May 1, 2006
-
Topic: Schooling
It was about 2 years ago that I first began putting my thoughts about schooling/education into book form. My perspective of time is still a bit silly, two years now appears a blink of the eye, but it was also just that, two years, 730 days, approximately 116800 hours (16hrs. awake a day)…shit, gotta grab lunch, will finish this piece later….
…and i’m back. What was I saying? Oh yeah. I was thinking about time and aging. And tied to that, are thoughts about schooling and life beyond school. I have come to recognize that the issue of education is not the end-all and be-all of life. My life is simple, hopefully get another 80 years or so out of it, maybe not, but what I want my life to be filled with is joy, entertainment, friends, family, etc.
But school is the issue that I wish to develop knowlede of, and so I find myself reading Jonathan Kozol to begin to understand what the leading writers and speakers and leaders in education are thinking and saying. I will begin to consume large quantities of their words and actions.
Psychologically/Philosophically, I believe that there is potential for improvement in our schools and society, however, I also believe that right now things are “perfect.” I think, that to think that things now are not perfect, only leads to mental anguish. The struggle, whether it is a struggle for racial equality, economic equality, work equality, etc. is in itself part of this perfect world in which we live right now.
For even those who do not live in oppression of some sort, are still in a struggle against time, their lives finite. Their lives full of minor turmoils that will never claim a struggle for the masses, for example, the turmoil of losing a loved one, or of a dispute with a family member.
But, I am an amateur philosopher, and so I will begin dedicating myself more extensively to what will hopefully be more sophisticated writing about education, tying together my own interest in the subject, with those who I aspire to be like.
My friend who I just had lunch w/ is a law student here at Wash U., and he is an aspiring sports agent/attorney. He stirred some thoughts in me as we discussed ambition, and drive. “I don’t want to be normal,” he said. We spoke about the need to surround yourself with the right kind of people, to serve as a measuring stick for you, and as motivation.
Conversations on campus with a couple of professors of mine, who I recall more for their friendship and guidance to me, than perhaps what I was meant to be learning, served as goalposts for me to see my progress. I can see better what I have achieved, and what achievements in life lay ahead of me. The contributions I can make, and that I want to make.
Tom. I fly home, after what has been a quick, but good week here in St. Louis. Just the right amount and type of experiences to rejuvinate me a bit as I return to New York. I exchange this the lazy streets and whispering parks of the Lou, for the whistling streets and highway life of NYC.
Comments (8)
I found this site very randomly and just wanted to say that Jonathan Kozol is extraordinary. I read an interview with him in the New York Times Magazine a few months back and ever since then, I have been a fan. I should probably finish reading “Savage Inequalities” as well – but I find myself drawn to his new work, “The Shame of the Nation.”
No one wants to be normal. Well, maybe the Elephant Man or Quasimodo want to be normal. But no one wants to be viewed as normal. Human beings crave attention.
I don’t know if anything is to blame for people’s ingrained desire to be noticed, to be valued as something more than just an average citizen. Perhaps it is a result of widespread mass media that ceaselessly harps upon the status of various figureheads. Perhaps the desire to be more than “normal” is etched into our genes. Perhaps it is a suppressed subconscious desire to impress a girl we had a crush on in the third grade. Everyone feels they are destined to do great things; only few achieve that dream. But the dream is enough to keep us going while we operate drill presses and work in dry cleaners and drive ambulances and practice law and steal cars. The dream keeps the spirit alive.
Here’s the thing about “normal”; it has no value without a baseline. You can’t be a “normal” or “abnormal” human w/o a group of other humans with which to compare yourself. That group of “others” must tow the line and maintain some symmetries in order for the “abnormal” to soar above the pack (else there is no pack). To quote Judge Smails from Caddyshack: “The world needs ditch-diggers too.”
“…the issue of education is not the end-all and be-all of life.”
Yeah, 80% of the world seems to get by just fine on their rudimentary educations. And even the most ignorant can still drink deep the pleasures of joy, entertainment, friends, and family. I recall a long-ago scholastic classroom where we were asked to either justify or disprove the statement “ignorance is bliss”. I can’t remember upon which side of the issue I fell, and I’m not certain I’d pick that same position today.
Watcha reading by Kozol?
about Darfur – i think there are a lot of things we can do about the situation. Many people believe that we either send in thousands of American soldiers or do nothing. But there are so many crucial steps that we can take in between those two extreme options – imposing sanctions on the country, declaring the actions of the Janjaweed actual genocide (through the UN council), publically denouncing the government for its support of the Janjaweed, supporting/funding the African Union. There are so many other things we can do but I can not figure out for the life of me why George Bush will not act against the first genocide of the twenty-first century. It is truly injustice.
kregg - i’m not sure if you meant the irony in your last statement about ignorance is bliss, that you can’t remember which side of the issue you picked before, yet you would now choose the opposite. I guess the point you were making is, it doesn’t matter? well…besides my interest in your last statement, the book i’m reading is making me think more about differences in the type of education people get, especially between rich and poor. As you point out, most people get by despite their education. However, I think there likely is something to the financing that goes into a school that effects the outcomes in children (subjectively we can debate), but most rich people are content w/ their schools, while most poor people, when they get a whiff of smaller class sizes, computers in every room, science labs, music rooms, etc. would be in favor of improved standards of education.
Man – I haven’t seen that book in years. It’s good, isn’t it?! Makes you want to go to East St. Louis and hand out books.
You’re doing the teaching fellows? A friend of mine did that but dropped out. I think you’ll like it much better than she did though.
CONGRATS!
Congratulations! I’ve been meaning to ask you how that interview went. And you’re preparing yourself by reading Kozol, wow. Between him and Gatto, you shouldn’t have any illusions about what you’re getting yourself into.
In the spirit of Kozol’s books, keep us updated here on how it goes. That’s very cool. Your foot is firmly in the education door.
I haven’t read Savage Inequalities. I guess in my middle-class life, and living upstate, I feel pretty insulated from the problems he writes about. But I’m always aware that they are there.