Education: The Reason the Berlin Wall Fell

Twenty years ago I was watching the television and all of a sudden Tom Brokaw broke in with a live shot of the Berlin Wall crumbling down. German citizens were frolicking and celebrating peacefully as that Wall came down. Today in Germany they are celebrating that remarkalble event in Berlin with some of the primaries behind the fall of the Wall such as Russian leader Michail Gorbachev and Polish Union leader Lech Walesa.

I was fortunate that two of the swimmers on my swim team, Indira Allick and Josh Davis were in Berlin with the USA Junior National Team participating in a meet near the time the Wall came tumbling down and brought me back a piece of the Wall, complete with graffiti. I treasure the piece I now own as a symbol of democracy and freedom.

In Karl Marx's 'Das Kapital' and in his 'Communitist Manifesto' he stresses that Communism is the next logical step after democracy using his theory of dialectical materialism. I have often felt that his concept was inaccurate since democracy is the endpoint of the struggles between the classes. This I believe is because education is the vehicle in which democracy prevails. In my theory, countries that have a high level of education and a large participation in the process of being educated are the ones that support a democratic system better. That is why the 1960's and 1970's attempts at democratizing countries like Vietnam were failures. The education systems were not mature in these countries, therefore the people were not ready to accept democracy as a viable choice. It is when citizens of these countries become so educated that they can question their oppression that then and only then will democracy be able to be installed as political system. This is why I feel we are failing in Iraq and Afghanistan because the people are not educated enought to manage on their own. Too many tribes are used to having someone control their lives.

This is what happened eventually in communist run countries. When the people realized how bad their system was, they revolted or in the case of the Wall, the leaders acquiesed to the populace's demand; that being the start of a democratic system. Education in these countries made this possible, in my theory.

Universal education is the key to any democratic system and was responsible for the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago. Look at what followed that fall.

Making the School Day Longer or Not?

A month ago President Obama came out with a radical education idea, that being making our students stay in school longer. Longer school days and more school days were one of his answers for a better educational system. As many of you know, I have long been a supporter of the change that the President wants to make in this country. A lot of this stems from being an outsider and an immigrant. Having experienced systems in other countries I feel that the USA isn't necessarily the perfect situation, though I will qualify it by saying that in many aspects it is the best situation.

That being said our school system is far from perfect. I have often been a proponent of a longer school day, beginning at 7:00 am and going to 5:00 pm. I, however, differ from the President when I also advocate a four day school week.

I feel that we could educate better with these longer hours. There would be more time to emphasize the basics that our kids don't have time for in schools these days. I also feel that we should be downplaying the 'fluff' we have in our schools. Fridays could be set aside for remedial work, clubs, sporting events etc. Fridays in my opinion are wasted days at schools as are half days. The end of the school day could be set aside for enrichmnet activities and for further remediation. Students after a three day weekend come back ready to learn, in my opinion.

The parents would have a greater chance to get home from work to meet their children when they returned to work. Many industires and corporations are going to a four day work week and this would coincide woith a four day school week.Parents could have more opportunities to bond with their children by taking them places on the long weekend or visiting museums, parks etc. Lord knows we need to bring this bond back to America. It will make it stronger, I guarantee it.

The problem with the President's proposal was as is the case with most government programmes is paying for them. This way the extra time at school duing the week would be offset by the long weekend that teachers would have. There would be extra pay given to those who wish to run programs on Fridays. Coaches already get this extra money in most sports.

Add to this a few more weeks into June for most schools and we have a longer time to educate our students. The summer vacation in my state, Texas, is way too long. Kids have a hard enough time retaining work in their heads over a Christmas or Spring break, let alone a three month hiatus from school. Summer schools could still be kept in operation but I would think that with more time in the day for rote learning and drill in the basic subjects there would be fewer numbers of summer school students. Summer school should be used for those students who wish to extend their learning, not for those who didn't choose to learn it in the first place.

So Mr. President listen to my ideas. If we want to compete with the other world powers it startsin the classroom. We have too many good teachers and good students to waste this opportunity to make it better. This is only part of the problem, I know, but a little more intense time and rigor in the school can't hurt.

Murder of a Teacher: Are We Protected?

Yesterday in the East Texas city of Tyler a Special Education teacher, Todd Henry, was maliciously stabbed in the neck by one of his 16 year old students in the high school he taught. Mr. Henry, by all accounts was a very good teacher and was in a classroom at the time with three other special ed. students and a paraprofessional helping him teach. The student was a special education student with special needs.

It is obvious Mr. Henry and many like him all over the country have special needs also. In my thirty eight years of teaching in Canada and the United States I was rarely taught to protect myself. I saw Mr. Henry's picture on the TV and he was no slouch, a big burly fellow who looked like he could handle himself with any high school student. Most teachers can, in most cases. In most schools this might have never happened.

