I just finished reading the Atlantic article, Cultivating Failure, and I’m torn between scathing disappointment and downright outrage at the comments and beliefs stated by the author. I’m going to attempt to offer my cynical, sarcastic remarks in a somewhat coherent, calm manner, but no promises.
The entire article is about how school gardens are cheating students out of an education. I kid you not. It begins with the example of an immigrant laborer who’s offspring is forced into what is at one point referred to as “child labor”. But you can’t have a ludicrous comment like that without an equally ludicrous conclusion:
Why not make them build the buses that will take them to and from school, or rotate in shifts through the boiler room?
Ironically, no mention is made to the fact that schools force children into compulsory schooling that may or may not hold any bearing on their future life, happiness or well-being. Instead throughout the article were reasons why school gardens will not help our youth pass the standardized tests. Because, you know, standardized tests are a real indication of one’s future success.
And, as if the notion of learning self-sufficiency, math, science and social cooperation through growing our own food is appalling weren’t bad enough, the numerous attempts to make it into a racial issue really pisses me off.
If this patronizing agenda were promulgated in the Jim Crow South by a white man who was espousing a sharecropping curriculum for African American students, we would see it for what it is: a way of bestowing field work and low expectations on a giant population of students who might become troublesome if they actually got an education.
I’m having a hard time seeing straight at this point. This is not about race. It’s about empowerment. It’s about kids being inspired in what their doing, seeing the value of their own work (and the hard work of others) and cooperating as a community. You do not get that from sitting at a desk in a stuffy, windowless room pouring over a book someone told you to memorize so you can pass yet another standardized test. That just gets you the statistics mentioned in the article, which really just means bored and uninterested kids.
Although she made no qualms about the prejudice she saw, she fails to see how she is simultaneously putting down those of us who have whole-heartedly embraced a hard-earned lifestyle that allows us to feel whole, connected and joyful, and eludes to it as being somehow sub-par to a higher social class that should get their food from a grocery store and leave the manual labor for…who exactly?
Does the immigrant farm worker dream that his child will learn to enjoy manual labor, or that his child will be freed from it? What is the goal of an education, of what we once called “book learning”? These are questions best left unasked when it comes to the gardens.
Most of the article just pushed the disconnection we so often see in our culture today, pushing toward “progress” and away from true knowledge or understanding. Never once was the question asked where all this progress has taken us. Look what all this endless “progress” got Detroit. Ironically, look what springs up from those ashes.
But the comment that rubbed me the most came from a charter school founder in South LA who also disagreed with the merits of school gardens.
What are you doing to prepare these kids for college? If I can get a kid to read Shakespeare and laugh at the right places, I can get him to college. That’s all that matters to me.”
Really? That’s all that matters? Getting them into college, continuing them on the endless chase of some elusive prize at the end of a never-ending trails of lies and never enjoying it? What about happiness, joy, passion? What about a spark in their eye and a bounce to their step? What about integrity, community participation, learning the true value of something vs blindly paying a quarter for a tasteless, out-of-season fruit some unknown, underpaid farmer cranked out using questionable practices that you’re not suppose to question or you’ll look ungrateful that their “feeding the starving” even if it is unhealthy and dangerous until you cook it beyond recognition?
Are these standardized tests, so heavily pushed, really going to produce free-thinking, questioning, always-learning individuals who have a passion for life and the living? Is it really going to change a thing in the lives of underprivileged kids?
Let me answer that for you. No. It won’t. They’ll get shuffled along in a system they loathe doing exactly what their told to do until they do one of two things – graduate and realize it didn’t prepare them for “the real world” or drop out in disgust of the system that failed them.
Are school gardens the panacea? Probably not. But they offer a glimmer of hope to the kid shut behind closed doors all day. It gives them a taste of the “real world” and maybe a few more skills to survive in an era when most kids don’t know potatoes are grown underground. Maybe these gardens will spark the interest of a few of them. Maybe they’ll inspire a few to question our food culture, which only leads to questioning other paradigms and eventually could create a free-thinking human being were an apathetic person once sat.
I agree with the author that there is indeed an issue with the public school system.
I disagree that throwing more of the same bland, impractical standardized education at them is going to fix the issue.
We need inspired, engaged kids who want to learn, not thoughtless students that follow commands. And I’ve seen many more eyes light up in a garden than I ever have behind the pages of a mundane, soon-to-be outdated textbook.
