Monday, May 30, 2011

What is School?


One day I was once asked to answer these questions...


"Share your thoughts about the notion of schooling. Through the advent of the Internet, how has the notion of school changed? Consider the adaptations necessary for schools, teachers, and students. How do you imagine this will continue to change? After reflecting on these questions, write your own definition of "school."

A simple and superficial definition of "schooling" is that it is a process of developing a set of skills.

How has the Internet changed our notion of school? Well, the Internet has altered our senses as it relates to perceived limitations of various cognitive and physical functions in time and space, as it relates to the acquisition of data and information.

As an example, 20 years ago I would have had absolutely no clue as to how to find information about the basics of "militant Islam." I would assume that I would have had to get in my car and drive to various physical sites, where I would have to ask complete strangers in the hopes of finding someone that I could ask about "militant Islam."

So, time and space placed limitations on my abilities to acquire the information that I desired and deemed relevant to my specific needs.

Today, I would go to Google, Yahoo, or one of the multitudes of search engines, and type in "militant Islam" in the text field and select from a myriad of options. Time and space are no longer a hindrance to my desire to find and learn "data/information x" within a particular context.

As it relates to the question of how will schools, teachers, and students have to adapt, I find several interesting possibilities. However, even before discussing this cultural evolution, a more practical question to ask is "What's the purpose of school? What's worth learning" (Plato's Republic). However, I shall digress. At this point, I’ll offer a simple definition simply for the sake of this particular exercise…

School: A "place" where one develops skills to help live a good life.

Obviously there are numerous debates to be had as it relates to what skills one should acquire and develop. Also, as a good Socratic would question, who gets to define the simple meaning of the word "good?" Does the state, the individual, or the family get to define this particular word? Again, for the sake of this exercise, I would take the Socratic view that “good” is “…all words and deeds which lead to the betterment of an individual and others around them, or at least does no harm.” With all that having been said, let’s look at the nature of the education establishment within our current society, as it relates to the question of how schools will “adapt,” then make mention of the cultural evolution technology has wrought.

Since I would argue the perceived failings of the public school system is due to the backwards approach the education establishment has taken in its perceived importance to our society.

Again, of all the major professions within our society, the schools are always the most backwards and passive. In medicine, new research leads to new methods, which in turn lead to new expectations within our society. In law, new precedents lead to “new” or evolving societal expectations as it relates to reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, immigration status, etc. In the military, certain aspects of basic training are being revised due to the “new” or evolving fighting conditions within Iraq and Afghanistan. Again, this is leading to new expectations within our society of what a soldier, marine, airman, or seaman is.

However, in the United States public school system, there is this entrenched belief that the school system has all the answers and the students must submit or suffer according to what the school system believes should be important to society. In so doing, this leads to a disconnect at times, between the schools and the communities they are theoretically to serve.

In some communities “school” means different things. As an example, where I teach, my students are the sons and daughters, for the most part, of lower “middle-class” laborers. These are guys and girls who like auto shop, wood shop, and if we had it they would most likely excel at metal shop, electrical shop, and the other trades.

In fact, at our school we have a “construction team.” Its teacher, has been recognized by the state of California as one of the most innovative teachers in the state. The team consists of over one hundred students, who actually go out in the community, on their own time, willingly, and construct various “public works” projects around the community. Projects such as doing home repairs for lower income homeowners, pouring concrete at a private construction site, and building wheel-chair access ramps to those who need it around the community are just a few of the projects. In fact, there was some “build a dollhouse” competition, god knows where, and one of “our” students spent 6 months designing it, constructing it, and finally displaying it. I mean this thing was 6 feet tall and about 10 feet wide, it had two stories, it had electrical, and it had furniture. This thing was “tricked out.” He won first prize. He earned a $1,000 scholarship. Then someone purchased it from him for $2,500. He also failed my history class and two other “important” academic classes.

I talked to him about his plans for the future. He’s going to work for his uncle’s construction company. He figures he knows how to write his name, he knows not to stick his finger in the electrical outlets around his house or in public buildings, he knows to look both ways before crossing the street, he knows he’s not allowed to rob banks or commit murder, he can read and write simple sentences, he can count up to a trillion if he had to, he can do simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and does daily in wood shop (yes, he failed Algebra II). Yet, he’s been put on “academic probation” and threatened with being “kicked out” off the construction team if his grades don’t improve. Amazing!

He said if that happens he’ll drop out, get his GED, and go to work for his uncle.

The point of this is that for some the public schools are not working not because the teachers are bad (some are), the parents don’t care (some don’t), or the students don’t care (some don’t). The reason why there are issues within our society is that the school establishment doesn’t get it. The schools are there to serve the society. Just as the law, medical, and military establishments are designed to serve society. The schools should not make demands of the market that the market does not wish to meet.

So, before we start addressing how “technology” will lead to the evolution of a “new and improved” school system, let’s look at the issue of community relevance and the concept of the school reflecting and representing the needs of a particular community.

Now, how does the “technological” evolution of our society potentially impact our schools, future teachers, and students?

It’s simple, as the iPhone and Rock Band generation grow up, they will become the future teachers. An understanding of how data is acquired and how information is harvested from that data will naturally evolve, and a new “paradigm” of “what school is” will emerge. Nonetheless, I would argue that 25 years from today, or 100 years from today, the basic underlying foundation of "what school is," will be similar.


School: A "place" where one develops skills to help live a good life.

Why Do Students Give Apples to Teachers?


