I believe that this is a conversation we should be having, mainly because our public system is failing kids. It is failing some kids completely, and I feel that it is failing all kids at least a little bit. Also, I am in the midst of deciding how to proceed with my own education career – something I have time to do because my precious babes now spend the majority of their time in school. It is a good time for me to think this through.
I had the good fortune to have some very intense experiences as a BEd student, that have helped to form my opinions about public vs private.
Late in my BEd, I was lucky to be placed in a school where the regular teacher had a nervous breakdown. More typically, a placement would be supervised by the classroom teacher who would help maintain class control and could step-in where necessary, but I was to teach in the regular teacher’s absence – a sink or swim proposition that would give me great experience (so I told myself). Day after day, I came home exhausted by the job of maintaining just enough class control so that those students who cared to learn, could. I learned that unless a student wants to learn, they won't. And I spent most of my energy trying to help kids just get to a place where they could start making progress. I saw very clearly how years spent teaching that way could drive a sane person to a nervous breakdown. And most of all, I was sad for those kids who might have flourished in a different class, but who were just barely surviving instead.
Later, a private school that was struggling to implement a school-wide laptop program hired me to teach their staff some strategies for effective teaching with computer technology. At the same time, I taught science to grades 9-12. All of the students challenged me to keep them fed with information, but the 12s were doing their international baccalaureate and were especially voracious learners. I didn't have to get any students started - they were off and running. My nights were spent prepping into the wee hours of the morning, while my days were spent looking out at optimism and sparkling curiosity. I raced to stay ahead and thanks to the bright students, combined with the seemingly boundless resources of the school, I had the opportunity to try every cherished pet theory that had inspired me to teach in the first place. We discussed the juicy stuff every day, there were frequent moments of “ah ha!” when students would make a leap in understanding, and make the whole class shine a little brighter. I was constantly exhausted and thrilled. I also loved walking to work along tree-lined avenues and stepping into the beautiful school to be greeted by a sense of community well-being. People, teachers and students alike, wanted to be there.
After my time at the private school, I was struck by how addictive it would be to work in a beautiful place, among bright and happy students, using all my talents as a teacher to actually teach. I suspected, with some discomfort, that I could push the niggling doubts from my mind easily enough. Every day, those students I taught were reminded in a thousands ways, some subtle, others not so, that they recieved more & better than most, because they deserved more and better. And there was little time for opportunities to identify with other kids. They are our future leaders of industry, but clearly, the world would be a kinder place if even CEOs could empathise with those less fortunate. I wonder if the CEO of Monsanto was home schooled... ;-)
Of course I also know that not all public school classes are as dismal as that first one. As Scientist in School, I’ve stepped into many lovely public schools where the health of the learning community was palpable. And at Kawartha, I’ve now seen a spectrum of both public and private, and I can’t say anything very consistent about either. Every school has its own culture – some healthy, some not.
But as I said at the outset, our public system – the one that takes all kids, regardless of ability or social standing - is failing them a lot of the time. We, the grown-ups, have a responsibility to ALL of the children in our community to band together, to pool our resources, and to offer them the best educational experience we can. By the way, I don’t for a moment begrudge those kids in uniform. I am happy for them – they deserve the best. But so does every child deserve the best: a beautiful place to learn, great teachers who care, enrichment that takes them outside of themselves, equipment and resources to allow them to learn, play, and compete to the best of their ability. Every child deserves that.
I do not believe that it is reasonable to hope for a publicly-funded system that can rise to the level of education that many private schools offer. On the other hand, it is indisputable that if the parents and teachers who make private school what it is, poured even a fraction of their money and talent into the public system, it would be better. Yes, there are many talented, articulate parents and teachers already fighting to make public school better – and many who have felt like a voice in the wilderness, trying to inject common-sense and compassion into an obdurate bureaucracy.
If the public system did not so often squelch creativity, and bury children’s’ innate curiosity with repetition and facile seatwork, I could more readily say, “to each his own”. But the public school system is broken, and our kids are looking to us to fix it. I am not proposing an answer, only that we start with a conversation.