I'm Tara Wagner, life coach and creator of the Digging Deep process, where I coach women out of survival mode to recreate their lives and families.
Thanks for opening my eyes to that article. Sounds awful! Tara, I really appreciate when you let your anger and outrage come through in your blog because it reminds me of me and how I feel about a lot of things, of late! Thank you. Amen!
I read the Atlantic article last week and was enraged. Really shows just how broken both the author and the public school system really are. I am so glad my kids are not a part of that. Too bad joy and happiness count for so little to so many.
Wonderful post!! I can definitely see why that article made you angry. The writers comments are extremely insulting!
Very well put!
I am in speechless shock if the only point of school is to get them laugh at the right points while watching theater.
That author is truly an idiot. I wish there had been a place there to say so.
VERY well written. I am so excited to have finally found a blog that speaks truth, honesty, reality, and wholesome goodness. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thoroughly disgusted with our school systems,
Sam
School gardens aren’t about learning. They are about connecting. Connecting ourselves, community, and eating. Goodness those kids need to breathe and feel. Many kids don’t have yards. They never feel the earth.
How unfair to try and take that away by voicing some strange racial argument. It’s obvious those people have never really been with a child. They have really never seen a child smile and enjoy themself.
I’m actually shocked that someone praised standardized tests over fresh air, sunshine, healthy food, and life experience. I know I shouldn’t be, there are too many who think life is about taking tests and following bells. But to read the words is still just shocking.
OK, I can understand why you would have a problem with this. It’s a huge slam on the way you live your life and the lifestyle you’ve found that works best for you.
I don’t agree with a lot of the way public education works either.
However, I think it would probably be most wise and realistic if you and the author of this article were to find a happy middle ground of some sort rather than her spreading bile about how bad an idea school gardens are and you spreading bile about how stupid standardized testing is. The fact of the matter is that without a high school diploma your chances of getting a job that pays enough to live on is not very good. There are alternative things people can do and there are apprentice schools and vocational training and all sorts of stuff for people who don’t want to go to college, but quite a bit of the alternatives require that you know the things one is expected to know coming out of high school. And unfortunately, a GED or high school diploma is the only way to prove you have that knowledge because most places aren’t going to take the time to test you themselves to find out.
And if you happen to have a dream of becoming something like a doctor or a lawyer or astrophysicist or engineer, you NEED college. You cannot get the licenses and whatever other qualifications otherwise. And considering how important and complex something like practicing medicine is, I personally don’t see a problem with requiring someone to prove they know what they’re doing.
And I think the author of the article had a bit of a point when she used the example about how the learning done in the garden is infiltrating all the other subjects. A recipe IS easier to write than an essay. And while not all kids want to be writers, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t learn how to write. Because maybe by learning how to write an essay or a short story they might come to find out they have an interest in creative writing after all.
Very well written, Tara. I can hardly believe that someone thinks standardized testing proves anything…it most certainly does not. And there is nothing better than being outside, learning from nature. I love all of the passion you put into your posts. Thank you for this.
ImpassionedPlatypi – Standardized testing is stupid. It doesn’t prove anything. If you are the sort of learning that learns from doing, and not by reading and regurgitating…than a standardized test does not reflect your true knowledge. Information has to be LEARNED, not forced…and when it’s forced and then a test is forced afterwards…the result is definitely not conclusive.
As for a GED (or high school diploma) being the only way to prove you have knowledge – that is simply laughable. It proves that you did the required amount of schooling to obtain a diploma. NOTHING about a GED (or high school diploma) means that you have knowledge. Hell, most of what I “learned” in high school, I have long since forgot. It wasn’t real leaning – it was a forced curriculum. Nothing about forced “learning” sticks.
As for going to college…I know of many unschooled individuals that were “life-learners” for all of their life and have since gone on to university…some on full scholarships.
Sorry for the rant…I just get enraged when I see people buying into the governments ploy of “forced education” being the only way to learn anything…My son is 3 1/2 and speaks better than most adults I know and is already counting to 100 and reading and spelling….all his own doing. One CAN learn to write without being “schooled.”
