In my opinion, one of the most worthwhile things that students can learn while in the public education system is that the world is full of different sorts of folks. Everyone comes at each situation with different sets of priorities and all of the other pieces that define us as people and as a society. I think Huckleberry hit on something really interesting and important in the post below this one, if you take the time to read the first sentence...
Why did she think that it was important enough to scribe yesterday, even though obviously she (and others) felt that it maybe should have 'been someone else's turn'?
Was that fair?
Will most of the rest of your lives be 'fair'?
I personally feel that her classmates are extremely lucky to have a classmate like Huckleberry, but it bothers me a little that I'm talking about her contribution like it's the exception to the rule, rather than the norm...
Should I lower my expectations about students? ....how about doing the right thing just because it is the right thing? Is it ever OK to just sit back and wait while someone else does what maybe you should have done? In the 'real world', outside classroom walls, I believe that this happens all the time. In the world of work, who do we reward? Who advances up the corporate ladder? Who makes the most money? Who 'wins'? Will you?
One of the worst things, again, in my opinion, that we do in public education is to shelter our students and encourage some silly idea that everyone has the right to this, and the right to that, and the system 'owes' me because 'I'm special' and 'I'm unique'....(which I won't actually dispute at all, because in a very real sense, I do believe in the power of the individual to bring about greater good among the many, but that's another post.)...However, rarely do we discuss the responsibility to ourselves, to others, and to society in general that we as individuals have to somehow be proactive in our approach to make the world even slightly better than we found it. If everyone asked a question like "What can I do to help?", and contributed just a bit, instead of feeling like "What do I get out of it?", wouldn't the world be just a bit better on a regular basis? Of course it would, but how do we encourage that kind of shift in thinking, because currently, it can certainly be argued that things are going a different direction...
At risk of trying to sound like JFK, or Gandhi, or Garrett Hardin, or John Lennon (who were all great people, in my opinion), I'd prefer to leave this post with a couple of my favourite quotes. The first is actually probably my all-time favourite, by a respected American anthropologist, Margaret Mead, who said,
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
For the record, you guys (and every class that I've ever taught), are that group.
The other quote that I like a lot (and probably have thrown out in class), comes from 'Uncle Ben', as advice to young Peter Parker in the Marvel comic series, Spider Man.
He says, "With great power comes great responsibility."
I know it's from a comic, and I know some people think it's corny, but so is my sense of humour..... I'll leave this last question....What is your power? Will you use it wisely and responsibly? I hope so...and I believe in you.
Anyone have a comment? I dare you...
Cheers, and I wish you all peace for the holiday season....
RM
photo credits: via Flickr.com 1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/liz/205980480/
2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/48006461@N00/2357873315/
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