Over at Millard Fillmore's Bathtub the question of same sex classrooms has been raised. The main proponent seems to have gotten his political cart before his scientific horse. It's a glaring, visible and splashy idea to apply to the seemingly insoluble difficulties of really educating a huge, diverse young population on a shoestring. Let's not worry about discipline, poverty, class size, poorly trained, paid or supported teachers, crumbling buildings, and small minded curricula. Just put the boys in one class and the girls in another, and poof! Problem solved. Gosh, wasn't that easy. And Separate But Equal is reestablished! Oh, no, really, we will treat them all exactly the same?
All catholic schools for me past second grade. I never had a particular problem with boys, although they were more rough in play, they never threatened to beat me up or pull my hair, never snickered every time I raised my hand. Wasn't until seventh grade that the boys joined in to tease me mercilessly. They were loud and disruptive, but girls were more likely to be unable to close their own mouths. Seemed mostly a wash to me, even then. Children were just awful, and I couldn't wait to be away from them.
The real difference came in the teacher. I loved the ones who kept an ordered class, never letting the chaos erupt. The ones who then could inspire and tell stories that stay in my mind to this day. The ones who were clear and kind and strong.
Now, uniforms, that is a good idea. Especially for a poor family. Gives all the students an inanimate common enemy.
For many years, I have thought the never-will-be-done answer was to have storefront schools. One room schoolhouses, two teachers and a local adult volunteer, no more than a dozen students, all online classes - a national, self paced, curricula. Touring experts and scholars for special lectures and demonstrations. Kid has a problem with a particular teacher, move 'em to the next neighborhood over. Walking distances from their homes, field trips common (easier to arrange with small groups), flexible schedules (let the teens sleep in). A circle of homeschools in rural areas instead of warehouses to haul whole populations into.
Yeah, yeah, there can be sponsored team sports, and credits to families for music or art or individual athletics. Those schools can become colleges and libraries and social meeting space. Clubs and dances and charities coming out their ears if they want.
It'll never happen, but it would work. If anyone cared enough to change everything.
7 comments:
Storefront schools might really work in some places. Maybe in a lot of places. Do you know of any pilot projects?
Just my crackpot idea. And I don't even like children, so what do I know?
I think you're absolutely right, that herding children together into big groups nearly always brings out the worst in them, and the economies of scale aren't worth it.
It never ceases to amaze me that we expect people to survive and even function in such a threatening, unmanageable environment as large modern secondary schools,at the very time in their lives when they're least equipped to do so, in no time in adult life would we expect such a thing.
Your solution sounds totally brilliant, I'd never troubled to think anything so clearly through before, just been glad I haven't any kids to put through that.
"Now, uniforms, that is a good idea. Especially for a poor family."
Not sure if you mean that seriously, but, well, yes. These days kids are incredibly concerned about who's fashionable and who's not - where 'more fashionable' is often just defined as 'more expensive'. It really helped that all my schools had uniforms. I'd have found it a lot harder otherwise.
On the other hand, some schools in the UK are setting very specific, very expensive uniforms as a way of keeping out the riff-raff, so the dress-code still needs to retain some flexibility.
P,
Allow me to amend, Affordable Uniforms. Catholic schools, inner city type, white top, blue skirts/pants. We hated it, but no one was grossly left out because of their clothing. Mine were home sewn. The only place I didn't feel self conscious about what I wore.
Have since done the military and nursing, uniforms do simplify school and work life.
I hated them at the time but uniforms are definitely good. We had a very strict uniform code. The cool girls had to obey it but they would hitch their skirts high and pinned the compulsory berets onto their backcombed (lordy this was the 1960s) beehives with kirby grips.
Much better though than the free-for-all alternative. Money would have talked and that would have been horrible.
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