So, after reading Seth Godin's manifesto, I experienced a variety of emotions. The first was agreement. I agree with what he said in 6 " Changing school doesn't mean sharpening the pencil we've got.". I' m sure we've heard the saying that the true definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Obviously, as the world changes, so must the function of school. I certainly feel that way with respect to the state's take on testing. If our current testing isn't producing higher educated individuals, why are we increasing the testing? And, I'm sure Seth would also wonder, why does it have to be multiple choice?
I then started experiencing displeasure and annoyance. Where does this guy get off saying that I am indoctrinating students, squashing their dreams, and encouraging mediocraity? So I decided to do a little research on Seth. I only spent about 5 minutes doing this research, so please don't expect much validity or reliability. It is just my own personal opinion. On his bio, Seth is described as an entrepreneur. His blog talks about industrialists dehumanizing their products and making sure that their employees are fungible commodities. So at this point, I realized that this guy is not just anti education. He is, in my opinion, trying to inspire people to have dreams and work to achieve them. He started a site(sqidoo.com) that allows anybody to create a page about something they are passionate about. I also relaxed a little bit when I realized that he is not in education. It is easy for someone that has not worked with kids the way that my fellow teachers and I do to make judgements and generalizations about what other people do. I just want to tell him to stick with his criticisms of industrialist!
Finally, I wanted to offer him a rebuttal. We are not a business that sets forth as a factory line, creating the same products over and over. We deal with kids and their baggage. There are some kids for whom school is they only place they can feel safe. How can some worry about their dream of being ( fill in the blank here) when they are abused, hungry, or scared. Schools are not only a place of learning. They are also a place where kids can come and feel safe for a short while( without the gun violence- that is an entirely different story) . Teachers( at least in my district) work hard to make a difference in the lives of our students. We also take personal interest in out students. I feel that by talking about schools in the manner he did, Seth dehumanized them himself. This is what he was warning against.
I may have more about Seth as I read other blogs, but that is it for now.