Debbie, I never once said that I agree with or support standardized testing. What I said was that in many cases if you don’t have those sort of credentials people don’t believe that you are capable of doing what they need you to do, so they won’t hire you. I have an ex-boyfriend who was programming computers at age 8, but when he lost his job a few years ago and had to look for a new one, no one would hire him to do IT work because he doesn’t have a degree, highschool or otherwise. My point is that as much as it sucks and as stupid as it is, sometimes in the real world it is necessary to play the game in order to get where you want to be.
What a horrible article! The school my daughter used to go to had a school garden, and it was a wonderful thing for the kids. It is possible to balance standardized testing with letting the kids out into the sunshine to learn about something as real as how plants grow. The school was a 9/10 on the rating system and a really great experience for my daughter.
I wonder if I’m teaching my kids to think like farm workers when I have them garden at home?
GREAT POST! I love the feedback too!
“Are these standardized tests, so heavily pushed, really going to produce free-thinking, questioning, always-learning individuals who have a passion for life and the living?”
The system isn’t setup for free-thinkers. In the real world (I.E. an office setting) you don’t want to change things or come up with new things because apparently people don’t like to change the way they do things even if you can make their lives easier. That’s what I learned from HS and college – stop shaking things up – don’t ask questions and just do as your told – you’ll get better grades and more people will like you. I also learned to mask my free-thinking ways until JUST the right moment. Then I’d pounce on that moment and everyone would think I was a fucking genius. See, the system has it’s place ;D
Standardized tests are ridiculous – I have a medical condition that prevents me from retaining information – how well do you think I would do on a test now? Just because I can’t remember something doesn’t mean I’m not smart enough for college or to become a doctor. Most of the doctors I’ve had experience with don’t have enough free thinking to figure out the most basic condition. I had hypoglycemia and it took 5 doctors 2(!) years to figure it out.
ImpassionedPlatypi – I understand your point entirely, but I think TheorganicSister (and perhaps Debbie too) is just trying to say, that maybe “The Game” is broken. Playing the game isn’t always as great as it seems either – and unfortunately people think if you don’t play the game that you’ll fail at life.
BTW your link to the original article is broken, if you want to link to it, I’d suggest using a “no follow” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nofollow) so they don’t get any link lovin
Wow. So children shouldn’t learn where food comes from? They shouldn’t get to have the experience of learning from doing? Actually enjoying an end result? Maybe they should throw out art classes while they are at it–oh, wait, they already have. I wonder what they should think about doing science projects? Or outdoor school?
How is having fun outside in a garden called “labor”–to children enjoying themselves this isn’t labor. It is play. And children learn best while they are playing, do they not?
So many flaws in those arguments. I’m leaning more and more toward homeschooling/unschooling all the time.
Two things came to my mind while reading your post: The movie Wall-e (partly because I recently watched it) and a story I read several months back about children who got all excited over–get this–a manicured lawn! Because they never got to go outside and play in nature, even grass was exciting to them.
Wow! Love the comments!
@Lisa Z, I don’t think I’ve ever been thanked for a rant, which totally made me smile. So thank YOU!
@Heatherlee, I thought the same thing – has this person ever experienced a school garden before? Or a child in a classroom…or really known a child personally?
@Traveling, thanks for letting me know about the broken link. Something really funky was going on with the coding but I fixed it.
@ImpassionedPlatypi, I have little interest in finding a middle ground, although I’m sure we have one (we’d both like to see real improvements in public schools; although I’m sure we differ greatly on what that actually means). But being the overly-opinionated person I often am, I do enjoy sharing my take on things anyway.
I do understand what you are saying in regards to standardization of say, medical schools. But it’s a big leap from ensuring our surgeons know what they are doing to demanding a rambunctious 8 year old sit quietly and regurgitate information.
Standardization is the monkey wrench in the teacher’s classroom. I’ve yet to speak to a teacher (and I know and am related to many) who found it didn’t hurt their classroom. Their ability to really teach is stripped away and they are not allow to help the *individual* student. Instead, they spend so much dang time on teaching for a test, any real learning is completely lost. I’d love to see communities and teachers come together without a federal standardization to improve *individual* schools, *individual* communities, *individual* learning experiences. Blanket policies only succeed at assuming we’re all the same – learn the same, have the same needs, and desire the same outcome. That simply isn’t true, therefore the program fails again.
