One Size Education

A colleague mentioned to me the other day his frustration in teaching kids advanced math, a skill which the system requires, but which teaches them so little about life.  I am reminded of my own high school math classes and of the hours of frustration.  I have never found a use for math beyond balancing my checkbook and purchasing wood to build my home.

I was once tempted to stop the story there and leave a silent self righteousness behind.  But one of my young rowers is exceedingly good at math.  He thrills to solving difficult equations.  Yet he runs screaming from the room should I happen to even begin to recite one of the dozens of poems that I have memorized since childhood.  These poems have been solace to me for decades.  How can anyone distain them as I distained math?

I wonder how long it will take the school system, worldwide, to figure out that one size doesn’t fit all.

Working for the community

Real means a lot to kids.  OK, they get the part where they need to learn and projects are created to that end.  But Station Maine needs a new trailer, and the Metal Fabrication students at the Mid Coast School of Technology are putting out work, real work, with a level of skill and maturity that matches the highest level shops on the coast.

I have always known that the students at MCST are held to high standards.  But I believe their smiles, and the smiles of their instructor, reflect the community nature of this particular project.  Their task is to build a trailer that will be used for years to come taking Station Maine's boats, and the kids of this community, on adventures.  These welding students will be able to look at this trailer for years to come and know that they were a part of it.  They will probably be able to point it out to their children, when they have children, and tell the story of building her.

A community that functions well can have projects where everyone wins.  The welding students have a real world project.  Station Maine has the best trailer that can be made.  The community is made stronger because experiential education is real on the coast of Maine.

Coaches

We had a coach’s meeting out on North Haven this weekend.  I was struck by the differences of the cultures we each serve.  The islands are microcosms.  Transportation isn’t much of an issue there, nor are there hundreds of distractions and opportunities for their children.  Station Maine struggles with those issues, but living on the mainland with thousands of youth we have an endless population of kids for whom open water rowing might be the perfect sport.  On the ferry trip home I extended this view to the many inner city programs in Boston and New York.  Issues of gangs and violence, racial and economic differences.

We all love the boats and the kids or we wouldn’t be here.  We all want to win the races because we’re human.  But beyond that, at a deeper level, I can’t help but notice that we all, every man or woman who coaches Open Water Rowing, want something more for our kids.  More than just the winning title we want them to have opportunities beyond our individual communities.  We want them to be able to expand their circle of friends.  We want them to know that there is a bigger world out there and we want them to be prepared for it.  We want them to know that they can be or do anything that they set their minds to.

You get the idea.  We're all different, but it's our similarities that have pulled us together to coach Open Water Rowing.

Changing the World

     Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
                                                                                          Margaret Mead

Three Rules of Seamanship

In Station Maine we have three rules of Seamanship.

1)    Hit is bad.

 Hitting rocks, hitting the dock, hitting each other’s oars, fill in the blank.

2)    Cover your mate’s back, because some day he’s going to have to cover yours.

Everyone coxes, everyone pulls every position, and everyone makes mistakes.  A wise crew takes care of each other on and off the water.

3)    There’s always something you can do.

Don’t tell me that the wind was against you and the rocks just showed up and there was nothing you could do.  Do something.  Hold water.  Back water.  Throw an anchor.  Get out and push.  The sea has no time for victims.  The ones who survive are the ones who don’t give up.

Even if our students learn nothing else, if they understand and embrace these three rules their lives will be different. 

Possibilities

Sometimes we don’t know what we want til someone shows us the possibilities.

School could be that.  School needs to show kids what’s out there.  They need to see what having an education can actually do for them.  Kids from limited backgrounds especially have no clue what math or science or history can do for them.  Math or history, in their mind, might prepare them to be a math or history teacher.  Science might prepare them to be a scientist because they’ve seen scientists in all the James Bond films, but what, exactly does that mean?

What if part of every teacher training was vocational awareness?  What if every teacher, on the way to becoming a teacher, learned about the career paths associated with each subject?  What if every text book contained chapters describing career opportunities and “day in the life” scenes of successful individuals in the field?

The mantra of get “good grades, go to college, get a good job, make a lot of money, be happy” has been found to be a lie.  Students need to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It’s our job as educators to shine that light.

One Size Education

We need programs for the Jims of the world.  He’s a big lad, big enough for his uncle to have taken him ground fishing.  When we rowed past a dragger he came alive with information on how the deck was shaped and why, what all the gear was for, and his glorious plans for the future.  Unfortunately he’s stuck in school.  He can’t wait to get out and move on with his life.

Why isn’t there an apprentice program in place for the Jims of the world?  I don’t think he should forsake all other learning and go to sea.  I think that we should take his ambition seriously and tailor an education towards that real and genuine goal.  His math should be directed towards how to run a small business, his boat for instance.  His science should be centered on why what fish feed where and be peppered with original research gleaned on his uncle’s boat while he was learning the trade. This kid could blossom in school.  Why does education have to be one size fits all?

We decry the lack of ambition in the younger generation.  Shouldn’t the system be forced to make a place for students with genuine ambition to prepare them for the future that they have chosen?