We can all be Superman

Last night, I finally sat down and watched the much bally-hooed and blogged about "Waiting for Superman".  I have been a bit reluctant to watch this film, simply because I have heard scathing reviews from people in education circles about how it was unrealistic, biased against educators, and failed to take into account numerous factors that clearly impact the success of students.  I had my critical eyes ready to tear the film to shreds.

And then I watched it.  And I saw numerous things that I could rip apart.  Standardized testing--junk.  Merit pay--don't know how that could work. Bill Gates emphasizing math and science over other skills--not just about those.  Premise predicated on very specific examples--doesn't tell the whole story.

But there was something in this film that really struck me, and it was something that is undeniable for me, no matter who might criticize my interpretation.  What hit me was the unquestionable emotion of the families who were attending the school lotteries in hopes of securing a spot for their child at one of the charter schools.  There was pure desperation in the eyes of these families, followed by either the unadulterated joy that the 'winners' had on their faces when they found out that they had gotten a seat, or the gut-wrenching sadness and defeat in the eyes of those who did not.  This hit me in the heart.

I just see that my good friend Chris Wejr just this moment Tweeted a quote by Ross Greene, which said "All students WANT to do well...we have to provide the environment and teach the skills so they CAN do well".  In the context of this film, no parent or student sets out hoping to be unsuccessful.  Each parent and student out there wants the best for their family, and is really doing the best job that they know.  If they can give their child any sort of leg up to help them be successful, they will.  And I found it hard to watch anyone who was trying to help their child be restricted in their ability to do so.

Where did the desperation in the eyes of those parents come from?  These people were desperate that their child NOT to go to another school (in the case of this film, schools in the public system).  And no matter what the context, if those were parents of students that attended my school, I would sit up and pay attention.  And I would be absolutely wrong not to.  These people are our clients,  they are clearly unhappy with the current state of affairs, and I need to seek to understand.


This is great, just a few minutes after Chris tweeted his quote, another PLN star Joe Bower tweeted this, which fits this discussion as well "U can fire all the "bad" teachers u want but if u do nothing to ensure of quality replacements nothing good will come of it all.".  This is a perfected segue into the second half of this post.  You can't just fire people and expect to solve the problem.  You can't just come up with a merit pay system and expect to solve the problem.  You can't just change curriculum and expect to solve the problem.  You can't inject some Bill Gates-ian money and expect to solve the problem.  And these are just a very small few of the band-aid approaches to systemic issues, and clearly any one of these methods in singularity will have little impact on the education system.

Which brings me to the ultimate question that the film really fails to address, how do we REALLY do this?  How do we really change things so we no longer think of our children as students, but rather as learners.  So we don't need attendance policies to make kids come to school, but rather we invoke "The Best Attendance Policy Ever Created".  So we don't need to externally motivate our children with rewards and awards, but they want to learn because it is just so damn cool.  And ultimately, so our parents and students do not have to wish to go to any other school, but are truly excited and proud about their own neighbourhood school.

I do not control politicians.  I don't have input into how the millions of dollars are spent on national health, education, defense, or other large-scale priorities.  I don't write governmental policies.  And as much as I would like to think so, I don't really have as much influence as I would like.

But I do have influence.  We all do.  And we all have a huge number of ways that we can impact our schools.  We can CARE about all of our students and parents.  We can be passionate.  We can be learners.  We can be leaders. We can be uncompromising in our focus on what is best for students above all else.  We can be open to new ideas and implement new initiatives that are student-centered.  We can work with our teachers and provide them outstanding opportunities to collaborate with each other so they can reflect upon and refine their craft for kids.  And so on...and so on.

In short, I truly believe one thing (and I have always wanted to be..)

We can all be Superman.  Even if it's just in our own little way.

Guts

"American stunt men are smart.  They think about safety.  When they do a jump in a car, they calculate everything:  the speed, the distance...Everything we do is a guess.  If you've got the guts you do it.  All of my stunt men have gotten hurt."   - Jackie Chan

There are certain times in our life when we come to a fork in the road and have to make a decision.  Do we head down the traditional, beaten path that is clearly marked and know where we are going to end up?  Do we hike down the less conventional trail which has twists and turns, but that we still believe will take us where we would like to go?  There are pros and cons to following each of these.  The traditional path is easier, it's comfortable, and the results are tried and true.  Most people are going to go that way anyway, aren't they? The trail less traveled is going to guarantee that we are going to get a good workout, that we would have really flexed our muscles along the way, and it likely would have break us out of the rut we might have been in. Yet even by choosing this more challenging pathway, we often know that we are going to end up pretty close to where we thought we would get, but with some slight modifications.  Definitely more adventuresome is the latter, and those who have this willingness to take on the additional challenges are to be commended.

However, the people who are really changing my thinking today seem to ignore both of these paths and create their own.  These individuals are not the type who follow a pathway anyway, they blaze a trail which is often in a completely different direction than most people are going.  And these people have one thing in common that propels them through these uncharted waters:  each of them has GUTS.

"Gold medals aren't really made of gold.  They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts." - Dan Gable, US Olympic Wrestling Gold Medallist

I like people with guts.  Being around people with guts makes me feel 10 feet tall, and able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound.  And in the last few weeks, there have been a few people that have done exactly what they always do, they inspire me (and many others) with their guts.  While there are so many people like this out there, and I hate to exclude any of the people who shape my thoughts, these are a few examples GUTS for me in the past few weeks:

1)  Chris Wejr - Principal of Kent Elementary Bucking the trend with his post called The Death of an Awards Ceremony subsequent radio interview about Awards = GUTS

2)  Chris Kennedy - Superintendent of West Van changing the way that Superintendents do business by making himself completely accessible to the public at all times, as outlined in this article in the Vancouver Sun = GUTS

3) Brad Epp and Blake Buemann - Teachers at my school who are using this survey to have their students evaluate their teaching so that they can get formative feedback and improve their methods of instruction = GUTS.

4) Joe Bower - Teacher in Red Deer, Alberta, who continuously challenges our thinking of assessing student learning first rather than assigning students grades in his blog "For the Love of Learning" = GUTS.

5) Jonathan Martin and Patrick Larkin, (via Karl Fisch and Daniel Pink) - Through their introduction to their staffs and implementation of the "Fisch Flip" of instruction, where students get the content at home and get the benefit of teacher instruction during class time = GUTS

6) Suanne Wallin - Teacher at Westsyde Secondary in Kamloops, BC who is completely committed to making connections to students in her classes, and believes that EVERY LAST STUDENT in her 'Strive' Program can be successful.  My visit to her classroom last week has truly inspired me to think of students and the services that we provide in a completely different way = GUTS

These people all inspire me in very different ways.  Through their actions, they have challenged conventional thinking, and have bared their values for all to see and critique.  These individuals know that the worst thing that we can do is stay put, and have made some pathways that might have been thought of as 'risky' in the past not only safe but possible.  And as much as each of them is incredibly talented, I would argue that the characteristic that sets them apart from others is the very reason why they are to be admired: each of them has GUTS. 

If you have examples of people in education that have GUTS, please feel free to add to this list above with your comments, and to share what it is they are doing with your Personal Learning Network.  The more that we hear about people with guts, the more it inspires each of us to be courageous in our own situation.

We all know people that are good at what they do.  We sometimes look with envy at those with raw talent.  And we all admire those with guts.  But if I had the choice to take someone with more talent than guts, or someone with more guts than talent, I'll take the one with more guts every time.