I also have my own opinions on what it does to a child’s esteem – I saw my top-of-the-class child crumple with the pressure to perform…and he was only 7!! I’ve researched several other school models (some that still test their kids; some that don’t) and all are graduating strong, intelligent, successful students without standardization – Montessori, Waldorf and Steiner have all shown to be good in very different ways; their one common thread is their ability to mold their teaching to the *individuals* rather than expecting kids to conform to their teaching. But those are my opinions, and although I may share my opinions on things like this, I’ve yet to hold judgment for anyone who is doing what is truly best for their child. (My frustration lies in the fact that often parents have little choice and are losing more and more rights to make a difference.)
And I have to strongly disagree with your statements on a high school diploma. Being unschooled, I did not get a diploma. I did get a GED but have never once shown it to a single person; knowing my rights and being self-employed most of my life helped in that area. Also, there are laws in place to protect homeschoolers from discrimination and entitle them to the same opportunities as those who received a traditional schooling. Not to mention the number of highly successful people that began as high school drop outs. We don’t hear about the alternatives from systems that oppose them.
Again, I’m not saying standardized testing doesn’t have it place. I am saying the author puts a ridiculous amount of emphasis on something that, in most cases and especially when done excessively, have shown to do more harm than good.
But then all of this is really moot, because in the end I’m unconvinced coercing ANY person to learn ANYTHING they aren’t interested in is nothing more than a waste of time and resources. I’d rather see our public education impassion a child FIRST, give them a reason to want the information and then help them find the answers they seek. Compulsory schooling just isn’t my cup of tea. (And compulsory schooling without creative teaching like these school gardens only succeeds in pissing me off.)
I agree that the author of the article put a ridiculous amount of emphasis on standardized testing. The reason my brother in law teaches AP is because teaching for the AP test is far less annoying than teaching for the SOLs. Trust me, I understand that standardized testing is stupid.
I wasn’t exactly trying to start an argument or get your dander up. I just think that you were kind of taking things to the opposite extreme and that because reality isn’t perfect and there are lots and lots of broken systems in our society kids should probably be prepared to deal with those broken systems to some degree until they can be fixed.
And I’m aware that it is possible to be successful without finishing highschool, but for the vast majority of people it is far more difficult to be successful without a diploma than it would be if they had one or at least something equivalent (meaning GED or whatever other kind of credentials one can get). I’ve never shown my high school diploma to any prospective employers either, but it does come up on applications and in interviews and if it doesn’t then it’s more than likely something that will come up on the background check most companies do when they hire new employees. Just because you don’t show people doesn’t mean they can’t find out whether you have one or not.
@ImpassionedPlatypi, no worries and no offense taken. I truly enjoy the convo.
I’m not sure I understand what you mean by taking things to the opposite extreme. I’m not calling for only learning through school gardens and I in no way said that school gardens are the savior of failing schools. I just wanted to offer a rebuttal to what I viewed as a very disturbing article that took its own opinion to an extreme by saying school gardens are cheating kids. *That’s* the extreme, IMO.
On a tangent, when you say “kids should probably be prepared to deal with those broken systems” I tend to automatically disagree. When you’ve had people tell you “kids should be allowed to bully or be bullied because the world is hard and it teaches them how to deal” you tend to jump on the defense.
However, I do know what you mean: that life can be tough and coping skills are important. Absolutely. I just disagree when I hear people using “life is tough” as an excuse for making life tough. KWIM? Life is full of smoker’s and no one thinks we should be puffing around our kids so they “know how to cope”. I tend to take the opposite view: Life is already tough, so why not work to make it better. No, we’ll probably never create utopia but we will create something better in the meantime.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, no?
Maybe I shouldn’t have said you were taking it to the opposite extreme… You’re right, you weren’t, but the amount of venom you had for the article seemed like a bit much to me because for the most part I never had a problem with the idea of structured learning. It seems natural to me that someone who is teaching me something would want to make sure had learned it and one easy way to do that is to ask a series of questions about the material. I don’t think that tests in general are some evil thing. And I think that the author of the article had at least one good point, that in a structured learning environment one subject filtering into all the other subjects is not necessarily a good thing. I think the idea of school gardens are a good thing, but I don’t think that English class should be used to teach how to write a recipe, it should be used to teach how to write essays and summaries and stories as well as reading comprehension and grammar. Using a garden as a vehicle for learning some things makes sense, but not all things and it sounded as though some of these school are trying to make the garden the entire school.