Well, there is no true origin of “why students give apples to teachers.” It’s more of a mythology of an image which has perpetuated itself upon us over the past century. It’s equal to images of the first Thanksgiving with perfectly clean Pilgrims and happy beaming “Indians” eating pies and sharing a peace-pipe. It’s not to say that the Pilgrims and certain Indian tribes didn’t get along, it’s just that an image which was painted 400 years later becomes the iconic image for that particular event. The point being, no one knows for sure how the first “Thanksgiving” went, but right or wrong, that’s the image most Americans have today. This perpetuated mythology also leads most Americans to believe that the wall carvings and art of ancient Egyptian have the Pharaohs “walking like Egyptians.” There are no carvings or wall paintings having them “walking like Egyptians.”


There are no records to indicate that students bringing apples to school teachers ever actually ever happened en masse. Again, it’s not to say that it didn’t happen. It’s just not recorded that every student brought an apple to every teacher.


Now, I’ve heard others hold fast to a belief that it all came about in the 19th century when most of America was rural and that apples were given to teachers as a kind act in the light of a teacher’s low wages. I’ve also heard that it was a way of a student to show a teacher their appreciation for their abilities by hoping that the gift of the apple would ward away sickness, thus insuring that the teacher would be in class and not absent due to illness. Lastly, there is a more cynical image of a student giving an apple to a teacher as a means of ingratiating themselves to the teacher in the hopes of a good grade.


In the present day when students or parents wish to show their appreciation for a teacher’s efforts small tokens are usually presented in the form of $5-20 gift cards, homemade perishables or crafts, etc.


Today, the act of a student giving a teacher an apple has essentially become a parody of itself.

President Ronald Reagan


Well, for what it's worth…President Ronald Reagan worked for America at that point in time in which he was direly needed. He lowered taxes, the economy boomed...it seems that the individual knows more how to spend their money than the government does. Case in point, more "people of color (love that phrase)," moved up socio-economically than in any other previous decade since the Civil War. Also, Reagan's increased military-budget spending (based on increased tax revenue due to more people spending their money on various consumer goods that they wished to consume) led to R&D of something which will later be called "the Internet," not sure if that has helped society out (sarcasm intended). Reagan's increased military spending led to more aggressive advances in cellular technology, digital technology, as well as a host of medical advances from those "evil big phrama" companies. In this oversimplified explanation, this increased Reagan spending led to the Communist world spending money it did not have in an attempt to keep up on the "technology gap." Communism did not work due to it's failure to recognize human nature in the political and economic process. People do not wish to be equal in outcome, but equal in opportunity...Now was Reagan without his negatives...nope. However, society flourished as most boats raised economically as more people spent their money...

I'll leave you with this, President Obama want to spend 30 billion dollars to stimulate the economy...why not give back to the people, their contribution (taxes) to the state, I haven't run the numbers, but say each contributor gets $10,000. What would be the result? People buying what they wish...kitchen's getting remodeled, cars being purchased, bills being paid off (which in turn would lead to future spending), etc...We the people would stimulate the economy...not the government...let the people choose what and how much of product "x" is to be supplied to the market? Bottom line of Reagan...give the people back their money and let them spend it...and reap the tax revenue at the state and federal level...Yes, I endorse this diatribe...

Happy Birthday...


Please enjoy this arbitrary point in time, and the beginning of another sequence of 365 days, that in a sociological sense we all agree to define and celebrate as the stage in which the gestation phase of your existence, and through the grace of nature’s design, was concluded. Consequently, due to many years of societal habituation, by way of peer-pressure, an array of ulterior-motives, or through the perceptive sense of true happiness or love, we choose to acknowledge the closing stages of your development within the reproductive female carbon-based host which led to the “birthing progression.” A course of action which allowed for the myriad of chemical, light, and mechanical sensory functions which comprise your being to be placed within this present and sustainable living environment. So, in this particular frivolous light, Happy Birthday!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Drinking and THEN Driving is a Choice...

This is NOT preaching or meant as a judgment upon the previous choices made by others. This is just a simple reinforcement of a sound, reasonable, and "Good" practice.

Pete Rose Deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame!


This is just my opinion, but it's my opinion, and Peter Edward Rose Sr. (Charlie Hustle) deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I know he bet on baseball and for that he needs to be banned from the game. However, what he did on the field is wholly separate from what he did off of the field. It's not a true Baseball Hall of Fame without Pete Rose.

Pete Rose, a switch hitter, is the all-time Major League leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), and outs (10,328).

He won three World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, the Rookie of the Year Award, and made 17 All-Star appearances at five different positions (2B, LF, RF, 3B & 1B).

Lifetime Batting Average: .303
Hits: 4,256
Home runs: 160
RBI: 1,314

3 time NL batting champion (1968, 1969 & 1973)

Led NL in runs scored (1969, 1974, 1975 & 1976)
7 timeNL Hits leader (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1976 & 1981)
NL Rookie of the Year (1963)
Hutch Award (1968)
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (1969)
NL MVP (1973)
Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year (1975)
World Series MVP (1975)
Roberto Clemente Award (1976)
Silver Slugger Award winner (1981)
Major League Baseball All-Century Team (1999)


In August 1989, three years after he retired as an active player, Rose agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball due to accusations that he gambled on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds, including claims that he bet on his own team. In 2004, after years of public denial, he admitted to betting on baseball and on, but not against, the Reds. After Rose's ban was instated, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to ban those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction. Previously, those who were banned had been excluded by informal agreement among voters. The issue of Rose's possible re-instatement and election to the Hall of Fame remains a contentious one throughout baseball.

He's not a saint, but then again, who in that Hall could throw the first stone? Bottom line... I'll give you 4,256 reasons why he deserves to be in the HoF.