I think it's hard in our day-to-day quest to meet our own kids' needs to look past the faces of education that we see: particularly the principals, teachers,counselors, even individual schools... and realize that they are not the problem (and in fact, are frequently part of individual solutions/successes I read about on this board).
The issue as I see it is the mentality in our country about education: that the biggest problem that needs to be solved is to bring everyone up to a lowest-common-denominator type of education; that if the gifted are so bright, then they need no special help because they can learn on their own; failing to acknowlege that the intellectually-talented are one of our nation's greatest assets (or worse that it's somehow politically incorrect to acknowledge at all that some people are born intellectually-talented); that more homework/hours in school = better education; that spending more money means getting better results; that we shouldn't be looking elsewhere in the world for better educational ideas because we're us and, after all, we're the most powerful nation on Earth....
Add to that the way that extracurricular activities go these days: if my DS7 wants to play an in-season sport, then there are 2-3 practices per week plus weekend games. He's SEVEN!!!! What's up with that? He's not even all THAT interested -- he just wants to try it out to see if he enjoys it. (Sorry -- that topic gets me going...)
I think that our joint frustration is that even when we're lucky enough to encounter a great teacher and a great principal in a great school, the system and culture generally don't make it easy. They don't seem to prioritize the things we think they should.
In my opinion, this is the fight worth fighting, and it seems like it's the message the movie is trying to put out there. Our educational model isn't working, and other countries' models are working better. We need to acknowledge that and fix it, or pay the consequences.
So, here's my question (yes, I'm FINALLY getting to my question): what are we doing to change the SYSTEM that we all know is broken? I know we're all in there slugging for our own DDs and DSs, which is more than enough stuff on our plates, but has anyone got any ideas on working towards bigger change? Maybe I'm just feeling pie-in-the-sky at the moment, or maybe I'm out of touch and you're all already very involved in bigger picture efforts to effect change. DH and I are actively trying to get changes to our DSs' school system and not just at the class/school level. But are there things you guys are doing on a larger scale?
Thanks for letting me get on my soapbox. I wish all of you a wonderful weekend!
