schoolyard subversion

2000-09-15 [< * >]

The Big Meeting

They day had come. The clock slowly ticked the time away. Sooner than I had thought, it was 2:00. It was time to meet with the principal.

I was completely surprised. I came prepared, with book titles ("Teaching as a Subversive Activity" by Neil Postman) and an article ("The Quality School" by William Glasser) for him to read. As I marched into the principal's office, I mentally prepared myself for a fight. Boy, was I wrong.

He agreed with everything I said, and listened to my points carefully and intently, taking notes all the while. He didn't say much, but when he did it was to signal agreement or go even further than I had gone. When I mentioned the book titles, he nodded and said he had copies at home. As I was about so hand him the article, he told me to hold on for a second, and drew it out of his file cabinet.

You couldn't ask for more! I was amazed at my success. He was even more pumped than me, urging me on, saying "We can do this!" It seemed like this was exactly what he had been wanting to do, and was so surprised to find a student who agreed with him. I was surprised too.

Here's what I said:

Step One: The Little Things

The first, and least radical, step in improving the school, is to improve the little things. I basically rehashed what I've written here before about the terrible toll the poor design of the school is taking on me. Suggestions include: removing the mandatory sports requirement, lightening up on homework, adding more time between classes, and others.

Step Two: Students Are Your Customers, and the Customer Is Always Right

The second step, is to readjust school to be student-centric. Teachers need to learn to work with the students, rather than against them. These are the things that I've written about in my first article. This work is based on the theories of Glasser, Demming and plain old common sense. Demming revolutionized manufacturing, Glasser shook up science, but nobody's helping out the schools. Suggestions include: making homework optional, stretching deadlines, removing tests, and most importantly, training teachers not to yell at kids.

Step Three: Knowledge is Power, Learning is Fun, and Students are Smart

The third, and most radical, step is my own personal theory about the ideal school. It's time to start over from the beginning, and challenge our assumptions about school. School is an outdated system for the modern world. Every child learns differently, but schools teach them all the same. The world is constantly changing, but school can only teach the things in old stuffy textbooks. Most people must learn their entire lives, but school only teaches them a number of things and sends them on their way. School just isn't working.

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