Systemic Change: What does that mean?
I went to the Outside of the Classroom meeting yesterday. Good turnout. There were many young people there, many paid to attend, which is fine. We live in a capitalist society; every effort we make should be rewarded with money, right?
We have to play the game for now. I paid my daughter, who helps me with L&LNM, to go with me. I have to say it was nice to talk about what we learned in the car on the way home.
I learned a lot. I learned that, in all the years I've worked in education, the conversation hasn't changed one bit. At this meeting, we participated in a world cafe activity, where you talk with one group about a topic, report out to the group at large, then regroup and talk about a follow-up topic and again, report out.
The topics centered around the systemic problems we see in our education system, the mindsets we need to break free from, etc. But the conversation was the same old stuff that had little to do with systemic problems. The same ideas of helping students create portfolios, find jobs, prepare for college were discussed as if they were new. To some, I'm sure they were new.
My point, though, is that they aren't systemic issues. We think that we're thinking outside the box but in reality, we are buried so deep in it, we don't know what outside the box is -- or what systemic means.
So I took a deep breath right before the first group discussion ended and suggested that perhaps our youth aren't looking at college, corporatocracy/capitalism/materialism, and jobs with benefits as their future but instead they are looking to solve real world problems using available resources and the power of community.
The answer I got from a charter school principal in the group was, "They aren't ready for that." I was incensed!! I wanted to yell that it is us, the older generations, that aren't ready for that but our kids are. But I let it go.
I was encouraged later to hear one student stand up to passionately point out that much of the funding behind worthwhile endeavors is supplied by corrupt Big Business that in no way supports the average American worker. He warned us against choosing the almighty dollar over supporting important principles and ideals. That was the highlight of the meeting for me.
The promise of CivNet
Although I don't feel that Outside the Classroom is a good fit for L&LNM, I do believe that CivNet is. It is run by two young men who prove to me that there is a move away from capitalist endeavors and competing for jobs to a more cooperative endeavor to solve community problems.
Converting houses to sustainable energy
I would like to make our first CivNet project the one we talked about in another post to help home owners convert to sustainable energy without going into debt. We need to plan a little first but stay tuned for calls for action and requests for volunteers to help us help New Mexicans live good lives.
That's it for today. July is here. Have a safe and happy 4th.
We have to play the game for now. I paid my daughter, who helps me with L&LNM, to go with me. I have to say it was nice to talk about what we learned in the car on the way home.
I learned a lot. I learned that, in all the years I've worked in education, the conversation hasn't changed one bit. At this meeting, we participated in a world cafe activity, where you talk with one group about a topic, report out to the group at large, then regroup and talk about a follow-up topic and again, report out.
The topics centered around the systemic problems we see in our education system, the mindsets we need to break free from, etc. But the conversation was the same old stuff that had little to do with systemic problems. The same ideas of helping students create portfolios, find jobs, prepare for college were discussed as if they were new. To some, I'm sure they were new.
My point, though, is that they aren't systemic issues. We think that we're thinking outside the box but in reality, we are buried so deep in it, we don't know what outside the box is -- or what systemic means.
So I took a deep breath right before the first group discussion ended and suggested that perhaps our youth aren't looking at college, corporatocracy/capitalism/materialism, and jobs with benefits as their future but instead they are looking to solve real world problems using available resources and the power of community.
The answer I got from a charter school principal in the group was, "They aren't ready for that." I was incensed!! I wanted to yell that it is us, the older generations, that aren't ready for that but our kids are. But I let it go.
I was encouraged later to hear one student stand up to passionately point out that much of the funding behind worthwhile endeavors is supplied by corrupt Big Business that in no way supports the average American worker. He warned us against choosing the almighty dollar over supporting important principles and ideals. That was the highlight of the meeting for me.
Although I don't feel that Outside the Classroom is a good fit for L&LNM, I do believe that CivNet is. It is run by two young men who prove to me that there is a move away from capitalist endeavors and competing for jobs to a more cooperative endeavor to solve community problems.
Converting houses to sustainable energy
I would like to make our first CivNet project the one we talked about in another post to help home owners convert to sustainable energy without going into debt. We need to plan a little first but stay tuned for calls for action and requests for volunteers to help us help New Mexicans live good lives.
That's it for today. July is here. Have a safe and happy 4th.
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