Now, granted, that might just be because of the author’s bias. I haven’t looked any further into it, so I have no idea and in the grand scheme of things some random schools in California don’t really matter all that much to me (I live all the way across the country, if the schools here have gardens I have no idea how they could possibly grow much of anything since most of the school year is during the fall and winter months and it actually does get cold here). But, if there is some truth to the article then I think that at least some of the concern is valid.
And that’s not even getting into any of the race and class stuff the author was spewing on and on about. I think that the example about the migrant workers and their children might be somewhat apt. I’ve heard far too many people of different ethnicities talk about how they want their children to have a better life than they did and get an education and so on. I could see a migrant farm worker being ok with a garden and their kid learning how to grow his/her own food, but I could also see that same migrant worker having a problem with it if their kid started coming home with story after story about how the garden is influencing every single other subject at school. And it doesn’t really matter what race the migrant worker is. I could see any hard farm laborer having a problem with that.
As for your tangent, I don’t so much believe kids should be /allowed/ to bully, but I don’t think that realistically there’s anything you can really do about it without watching your kid (and other people watching their kids) like a hawk 24/7. When kids are by themselves they’ll do what they want and some kids are mean. Just like some adults are mean. It has nothing to do with making things hardER, it has to do with the reality of being human. Even the nicest person can be a huge bitch sometimes. Sometimes they mean to, sometimes they don’t. But no matter what we do, there are always going to be mean, stupid, evil people in the world and I think that learning to deal with those people and the situations they create is important.
I agree with working to make things better, but I don’t see making things better and being prepared for the way things are as mutually exclusive points of view. I think it’s possible to prepare someone for the way things are while explaining to them that things would be better a different way and all the while doing things that might eventually make things better.
I have “un-schooled” six of my seven children. None of them ever took any testing, but all have gone on to different occupations. One manages pool stores, one is in nursing school (online thus far since her husband has a life time ban from the U.S.) one is an artist, one works at a call center and is and expat. one is in jail, one is working toward a GED so she can go to law school. There are so many oppurtunities for kids without going through the hoops of public education. In talking with my kids now that they are older and asking their thoughts on home schooling, they are all grateful they got to be home. Freedom, creativity, as well as intact esteems are all reasons they give. As far as gardening, I think it is interesting to be aware of the shift in attitude people have toward those who grow their own food. We have lived in CR for three and a half years and here only poor people grow their own food. They think we are looney because we garden and try to be some what self reliant. I can only imagine that in the States they also feel this way only worse! In fact here only the poor even take care of their own house and yard. Maybe it was like that there we just did not see it quite as much. So I guess what I am saying is that even the Latinos from this country would not appreciate their children learning gardening at school. Their whole goal here is to pass exams, period. The Western way has pretty much infiltrated the whole world, bummer.
Well, we’re probably just debating schematics at this point, but that’s okay.
I don’t have an issue with structured learning. I take issue with coerced or compulsory education. If you’ve read my blog for long, you know we’re unschoolers. Not because I think schools are evil, but because I think taking away the rights and choices of people (even smaller, younger people) is equal to any other kind of oppression.
Schools are great…IF the person wants to be there. But for those that don’t, it’s a forced imprisonment. Strong words? Why, yes they are. But only jails and schools hold such similarities in control.
Have you read anything about unit studies? They are quite popular in both homeschooling and formal edu. And for a good reason – they mimic real life learning. From one interest sprouts many different trails, which lead into more interests and more learning. It’s like a giant game of Connect The Dots. My interest in massage therapy eventually lead me to permaculture, one step at a time. That’s why using one thing – a garden, horses, politics, Pokemon cards – actually works. It takes a passion, something that actually holds a persons attention, and builds upon that intrinsic motivation. So while I can see that writing a recipe is certainly watered down compared to writing an essay, if it gets a kid writing – and enjoying writing – when they wouldn’t have done either otherwise, I’d call that a huge success! (Not to mention practical, as most of us use recipes much more often than essays as an adult.)
It’s never been about farm workers or immigrants or anyone else not liking something. Until they have parents complaining about it, I don’t understand the issue. But parents complain about lots of things – primarily because when there are 50 kids in a classroom you simply can’t meet everyone’s individual needs. That the author even brought it up sounded to me more personal bias than substantiated parental opinion. From what I’ve read, the complaints from kids, parents or faculty are pretty rare.
