Oh, How Things Have Changed !

Recently I went to the memorial service of a friend who was a teacher and principal back-in-the-day when my career began.  The service was a wonderful tribute, not only to his life, but his days as an exceptional educational leader.  I’m sure he was smiling as he listened to, and watched the proceedings from his lofty new vantage point.

One of the things that people remembered about him most, was his closeness to the kids that went to his school.  There was not one child whose name he didn’t know, as well as that of siblings, parents, and long-lost relatives.  And that wasn’t all.  He took a personal interest in every last one, making the time to know and appreciate them as real, live people.  They were like his very own children, not simply educational “clients” that he and his staff were obligated to serve.

In my recent return to school, my dear friend’s philosophy about dealing with children is all but extinct.  While it was simply the way we did things back then, today it’s not a priority to put the human aspects of kids before the intellectual challenges which manipulate them into getting higher test scores.  In fairness, teachers no longer have much time for true personal interaction.  They’re on a rigid schedule of “skill drill,” and under relentless scrutiny from the numbskulls at the district office who sit at their computers and study benchmark scores.  What a tragic turn of events for everyone !!

If you don’t believe me, consider this.  Despite my decades of teaching experience, in order to sub I had to recently take a “Sexual Harassment” class in order to qualify.  And while the obvious subject of “physical contact” issues were discussed, another one came up that threw me for a loop.  In essence, beyond touching kids inappropriately, the message of staying out of their personal lives was clearly invoked.  “DON’T GET INVOLVED,” they said continually, either directly or indirectly.  “KEEP YOUR EMOTIONAL DISTANCE,” they warned.  You are a teacher, and to be an effective one does not call for anything more than strong instructional skills.

No wonder today’s kids seek other sources of personal interaction that often get them into trouble.  There was a time when their teachers ministered to their WHOLE being, which  meant far more than just their brain.  Through personal involvement we showed kids what was right and wrong, what was cultured and what wasn’t. We gave children insight into their budding talents and abilities, and gave them strategies to deal with personal limitations as they appeared.  We impressed upon them their citizenship in the human community, and the obligation to try one’s best to make everyone better by using personal strengths for the greater good.  We shared the things that we loved, hoping that they would learn to love them, too.  And we taught, through example, that treating others with kindness and respect was the most productive way to live one’s live, while making the world a better place.

Before I put my violin away, then, let me say a few last words to those of you who have turned education into a bad production of the “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” and exposed its ass with your delusion about high test scores (which mostly serve to make YOU look good).  Another thing about which I was reminded at my friend’s service, was that when we focused on the WHOLE child back then, and got involved with them as important living creatures, a ton of them went on to be outstanding members of the community… doctors, lawyers, heads of corporations, teachers, pastors, and high-powered players in society.  They also became skilled craftsmen, technicians, and service providers, concurrent with functioning as successful parents and exceptional role models to the young. Just luck, you say?  Not a chance.  And if my old friend H. B. was still here to comment, I know that after he smiled and stuck out his chest for his role in that truth, he’d agree with this final statement… but say it in a much classier and diplomatic way than I:  “You self-serving, “justify-your-job,” pseudo-expert district test freaks, are getting an absolutely, positively FAILING GRADE  when it comes to educating our kids for real life!”