SFUSD, where my children are in elementary school, has multiple instances of almost every one of your examples of the types of attacks on excellence. Yikes!
I can certainly see some value in helping mobiize folks to defend against "attacks on excellence."
That said, I hope that work will occupy only a small percentage of your time. Attacking bad ideas is much easier to do (and will get you much more attention) than identifying and supporting the growth of good ideas. So I think it will be tempting to spend more and more of your time there.
But I think to really make a difference in helping American education achieve excellence, the challenge is really about supporting the growth of the positive. I think unless you are disciplined about remaining focused on that challenge, you could end up becoming mainly scolds of bad ideas and generating lots of heat but fairly little light.
Astute, and something we're actively keeping in mind. Jack frequently reiterates his commitment to limiting engagement with the culture war, while I (Lily) am the more cynically anti-institutionalist between the two of us. Tom is somewhere in between.
Thanks for the pulse check--it's great to hear from sane people tired of the same empty, angry 'discourse'!
SFUSD, where my children are in elementary school, has multiple instances of almost every one of your examples of the types of attacks on excellence. Yikes!
If you see anything, flag it for us, and spread the word among parent friends!
I can certainly see some value in helping mobiize folks to defend against "attacks on excellence."
That said, I hope that work will occupy only a small percentage of your time. Attacking bad ideas is much easier to do (and will get you much more attention) than identifying and supporting the growth of good ideas. So I think it will be tempting to spend more and more of your time there.
But I think to really make a difference in helping American education achieve excellence, the challenge is really about supporting the growth of the positive. I think unless you are disciplined about remaining focused on that challenge, you could end up becoming mainly scolds of bad ideas and generating lots of heat but fairly little light.
Astute, and something we're actively keeping in mind. Jack frequently reiterates his commitment to limiting engagement with the culture war, while I (Lily) am the more cynically anti-institutionalist between the two of us. Tom is somewhere in between.
Thanks for the pulse check--it's great to hear from sane people tired of the same empty, angry 'discourse'!