The bully thing is certainly schematics at this point. I understand what you’re saying. Over-protection is as bad as complete neglect. But that life is tough, doesn’t mean our kids shouldn’t have the safest place to land. And no amount of abuse prepares a person for a life of abuse, except by hardening them to it or teaching them it’s normal. I simply can’t agree that because a person will need to do something they don’t want to do at times in their life that we should force them to doing those things now. I think the *need* to do them will be the motivation. Not habit or blind obedience to any system.
Yes. Learning to deal with them IS important…but it’s also INEVITABLE. We don’t need to create circumstances; circumstances are already abundant. We can simply allow them to arise naturally and guide our kids with compassion.
I know it may seem counter-intuitive…it certainly did for me when I first encountered the philosophy. It was totally opposite of how I was raised and everything I was taught about children and life. But our experiences and the experiences of countless others have changed my point-of-view.
All kids deserve the same amount of respect and the freedom to make choices (that are not life-threatening to themselves or others, of course). Taking away a school garden…or the art classes…or band…or football…or theater…or video games…or a favorite toy…or a CD collection…because someone else doesn’t see the value or feels it’s not as important is not respecting the view of the kids who do see and feel and experience the value in every fiber of their being.
In short, to me and the reason I was so incensed about it: it’s not really about the gardens. It’s not about the testing. It’s about the disregard for our children’s rights and interests as autonomous individuals.
I recognize not everyone agrees with me. That’s why I only share my strongest views on my personal blog. It’s my personal soapbox and my means of self-expression. Especially when I feel so strongly about subjects that so rarely converge in a way that shocked me as much as this.
I love your long comment, and YOU.
I’ve just forwarded your long (but in the best way!) comment to some family members – maybe it’ll help them to understand more of where I’m heading to these days hearing it from someone else and said so well.
I’ve not had time to read the whole article yet, but already my blood is boiling and I completely agree with everything you’ve already said. One point that struck me was the quote from the South LA School Founder who said about getting them to college -”That’s all that matters to me” – not only is this sad for the reasons you mentioned, but really is it all about what matters to him/her ? What about giving the children a break from all the studying (which ironically would make them better learners), what about the children who will never be college material – what about giving them practical opportunities to see there is a life outside of academic- a chance to shine in a situation that isn’t about academics – where for once they may outperform some of their more intellectual classmates. If all that matters is getting children into college, then it’s just no wonder that people are so disenchanted with the education system, and that so many are disenfranchised by it (and I say this as someone who was academic, who thrived on study and continued after school to college, university and post graduate studies).
My husband is a High School English teacher and is just as frustrated with the educational system as you are. He would love to throw away the term paper requirement for his lower (not going to college) students in favor of learning how to write a resume or a newspaper article or a letter to the editor or any of a thousand REAL LIFE writing experiences that would help these young people get jobs when they leave school. The ‘one size fits all’ model that most schools are mandated to follow just doesn’t leave room for those individuals who don’t fit the mold…..and don’t want to.
We have lost Home Economics, Wood shop and Auto shop….next on the chopping block are the Agriculture classes, and we live in the Central Valley of CA….the Ag capitol of the world! These kids are farmers kids and actually PLAN on continuing to farm (heaven forbid). We’re so bent on teaching to the test and getting them into college that we are graduating hundreds of kids with no skill sets whatsoever….not to mention a sense of failure and worthlessness. The saddest part of all is that they are wearing down the good teachers, men like my husband, who genuinely care about kids and their futures are tired of the constant battle. My dear dedicated husband loves his students but has started to count the days until retirement….and we all lose.
“That’s what I learned from HS and college – stop shaking things up – don’t ask questions and just do as your told – you’ll get better grades and more people will like you.”
In a nutshell
as always im pretty much with ya here. however, while i do agree its a great step forward in offering options to the kid that wants to be outside in the garden, forcing the kids that would rather be reading inside or building a computer or playing basketball into ‘garden class’ seems like the same old school stuff. doesnt matter to me that they’re adding new stuff, its the way its done, without the elective not to but to do something else they are interested in, that is the biggest bother to me.
Well, had all sorts to say then the time was taken up with reading the dialogue in the Comments.
Great stuff, always worthy of discussion.
I’m pretty much with you on your feeings towards the article. Many of her points were illogical.
I’m with you 100%. The article is truly moronic.
