by Glenn Singleton
Last week, my work at a San Diego elementary school landed me back in kindergarten, the setting where formal education begins for most of us. I observed students of every hue and circumstance organizing into small groups for "show and tell." Each bright-eyed, seemingly happy child impressed her supportive peers and loving teacher with her own piece of home life. Students shared books, souvenirs, photos, drawings and assorted other memorabilia. Each student taught and everyone learned.
Down the hall, third graders prepared for a spelling test. Their teacher ordered them to "stop talking and cover your answers." "The first word is poinsettia," she enunciated, and reminded students to protect their answers. The students executed the task in relative isolation. Unlike kindergarten students, third graders did not ask the teacher "why" she chose such words. They trusted that correctly spelling poinsettia would be important. On the playground, fifth graders provided the concluding picture of what I feared many students experience for the remainder of their formal schooling--fighting, cultural segregation, and mutual disrespect. Meanwhile in the faculty room, teachers ponder these escalating discipline problems, blaming ineffective leadership, uncaring parents and the media for the deplorable conditions.
My work with high schools suggests that the playground activity and the faculty room turmoil recurs later--only in more advanced stages. Among educators, there is a common understanding that something must be done about these playground situations which spill over into the classroom. The question we ponder is: when, where and at whose expense should these problems be addressed? My column calls on Palo Altans to discuss the "purpose of schooling." But I suggest not that we launch another attack on new math or protest "fuzzy" cooperative learning strategies. Rather, I propose we focus on ways to blend essential academic content and useful processes to better equip every child to face today's and tomorrow's social challenges. Defining how children learn as well as what they learn is the purpose of schooling.
Turn of the century progressivist John Dewey pondered this purpose of schooling question. He argued that education--then the vehicle through which successive generations took their prescribed place in society--should be the engine for social transformation. Like Dewey, I believe schooling should improve society by helping all students realize the principles of democracy. The San Diego kindergarten instilled hope that schools can provide for students a forum to practice the tenets of democracy. The presence of genuine multicultural interaction, honest collaboration and individual achievement enables kindergarten observers to envision a better tomorrow. As kids learn to count, alphabetize and identify colors of the rainbow, they also develop mutual respect for the cultures embodied in their peer group. In "show and tell" exhibitions, the children spoke clearly and listened carefully. Why don't they continue to ask thoughtful questions forever?
By third grade the same children are presumed to be cheaters and required to work in competitive isolation. Projecting forward, I understand why many high school students have neither the will to work together nor the energy to demand from their teachers relevant, rigorous coursework. Advanced and remediated students alike believe they acquire from school little that enables them to make a difference in the world. I wonder if the relatively few students enrolled in the "right" courses, who negotiate good grades and master college entrance examinations, are the best prepared citizens to redress escalating societal challenges like violence, intolerance, poverty, despair and distrust. What in their academic preparation has helped them develop the tools to provide leadership on these issues?
We must reform American classrooms precisely because students are not acquiring the necessary tools to transform society. Their accumulated credits and inflated grades awarded for participation in disconnected, decontextualized learning experiences will not develop in students the compassion, and appreciation for justice and integrity for which America and the world cry out. It's time we stop dismissing the growing number of students in our schools who, by acting out in antisocial ways, are actually questioning the purpose of schooling. We must begin constructing learning experiences that invite her individual perspective, sharpen his intellect and equip them to collectively transform society . . . just like in kindergarten.
Glenn Singleton, a Palo Alto resident, is the founder of Pacific Educational Group and the Foundation for a College Education. He is a member of the Weekly's Board of Contributors.
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