November 13, 2004

• Day #8: Consecutive making-the-most out of everyday streak…

  There were some definate highlights today, the last day of the Coalition of Essential Schools’ Fall Forum.

  Went to a workshop called, “Higher ed reform,” run by the Association
  of American Colleges and Universities.  I was lucky that very few
  people showed up, so it was 4 of us, plus the two facilitators who work
  for the AACU.  It was interesting to learn that the organization
  has just come out with a report on how they want colleges and
  universities to radically re-think what’s going on…to take on an
  approach more in-line with the reform efforts being done at high
  schools, especially those who are part of the Coalition of Essential
  Schools (CES).

  What inspired me a lot, was hearing my thoughts on education
  re-affirmed by the governing body of higher ed. for over 900
  schools.  Here are some quotes from the people who work there:

  “colleges are arrogant,”
  “The fact that some students get wonderful college experiences, and
  others walk away having HORRIBLE EXPERIENCES, is the dirty secret of
  higher education.”
  “We are experiencing some horrible unintended consequences of
  market-driven education…there is corruption to sell a product at the
  expense of the students’ education.”

  It was good to see my frustration shared.  They have also been
  doing their own research into innovative schools, and have even managed
  to get US news and world reports to have a new ranking of schools with
  innovative qualities, although even that has been spun into a crazed
  marketing tool, rather than aiding students in making smart decisions.

  I’m now looking forward much more to my internship w/ the American
  Association of State College and Universities…i’m ready to give them
  a no-bullshit reason why schools are not doing what they’re supposed to
  be doing.

  Heard a speaker from the Oakland school district talk about equity in
  schools…they’re working to make small schools as a means to improve
  quality of education, and to work towards a day when you can’t tell
  test scores apart by race or class.  They kept reminding people
  that this is the 50-year anniversary of Brown vs. Bd. of Education, but
  we still have a long way to go, in fact, we’ve regressed in the last 10
  years.

  Topic: Re-thinking life

  I’m realizing, that growing up,  I was never taught anything was
  wrong.  Therefor, I took things for granted, such as, “we live in
  a functioning democracy,” such as, “the struggle for equality is no
  longer an issue,” things like that.  It was like, there were all
  these struggles for progress, and they ended before I was born.

  Oh…how wrong I was…I’m realizing that this country we live in was
  founded in an injust way, and we have been trying over the last 200
  years to work towards a more just society.  The year 2004 is just
  the middle of the journey.  Some people probably got frustrated by
  the election results, saying, “democracy doesn’t work,” this presuposes
  that it was working before.  Democracy is working the same as it
  has been for years, people just don’t realize the history.  People
  also look at the current situation as dire, and don’t realize that it’s
  always been dire, in fact, we’ve actually made it less dire over
  time.  “If the world was able to overcome slavery, Apartheid, the
  fall of the Berlin wall,” one speaker said, “then there’s no question
  we will continue to produce a more humane world.  My grandmother
  lived in much more difficult times than these, we have it easy, so we
  have no excuse to get down that things are never going to change.”

  So…that’s my new take on it.

  Also…met a fellow Long Island jew from Long Island who fled to
  Montana after college and hasn’t looked back, told me it’ll take time
  to break the inertia of my upbringing to forge a life under my own
  rules and values.  That was confidence boosting.

  To Vancouver tom. yee-ahh!!!

  • 10:17 pm
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