Not when there is a weapon involved, whether it is a knife or a gun, could he handle this himself. I often thought what it would be like if I pissed off a student or parent. Would I be able to defend myself? Sure with my hands, but not against a weapon like Mr. Henry was confronted with yesterday, especially if I didn't see it coming. I have been assaulted at least once in my career.

I was wandering down the hall towards the office in a middle school one day when I came across a fight in the hallway. There were two large boys who had been shouting at each other. One was about 230 lbs. but not in very good shape, chubby to say the least. The other was a kid who just enrolled last week. He was a strapping tall boy, very muscled, in really good shape. I diffused the situation verbally and asked a strong female teacher to assist me in taking these two to the office for disciplining.

Then out of the blue, the strong one started taking off his shirt and his chains and I said to myself 's..t I'm in trouble here'. He went through me to the other boy and threw me, literally threw me up against the lockers. I was able to separate the heavier boy from the other and then the strong one came at me again and went after the other one. I found myself up against a wall. A coach came by to help and I grabbed the heavy kid and threw him into a sixth grade room and told him to get back to the rear of the room. He called me every name in the book and all I said to him was " He's going to kill you. I can see it in his eyes". When I got out of the room the strong kid had calmed down. We were able to get them to the office.

After that I found out that this student had been in and out of State Hospitals all year and this was his sixth Middle School. None of us were even informed of this. He was later expelled from our district for assaulting me. Even at the hearing the district did nothing there to protect me. They even let the boy and myself out of the hearing room at the same time. The boy followed me all the way to my car where I jumped in and sped off.

If I ran the schools what would I do to protect the teachers? The state pays millions of dollars a year on bus evacuation drills, spends teaching time on fire and tornado drills and even have secret codes for lock down procedures. Some of our esteemed legislators have even gone as far as to try to legislate teachers carrying weapons on them while teaching. This idea, if it would have been in effect yesterday, would not have prevented the situation ,only escalated it. Probably there would have been at least one dead kid as well.

No these are not the answers. Increased police presence perhaps.Better disseminating of information about problem students. The 'heck' with 'confidential' in these types of cases, teachers need to know what they are up against. Surveillance cameras such as they have in the Northside ISD can only help. Some schools have metal detectors at doors much like county courthouses have across the country. That might help. I think character education classes, if taught correctly, could be a preventative. Most of today's kids, unfortunately, are not getting this message at home. Schools shouldn't replace parents but the law says we are 'in loco parentis' so it is my experience that there are many times we have to replace the parent, even when the kids have them.

There probably are very few things I could do that could have prevented what happened yesterday if I ran the schools. It was a freak situation. In my years of teaching students brought knives and guns to schools I taught at but this was not the norm. It only takes one, however in the wrong hands. School districts need to have the means in their possession to combat these situations. I'm sure that all school districts will have mandatory inservices on this case. I'm sure that there will be some grants for programs to train staff on crisis prevention. This will last a while until the money for the grants runs out. Then it will be forgotten until someone reinvents the wheel. That always happens in education.

School districts will try to combat this issue and that is good. I pray that we won't hear about something like this again for a long time. I pray for Todd Henry, his family, his friends and his students.

Separation of School and State?

The last time I looked the government ran the schools. The local authority was the school board, the state authority was the Texas Education Agency (in Texas where I live)and the national authority was the Department of Education. To me that seems like there is a big connection between government and state. So what is the huge fuss when our President who happens to be the highest elected official in the land wants to address the students of the country?

Earlier this year the school district I worked in had all the students in the district, almost 80,000 of them, watch the President's Inaugural Address on TV. What a historic moment! Now that speech was a political speech full of ideas for the country and ideologies that would shape his new Presidency and his promise of change. Now when he wants to address the youth of the country in what I understand to be a non political speech this same school district is not allowing it to be shown. At the least, tape it and show it during that invaluable time that we used to call advisory.

If I ran the schools all my students would be watching and listening to what he has to say. What can it hurt to have a motivational speech from a guy who has come from unusual circumstances to become the most powerful leader in the most powerful country in the world. Students tend to be highly socialized by the 'street', the TV, Hollywood and I can't forget the internet. Most of that information they are gleaning is pretty horrible stuff.They hear about violence, drugs, sex etc. from people who lead lifestyles that are not too exemplary. They see immages of things that children should not see. So when a President who is intelligent, who overcame the stigma of race, who worked his way up the socio economic ladder with hard work and responsible choices wants children in America to become responsible citizens and make good choices we want to BOYCOTT him.Come on, you boycott bad movies, topless bars near churches and schools and shoes made in sweatshops.

