Today’s educational system is being referred to as “ineffective”, “flawed” and “broken” by many top educators - with good reason! Having once been the top academic achieving nation in the world in practically every subject, we are now near the bottom of the academic barrel internationally.
The statistics from U.S. World and News Report and Time Magazine listed below are a depressing reminder that academic achievement in America has dropped from the top to the bottom.
The statistics from U.S. World and News Report and Time Magazine listed below are a depressing reminder that academic achievement in America has dropped from the top to the bottom.
My personal opinion on this issue is that the problem may not be the system, but the philosophy behind the system. Abraham Lincoln once said, “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next”.1
Emerson White, President of the National Superintendents Association in 1872, and later the President of Purdue University wrote, “All systems of education are based on some philosophic end - the acceptance of a wrong end results in a wrong system of education”.2
If Abraham Lincoln and Emerson White are correct, the problem is not the system, but the philosophy which governs the system!
President Obama in a speech on April 3, 2007 said, “Transitioning a system is a very difficult and costly and lengthy enterprise. It’s not like you can turn on a switch and you go from one system to another.”3 Whether you agree with his application of that statement or not, the statement itself, is true. Transitions are lengthy, costly and difficult because they require a change of philosophy!
There have been 3 distinct philosophies that have governed the American educational system from the late 1700’s up until today. These systems gradually changed from one to another over a period of time.
The system that dominated education when I was a boy (many decades ago) was reflected in the acronym of the 3 “R’s”: readin’ ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic. The philosophy behind the 3 “R’s” was focused on the process of education. Today, the philosophic focus is on performance and is reflected through the system as Academics and S.A.T Scores. (You do the acronym on that one!) Almost every educator I talk to expresses the pressures of standardized testing, quotas, and academic mandates and scores.
However, before the current A.S.S. system, and before the 3 R’s system, there were the 3 H’s: the Heart, the Head, and the Hands. The philosophy behind that system was focused on the person or the pupil.
1780’s–1880’s - System: 3 H’s - Philosophy: Person
1890’s–1960’s - System: 3 R’s - Philosophy: Process
1970’s–Today - System: A.S.S. - Philosophy: Performance
And yet, despite proof to the contrary, our current educational system pressures us to go “straight for the head” to accomplish academic success. They have missed the target by only 12 inches! Early American educators all agreed that the heart, not the head was the place to aim.
Chauncey Colgrove, the head instruction for Iowa State Teachers College in 1910 wrote, “The three H’s in education: We have now pointed out the aims of education in each of its three great divisions, the culture and training of the hand, - the head, and the heart. With these broad aims of education all the work of the school should be in harmony”.4
Another great educator, Charles Northend, who was a superintendent of schools in the 1860’s, wrote: “True education implies the proper culture of all the faculties of the heart and intellect, and the right development of the physical powers. Of these, the first-named is the most essential. A brilliant and cultivated intellect may dazzle and attract only to poison and destroy, unless chastened by right heart-training”.5
And finally, listen to Horace Mann, one of the greatest American educators of all time: “However loftily the intellect of man may have been gifted, however skillfully it may have been trained, if it be not guided by a sense of justice, a love of mankind, and a devotion to duty, its possessor is only a more splendid as he is a more dangerous barbarian”.6
My daughter, Rachel, was killed at Columbine by two brilliant young men who had both attended advanced educational classes. They had no lack of “head” training.
Every top award winning teacher that I have had the privilege to share the stage with over the last 10 years, from Gene Bedley (PTA’s Teacher of the Year) to Ron Clark (Disney Teacher of the Year) and from Jeanette Philips (Co-Founder of California League of Middle Schools) to Erin Gruewell (Freedom Writers) have one thing in common. They have all reached for the hearts of their students first! By the way, you can come see and hear 3 of these great educators in person at our June 23-26, 2010 Summit in Denver (see www.rachelschallenge.org for more info).
David Page wrote a book titled, The Theory and Practice of Teaching, which was used to train teacher for over 150 years. In it he said, “(the) process of lecturing children into imbecility is altogether too frequently practiced.”7
Albert Raub, another great educator said, “It is only the unskilled and uneducated teacher that believes children are educated mainly by what they are told”.8
I believe the pendulum of educational philosophy is beginning to swing once again back to the person. It will be a difficult, costly, and lengthy transition, but you and I can help encourage the process.
The point of this article is to encourage educators to focus on the heart, because the head and hands will follow. History proves that. Remember: IT’S BETTER FELT THAN TELT!
1Numerous internet google sources such as
http://www.quotesdaddy.com/quote/1174579/Abraham+Lincoln/the-philosophy-of-the-school-room-in-
one-generation
2Emerson White, The Art of Teaching, pg. 12, pblshd by American Book Company, 1901
3Barack Obama April 3, 2007 addressing a crowd
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589684,00.html
http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?t=1870081&page=4
4Chauncey Colgrove, The Teacher and the School, pg. 113, pblshd by Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1911
5Charles Northend, The Teacher’s Assistant, pg. 72, pblshd by Crosby, Nichols, and Company, 1859
6Horace Mann, Life and Works of Horace Mann, Vol. 4, pg. 4, by Lee and Shepard Publishers, 1891
7David Page, The Theory and Practice of Teaching, pg. 104, pblshd by A.S. Barnes & Co. 1847
8Albert Raub, Methods of Teaching, pblshd by E.L. Raub & Co., 1898
We started a dropout prevention project in our Dallas Middle School that has helped almost double graduation rates, from 34% to 60% within 5 years. Other positive factors are also happening outside our program, but the focus on the future we provide helps pull it all together.
ReplyDeleteHere is an idea that Rachel's Challenge may want to use. Dropout Prevention starts with motivation.
Motivating students can be better done with something more valuable than money: a vision of their own futures with a good education. School culture must change! Students must want to stay in school for the right reasons, not because the classroom is an effective detention facility! Not only students, but all school staff must achieve a more active focus on the future.
Students must be focused on their own futures in as concrete and physical a way as is possible. They can then better envision the value of education. To achieve this future focus a Dallas middle school started the School Archive Project in 2005. It is a 10-year time-capsule and 10-year class reunion/mentoring project. It costs about one dollar per child. Dropout rates are being cut in half! It's now in 6 Dallas schools. See www.studentmotivation.org. The Archive Project is free to use, we only ask that all improvements developed in using it be shared so we all learn.