The best we can do is teach as many as possible that learning is a tool. The students are the customers and the school is the store. The customer should know what they are going to do with what they buy and use the store to the best advantage possible.
And for all of us that are done with school we should still work on learning.
I knew from 9th grade I was going to be an engineer if I grew up. The helpful counselor put me in college prep. That left no time for shop class or technical drawing. I told her no thank you I am not college prep I am engineer prep and I need shop and drawing not French and what not. I even took interior decorating my senior year because there was no way I was going to pay for that course in college and it was something I wanted to learn.
If the school can’t offer gardens, shop, and so many other important options then we need some more after school activities. In India I watched children go to after school study groups. They have standardized tests there ten times worse than here. Most corporations have to reteach it employees how to think instead of just memorizing and regurgitating facts without understanding.
Thank you for the rant – it summed up everything I was thinking and feeling when I read that article. It sounds a lot better coming from your fingers then it would have from mine.
F#$(* f#*(*$ f#$(*#$(* d#(*$(* f#$(*#$# was I think what I was actually thinking.
This is addressed to any naysayers…… What will happen to those college grads when they are in the unemployment line or their retirement is not enough to live on? If they have nothing else to fall back on, they will be panic-stricken and scared. However, if they have a fully balanced education, they can fall back to growing their own food! Many people act as if going to college guarantees that they will always make the money or never be put in circumstances that we may need to grow our own food. I wonder how many of the business people are now questioning that? Wouldn’t basic skills with gardens more readily prepare us for the “real” world…..the real world of possible job losses and failing businesses?
The schools and colleges prepare us to be consumers…..go to the store to buy our food…… but this is not a balanced education. It is a one sided, consumerism education that makes us much MORE dependent on others. It is those who can grow their own food that are prepared when a job loss happens or tough times come along.
Ironically these skills, which are far more empowering than any college degree, can be learned without ever stepping foot in the classroom! (As with most useful skills).
My husband has a college degree, he has the job that he wanted but it wasn’t until he began gardening and learned how to grow his own food that he felt the courage to take more risk and really begin living. Why? Because he sees now that even if he were to lose his job, we can survive!
When we have confidence in our ability to grow our own food and survive without dependency on others, we will be more ready to confront difficult questions and not just sit down and shut up because we “need” a job and we don’t want to make anyone angry.
Look at this comment thread, mama! Awesome! What continues to baffle me about the get-kids-into-college-as-the-end-goal vision of public schools is that we, as a country, have more children than ever going on to participate in post-secondary education, and yet, continue to fall further behind in the world economy. If the goal is getting a highly educate workforce to equal a strong economy (*note* this is not a personal goal– just a take on the public education goal), how are we missing the disconnect between fact stuffing and the failing workforce? We are not teaching children how to think– how to be creative– how to make connections (like farm to table. ahem.). And the bottom line is that we need more edisons. We need more imagination. More passion. More joy. And maybe, just maybe, if we had that in our schools, our system would not only thrive, but change (and put the focus on some different ideals/goals).
ps– I just introduced a project today I think you’d dig….stop by and check it out when time allows;)
This is very well written…with a lot of emotion & passion. I can appreciate that, but I have a hard time swallowing the gross generalizations & blaming of public education. As I am sure that homeschoolers/unschoolers dislike having similar generalizations put on them. I think that it is fabulous that your family has chosen a homeschooling life…it fits you…it fits your child…it fits your entire family. I applaud you for taking responsibility for guiding your child’s learning. It is not a choice for everyone.
I am not an expert. I only homeschooled my boys’ for 1 year and I have only taught in the public school system for 10 years. I am a pretty sensitive individual & take my teaching job seriously and it hurts when people believe there way is the only way to help guide children’s learning. I think that we are so fortunate to be able to have choices. I also believe it is our job as parents to help our children make sense of the world in whatever education choice we make…I also wish that everyone could get along…I sometimes see the battle that many folks decide to create between homeschooling and public education, as a political forum & it makes my skin crawl. I am not sure there should be a versus…we make our choices with the best knowledge we have at that time & moment for our family(child/ren). It might not be what you choose, but it doesn’t mean it is the wrong choice.
As for gardening…please don’t read this article as it is the be all and end all of public education…there are so many schools out there that have managed to incorporate “REAL” learning…life skills…taking pride in something…having passion about learning…making choices…cultivating life, learning within a garden or whatever a child’s interest might be in.