Why I say? I think there is a large undercurrent of racism in this country. I live in East Texas now and I hear the 'N' word used in association with the President. I hear people wishing someone would assassinate him. It's because he is black. Do you think for a moment if one of the Bushes, Bill Clinton or even Jimmy Carter were to offer to address the nation's children there would be such a big reaction. No! Ever since President Obama got elected, yes elected by a good majority of the electorate,there has been a vocal element of this country that has been sabotaging his every move with HATE,LIES, and DECEPTION. This element has been allolwed to stir up feelings of hatred in America.

Next week I will watch the Obama speech to the kids. I will wait to judge it's merits. I think if we don't allow our kids to watch out of hatred we are sending a message to our children that it is okay to disrespect our President no matter who he was. There have been many Presidents I have not agreed with, but I have never disrespected them. They have the toughest job in the world. Let's let them do it.
To answer the question. No, there is no separation of school and state in this country.

Parenting Part Three: Helicopter Parents

It's been awhile since I last wrote. I have moved 300 miles to the northeast of Texas. My lovely wife and I have been busily getting a new old house in order. For the first time in 56 years I did not have to spend the summer thinking about going back to school. No inservices, no curriculum planning etc. Today would have been the first day for teachers to go back to school in my old district so I think I am officially retired. The past few months have just been summer vacation.

Have you ever had a parent who likens themselves to a helicopter pilot? Swooping down everytime their little Johhny or Barby has a problem. Waiting at your classroom door before you even get your morning coffee. Emailing you everytime they get a whiff of a problem with their child. Phoning you either at school or at home when their child gets a low grade or a bad test score. Happened to me all the time. Remember for the past 11 years I have been dealing with gifted kids and for every gifted kid there seems to be at least one worried parent.

What do they worry about? Is this a good behaviour for their child to witness? What can you do about it as an educator?

The answer to the first question is that most of their worry is about academic achievement. Parents whether it is in sports or in education often live their lives through their children. They worry that their child is not going to live up to their expectations.They are concerned about class rank, keeping up with the academic competition and their child's academic progress. They go so far as to get overly involved in the school-serving on PTA, becoming a PAL, volunteering for every field trip, signing on as a substitute teacher etc.Any reason to enter the school. Now I'm not condenming this kind of behaviour. I like parents being involved in the school. As stated in other parts of this blog it's a good thing to have a healthy balance between parents, teachers and students. Helicoptering is just not healthy. It's that I question their motivation sometimes. Most of your children don't appreciate your hovering over them all the time.

This brings me to the second question. The answer is 'no', it is not good behaviour for a child to witness. As stated above the children don't always want their parents to intercede. The downside of this behaviour is that sometimes the children get to expect it from their parents and they NEVER are trained to solve their own problems.They begin to rely too much on Mommy or Daddy interfering. I am so fortunate to have raised a daughter who told me, "Dad, I can solve this problem myself, I'll take care of it on my own". I can't remember ever interfering in her school problems. I helped her at home and sent her on her way. She went to college with an indepedence that often amazed me.

The final question is an easy one. Parents need to be taught and counseled on this 'helicoptering'. I remember sitting down with the 'pilot mom' who always was hovering and telling her that 'tough love' is sometimes the best. Let her son work out his own problems. Let him FAIL sometimes. That was a tough one for her to swollow. Sometimes you have to do it parents.It's how they learn. That young man turned out to be a awesome high school student who by achieving his ' independence' was able to learn how to solve problems on his own. Goal setting is another option. Teach the child to set goals and be responsible for their own academic progress.

Finally, students teach your parents to let you go. Train them to recognize that you want to be responsible for your own works and your own actions. With this accomplished the skies will not be crowded with helicopters manned by parents who are just waiting to swoop down. If I ran the schools the helicopters would all be grounded.

Parenting Part Two:

This past week I attended my grandson's third birthday. I did it not just to honor him but also to honor my daughter, whom I dearly love. We got in the car and drove five hours to get there. In fact, in two weeks from now my wife and I are going to make a drastic lifestyle change and move all our household goods, our animals, and ourselves to a new home near my daughter and my grandson. Some may say this is a great sacrifice but I look at it as another stage in the parenting process. We wish to spend our last years near this important part of our family.

As an educator I often did not witness firsthand the sacrifice that good parents made. I knew they were there, but I did not always see them. Many a parent gives up a big part of their life to make money so that their children can have more things. Sometimes they buy it when they don't have the money. That is bad parenting because down the line there will be payback. I think we are in a 'NOW' society where young people want immediacy. What I mean by this is they see so much on TV that others have and they just want more. That kind of thinking got America in the trouble we are in now. It's hard to say 'no' to your children but if you want to be a good parent then you have to sit them down and explain to them that there is only so much money and the realities and follies of credit buying and debt.

