who loves to shoot the three. Mohamed and i combined, could not cover either one of them, let alone both. And Mohamed and I are both two of the weaker players in our group. We probably combine for a joint 15% shooting average. And personally, i can't make a layup to save my life. There's a reason why Frank and Derrick usually are on opposite teams and almost always cover each other. It was going to be a long night of losing for me and my team and I was NOT looking forward to it. Furthermore, with Frank covering me, i wouldn't even get to touch the ball, let alone shoot it. That's how good his defense is compared to my offensive abilities.

For most of the night, my prediction came true. However, I was amazed at how close the first two games were. We lost by about 11-5 or 11-8 each time. In the third game, however, came the surprise. We started off on a 4-0 run. I scored 1 or 2 two pointers ( we play 1's and 2's not 2's and 3's) and an improbable lay-up and we won 12 - 1 !

The point to my story is this: theory never lives up to practice. Human beings are capable of impossible miracles and improbable failures at every turn. Past experience is never an accurate predictor of future performance. and this is why we always need to approach the present with an open, hopeful, mind.

This brings me back to one of my greatest contempts for institutional education: Learning outcomes. The whole idea that one can design a lesson with a predictable outcome is loathsome to me. You just never know what's going to happen.

Rant to be continues...