It is a HUGE bummer that standardized testing is such a focus for so many educators & politicians as a way to gain knowledge about a kiddo…but…there are so many caring, passionate teachers that create a learning environment around the children in their classroom…and let those kiddo’s passion drive the learning that happens in that room & school…please don’t think that teachers are so insensitive that they drill kids to death…if that is what i had to do daily i would get out of my job. Teachers are creative individuals that figure out a way to not make standardized testing a focus.
I have tremendous respect for folks that choose to homeschool/unschool their child/ren, but I certainly don’t feel that same respect in return.
@Tiff, I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same respect in return. My words obviously did not come off with the right intentions.
I have total respect for parents and children who feel public school is the right choice for them. I do not believe there is a one-size-fits-all education, in the least. (Although, that unschooling fits itself to any child, including a child who chooses school, I obviously feel most passionate about it.)
And I have the utmost respect for teachers. I don’t – and have never – blamed teachers for the problems I see within schools. In fact, I’ve often said it’s because of teachers’ determination that schools are able to accomplish anything. My blame always lies with the ridiculous restraints put on a teacher’s creativity and freedoms within their classroom. I’ve met so many wonderful teachers who’s hands are tied by federal mandates like NCLB. So, when I say “blame the schools”, what I really mean to say was blame the top-down bullshit which infiltrates our schools and cripples the teachers and children who wish to be there.
Yes, I make generalizations, but it is the generalization of what school has become that I’m speaking against. Not against the parents or teachers or the real difference-makers, but the general environment of schools these days. It’s difficult to call attention to what needs changing without speaking in general terms.
But *please* do not think for one moment I judge harshly anyone who chooses school or anyone who attempts to make a real difference within schools. It’s simply not how I feel. And I apologize if my passionate words or anything else I said implied that I do.
Hi:
Hooray for a well written, thoughtful post and a great response to the drivel in Cultivating Failure. I clicked on the link to the article and read the first few paragraphs; couldn’t take anymore after that. Blech. Learning about where food comes from and how to grow it is as valuable a life skill as something basic like balancing a checkbook. That article smacks of spin to me and I’m wondering if there isn’t something behind it like, for instance, a food conglomerate that is feeling a little threatened by the whole “grow your own” movement.
Just sayin’…
Hi-
I saw this TED video and was reminded of this post. I think it is a perfect response to the article.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html
Thanks for re-posting, Tara.
After teaching in the public school system and administering and having to adhere to standardized testing, well…I suppose it has a lot to do with our choice to pull our son out of the school system. I miss my students and sharing my passion for my subject matter, but I do NOT miss the paperwork, endless testing, and the system of punishment/reward that was there for the “benefit” of the students and staff. So many children hated school. So many teachers fear the repercussions of teaching children to love a subject and inspire them in their lives instead of “teaching to the test” – everything came down to scores and money. It is hard, horrible, and sad. My thoughts are with the teachers who are still out there on the front lines, so to speak. Most of them truly love kids and teaching and try their best, but the system is set up for good teachers to burn out. It’s a sad state of affairs across the board.
I was one of those teachers appauled by the system, and trying to make a difference, with all those restraints… I did quit, and I did pull my child out of school (although she’d only been there 1 month), but I left with a feeling of relief, and also a greater respect for the teachers that really truly do care, and that keep trying no matter what. I simply could not go on any farther with it, it made me feel so anxious and stressed out… I got my Masters degree in Cross-Cultural Education, and I realized that there are so many teachers who no how screwed up the system is, and that’s why they want to teach even more, because they’re rebels to the system, and they want to make change. It is so challenging, and like I said, I was one of those rebels with a cause, but I couldn’t hang, due to my highly sensitive and emotional nature… I just want to say that I love how you write Tara.
I appreciate how you post your opinions,and write back to people who have thiers. It’s not easy to do, so I’m impressed… I could go on and on about how much I agree with your words too Tara… We are an unschooling family like you, and we also have admiration for the teachers that try to make a difference… I also know a lot of teachers who don’t care nearly as much as I did, and they say such awful things and that breaks my heart. Cuz when it all comes down to it, it’s a job, and even our economical system is screwed up, it’s not even ECO-nomical! So yeah, that’s all I have to say 