There is also a difference in sacrificing so that your children can have material things and sacrificing so that the family can be 'more together, and the children can get more learning experiences. Let me give you an example. Is an 'I-phone' a true learning experience? Is a PSP anything more than a glorified baby sitter? But is a day a the zoo, or at a musuem a more valuable learning experience. I say "YES"! Is sending them to Six Flags a better learning experience than going on a family vacation where they see different parts of the state, or the country or if you have the time and money, the world. I say "NO"!

How do we get parents to make those changes? I know that many of my Gifted children I taught went to the zoo, museums, family trips etc. when they were younger and that contributed to their giftedness. This parental nurturing versus the nature of a mindset of 'give them everything' will take a drastic mindset change. I think schools should have 'mandatory' inservices for parents on this subject. There should be fairs set up where zoos, museums etc. are brought in to educate the parents on these opportunities where the parents' money is well spent. Especially in this day when field trips are a no-no except for special programs, then bring the field trips to the school. The return the school would get back from such a partnership would be multi-faceted. The enhancement of learning for all intelligence groups would be highly beneficial to not only the student but also for the educator and the district. I guarantee that the 'dreaded' test scores will improve. Parents, this approach will save you money and at the same time also strengthen the bond between you and your child.

At the same time as parents need to make a mindset change so do their children. Their values have to take an about face. Many a time I've seen a child who has 'free lunch' come to school with a brand new pair of $100 plus Nikes. Often it is because the child has demanded it. Your parents aren't goldmines and you do not have the right to have an ATM card on you from the 'Bank of Parent'. Earn your money. I'm speaking from experience when I implore you to learn the value of money, get a part time job, open your own bank account and be accountable to yourself for those extras. The best thing my mother did for me was when I got my first job at age ten, she took me down to the bank and we opened an account. She told me to spend a portion of it and save the rest. What a lifetime learning experience. Don't drain your parents. Contribute. It will highly beneficial when you get to be a parent yourself.

Parenting Part One:

The other day when I was riding my bike on a back road near Boerne, Tx. I came across a tremendous example of parenting. I saw a deer jump a fence and run across in front of my bike. I glanced over to my right and saw three or four other deer standing next to the fence. A car was approaching from the other direction and I said to myself and aloud at the same time, "Don't you other deer run across the road now or I'll be looking at some roadkill". They didn't move but stood there looking at the bottom of the fence. I glanced back and I saw a baby deer or 'Bambi' as my wife would have called it with it's right hind leg caught in the fence dangling helplessly from the fence and wailing in pain. I dismounted my bike and ran over to the fence. The other deer ran off into the field and I watched them circle in the field and effortlessly launch themselves over the fence about a hundred yards down the road. As I got closer to the baby deer I saw that it's leg was indeed caught not once, but twice, wrapped throughout the wire. There was a deep gash on it's leg where it had tried to free itself from danger. I talked to the deer, patted it's head, brushed it's flank with my hand and reassured it I would do anything I could with the resources I had to get it out of it's mess.

I started to move it's leg out of the wire but it was so caught up in the wire it made it difficult to move without breaking the leg. It cried out in pain several times. I heard a huffing and puffing behind me and as I turned around I noticed a female deer standing across the road from me, making threatening motions with its' feet and sounds from it's mouth. They were all directed at me. She thought I was going to harm her young one. I worked on the wire and pulled the baby deer up and finally after a few minutes I was able to move the baby free. To my delight the 'Bambi' ran off into the field with a full gallop looking no worse for the wear. As soon as the baby took off the mother deer circled back across the road, leapt over the fence and sought out her offspring so as to comfort and take care of it. I was pleased.

What does this have to do with education? As teachers we have been given the role of "in loco parentis". We see great parents like the doe who stood her ground and protected her young one from what she perceived as a villain. We see great parents who like the doe who comfort and nourish their young when times are tough. On the other hand we see those who do neither and then we have to step in. As I have progressed in my 38 years of teaching I have seen many changes that I don't feel that comfortable with regarding parenting skills.

Parents are a part of the triumvirate that makes education click: student, parent, teacher. Each has an integral role in the process. Parenting is the toughest of all three. As I see it there are two things we do the most in life, but have the least experience and education for, loving someone and raising a child. We have trouble with both, especially the latter since we only have the role models of our own parents (and we know that those are often less than perfect) and a few 'expertly' written manuals on the subject. There is no course in school that helps us be a good parent that is required by law. Perhaps there should be. So from the beginning parents are behind the proverbial '8-ball' and have to a lot of catching up on their own lack of learning on the subject and tend to do an abundance of 'trial and error' learning as they fly by the seat of their pants. No wonder we have so many issues with parenting as educators.

In the next few blogs I would like to address different aspects of parenting. Please feel free to share your experinces with parenting from the viewpoint of either educator, student or parent.