Problems in American Education - Part 21: Home and Parents First
I have recently had some conversations about this series with people I respect. They contend that, while they believe I make some good points, many of the reforms I suggest won’t work unless changes first take place in the American home. Parents, they feel, are the keys to change, and without parental cooperation and commitment, there is not much that is possible.
I really don’t have much of an argument with that point of view. It makes common sense and forging an alliance with parents is certainly a major objective that we must clearly keep in mind as we work on these problems. There is a danger in it, however, and it is a danger I have feared for quite some time.
My experience has been that educators (and I have worked with many who fall into this trap) often use this caution of my friends as an excuse for inaction. If you do nothing about these problems, in other words, it is a little too easy to rationalize your passivity by contending that parents must be on board first. It’s like the old comic routine where something has gone wrong and the group is approached to see who is responsible. As soon as they are confronted, everybody simultaneously points their fingers to blame someone else. The result is that the status quo is maintained and no one takes responsibility for taking the first step in the right direction.
This does not mean that educators are always wrong when they blame parents. Quite to the contrary, they are often correct - maybe most of the time they are correct; but that does not excuse inaction on the part of educators. One of the basic rules of golf is that you play the ball where it lies. You have to work with what you have, not what you wish it would be. If we have problems in education, we cannot afford the luxury of analyzing what other groups need to do. Certainly we can do whatever we can to push those groups in the right directions, but we need to attack the problems directly with all the tools (and resources) we have at our disposal. Ultimately, it is a matter of credibility.
I really don’t have much of an argument with that point of view. It makes common sense and forging an alliance with parents is certainly a major objective that we must clearly keep in mind as we work on these problems. There is a danger in it, however, and it is a danger I have feared for quite some time.
My experience has been that educators (and I have worked with many who fall into this trap) often use this caution of my friends as an excuse for inaction. If you do nothing about these problems, in other words, it is a little too easy to rationalize your passivity by contending that parents must be on board first. It’s like the old comic routine where something has gone wrong and the group is approached to see who is responsible. As soon as they are confronted, everybody simultaneously points their fingers to blame someone else. The result is that the status quo is maintained and no one takes responsibility for taking the first step in the right direction.
This does not mean that educators are always wrong when they blame parents. Quite to the contrary, they are often correct - maybe most of the time they are correct; but that does not excuse inaction on the part of educators. One of the basic rules of golf is that you play the ball where it lies. You have to work with what you have, not what you wish it would be. If we have problems in education, we cannot afford the luxury of analyzing what other groups need to do. Certainly we can do whatever we can to push those groups in the right directions, but we need to attack the problems directly with all the tools (and resources) we have at our disposal. Ultimately, it is a matter of credibility.
posted by Friar4 at 3:45 PM
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