At the Movies: Films Focused on Education Reform

I haven't seen any of the movies besides the trailers. What we need to understand, besides the core issue of education problems, is the perspective of the movies' directors. They create a spin too, let's not forget that. With that being said, I have more education than I know what to do with. The state of WA tells me I have to maintain my certification but doesn't provide compensation in lieu of this continued education. Boeing, Microsoft and other companies provide their employees a reimbursement system for continued. Even the military provides pathways for continued education. Teachers are constantly being told what to do, how to do it, and more is added everyday with no added compensation or time to do it in.

One of the realities is that we spend more instructional time than any other country with pupils in fewer days (Time.com). Students are disengaged - truly disengaged because school is boring - only 68.8% of HS students graduate. One third of college students drop out after their first year. 50% never finish. So can "for college" truly be the answer when statistically a third of HS students never go to college. So, they end up on the streets with little education or fewer skills. Balance a checkbook? Look at a bank statement? Fill out a 1040? Fix a car? Build a house?

I finally watched the Education Nation roundtable. What a farce! The political wrangling to figure out who is right and who is wrong was ridiculous. The 5 minute discussion between Michelle Rhee and Randi Weingarten about the $1 million campaign contribution from AFT union for the mayoral campaign in DC, again what's the purpose? Another reality: the political establishment truly does not care about children. There I've said it. They don't vote. They don't contribute to the campaigns. All children do is suck money out of the system. While politicians pander to the parents, because they have children, if this country truly cared, we would not be having this discussion. The national poverty rate has not changed in the last 40 years according to the new study recently released. Should we expect our children to fare any better in education? The education system is predicated on the 19th Century single room school house. Great for producing factory workers (from Ken Robinson, whom I admire too), but not creative, innovative 21st Century workers. Believing that we are a class-less society is a shortsighted. Many other countries have school systems that are skill/knowledge based. Not everyone should or can go to college - college isn't the answer for everyone. We need all forms of workers where having college-prep schools fail those students who never will go to college. No one says you can't go later!

I've said these things for years! Most principals hire coaches then assign them a math or history class. I have a degree in my content area and am currently working on a second one. Those of us music teachers who are often marginalized as not "real teachers," actually have to have a degree in our content area as well as jumping through all of the college of education hoops. Most core teachers don't realize this as their degrees are in education rather than math, science, history, literature, etc. Yet, look at all of the people who do graduate with degrees in these areas and end up working retail because their options are limited. We need them in the schools! People who are passionate about their content area are usually the most motivated to become effective teachers.

I appreciate the movies that are critical of education. I ask students to do the same. But I want to be critical yet supportive. I want to applaud that which is good in most all schools without painting a broad brush stroke which will polarize instead of unify. Is there anyone else that feels that way?

1) Quit hiring people to teach core curriculum, who only want to coach.
2) Get rid of education degrees for teachers. A high school teacher should have a degree in the area they are teaching.
3) Pay a decent salary.
4) Merit pay for good job performance.
5) School choice.

I'm confused by "A's" response. John Adams was homeschooled himself, along with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison and may other successful people. I guess they did ok with their "poor excuses for education." And I agree that the buck has to start with parents and that's EXACTLY what happens with homeschooling. Homeschooling Parents are completely and totally involved in their kids education. And finally, I think it's important to realize that going to school does not guarantee that you'll get an education. Learning happens all the time.

Homeschooling and charter schools are NOT a viable option; they are a poor excuse for true education, as President John Adams clearly stated. We need parents to be held accountable even MORE than we do our educators and administrators. The buck has to start with parents!

I'm curious as to why neither of these films talk about Homeschooling as a viable option to educating our kids. Both films highlight serious and troubling problems within the current educational model, yet they seem to be unwilling to admit that perhaps the one size fits all approach to education is part of the problem. If the box is broken, maybe it's time to look outside the box. While Homeschooling is definitely not for everyone, it works and works well for a growing number of families from all walks of life. One of the gifts homeschooling has to offer is a personalized and flexible approach to education, that may in the end serve our young people more effectively.
www.3storyfilms.com

I haven't seen any of these films yet, although I have heard about Superman and really want the opportunity to see it. I think Sir Ken Robinson in his TEDTalk called Bring on the Learning Revolution! explains the problem and solution maybe too broadly, but pretty succinctly. In a nutshell, we need to move from a manufacturing/industrial model of education (which is squashing students natural talents) to an agricultural/organic model (which is customized to the local circumstances and the people actually being taught). I am lucky to be part of a Montessori school that embraces this vision, but it takes an awful lot of time, energy and buy-in from all parties involved (parents, teachers, admin, students, community).

There is a great film with a positive spin on education reform that shows an amazing example of teaching and learning in a school system willing to take risks - World Peace and other 4th Grade Achievements (http://www.rosaliafilms.com/)

Just finished watching Education Nation on MSNBC and I get so frustrated when the blame game begins. I am a former teacher with a M.Ed. and familiar with a host of theories and practices but firmly believe that the problem with our system today needs to be solved holistically; the solution must involve administrators, teachers, students and last but not least PARENTS. This country has focused all its efforts on educating children only, it works for a lot of kids most of the time BUT not for all of the kids all of the time. Recent studies reveal that poverty has a negative effect on a child’s brain development especially the part of the brain that is critical for problem solving and creativity. One study (ScienceDaily 12-6-08) also concluded that with proper training and intervention these deficits can be overcome. Education experts say parental involvement is essential for student success. But what if the parents were raised in poverty? They too could have developmental problems and may never have received proper training or intervention thus you have the blind leading the blind.
Charter schools succeed because the lottery process serves as a sorting machine. It sorts the students who have responsible, functional parents that are actively involved in their children’s lives and willing to go through the lottery process from the students whose parents may not have the ability, skills or initiative to endure the process because they were raised in poverty and may have innate or acquired developmental issues that were never addressed properly. Charter schools claim success because they are different but really they are different because they are EXCLUSIVE. In many cases they exclude those children whose parents are not actively involved in their lives. Those kids are left to attend public schools yet they are often the ones who need the help most because their parents can not provide them with what they need. This is how the cycle of poverty and overcrowded, underachieving inner city schools continues and until we as a nation are willing to give parents living in poverty the support and skills they need, the cycle will not be broken, not by teacher accountability nor by Charter schools, not by innovative methods, nor by "super" teachers.
We need Public Adult Learning Centers in every community across this nation to educate, remediate and provide resources and ongoing support to help those parents who have innate or acquired deficiencies. A wise Chinese proverb rings true here, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is now.” Instead of labeling individuals who lack these skills as abnormal and allowing them to drift in a sea of confusion on the ship of poverty and stagnation, our government could intervene and provide the neglected, disadvantaged or simply uninformed with the skills, expert advice and ongoing support they need to live a productive and joyful life. By participating in these classes an individual would become skilled and competent in managing their own life and family thus making them better neighbors, friends, employees, even if their income remains low. Parents would be better able to guide their own children and improve the quality of life for all their descendants therefore breaking the cycle of true poverty. It really does take a village. It's time to think outside the box and focus on educating parents too. “Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age?” - Erich Fromm

Race to Nowhere is playing on September 30 at 7pm at the Chicago Waldorf School, 1300 W Loyola Ave, Chicago (Rogers Park). The director of the film, Vicki Abeles, will be there for a Q&A following the film. Visit www.chicagowaldorf.org for more information and tickets