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| Taken from the internet showing a classroom design reminiscent of my education 63 years ago |
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| This and the pics below are from granddaughters' elementary school in San Francisco |
Its been a few years since I was in elementary school but
being a granddad gives me the opportunity to experience it again. And it probably won’t be too long before I
need some type of assisted living and the classroom that my granddaughter
presently occupies feels uncannily comfortable, roomy with everything written
in large letters to make it easy for young and old to see.
The top picture I found on the Internet is to illustrate the
type of classroom that I lived in during my elementary school years from
1951-1958 in West Hempstead, New York.
Rows of individual desks provided a little privacy and physical
separation for each student to do their work, store their books and papers and
for scratching their own creative graffiti.
I suppose the planet was a little less crowded and from the very start
of my childhood, I grew to expect a little individual private space that would
not be violated. Perhaps this translated
to the fetishes of the time, and the harsh reaction to those who would infringe
on your space by brushing up against you in a bus, or to more aggressive,
invasive, and intentional infringements.
I remember when I first travelled to Europe and how everyone was herded
together so tightly like sardines in every public place – how different and distressing
that felt. But I finally got used to it and even starting enjoying the
experience as my hormone levels got the better of me.
And maybe the classroom decorum had something to do with the
way school was taught. I don’t really
remember what or how I was taught 63 years ago.
But I believe it was not very interactive or team based. It was individual performance; the teacher
asked questions to students - who would provide the proper response in front of
the class or be shamed. I remember once
– I think during the early part of first grade, I came unprepared to class and rather
than be humiliated in front of the entire class when I couldn’t answer a
question, I got physically sick with fear resulting in nausea and
vomiting. Then I remember sitting in the
principal’s office until my sister could pick me up a few hours later. I was a bit more fastidious with my homework
assignments after that experience – for sure!
I remember how grades ran the gamut back then. If you did C
work, your grade was a C. No one debated your teacher’s wisdom or decision. I
remember doing mostly average work with B’s and some C’s. I also remember a few
F’s in my time, the experience of those shocking grades were so traumatic that
they are forever imprinted tragically in my psyche. But no one gave me a pass or even cared that
I was ill prepared for public education, or even knew what my family situation
was in terms of learning environment. It
was put up or shut up, pure and simple.
Indeed this, now archaic system of learning, seemed to ultimately
foster an independent competitive spirit where those gifted children could be
identified and segregated into more advance classes (in later years of public
education to be sure), and those needing more time requiring a slower pace of
learning were catered to in another more accommodating environment.
My immigrant parents with second grade educations did not
prepare me well in either English or learning concept. Truly I had never heard of Beatrix Potter
till my children were born and I then discovered these wonderful children’s
books gratifying reading not only for them but also for myself. The point is that I was ill prepared to leap
to the front of the class during my public school years. Indeed, it took several decades before I
would realize my full potential.
Fast-forward more than a half-century to present day
elementary school and you get the pictures that follow the first one
above. Everything seemed interactive by
my observation. The children sat on the
floor in a circle, close enough to bother one another where nobody owned their
own space. A lot of playful gesturing and
prodding along with some wild and unpredictable exchanges was the order of the
day. The desks were grouped together in
pods of four. I’m sure this was partially done to accommodate to the dimensions
of the room, but it was also done to foster a spirit of collaborative teamwork
and behavioral restraint. To learn to
work with and around others is a theme that appears to be an important priority
to nurture for impressionable children when imprinting of lifelong behavior is
most intense - during this phase of early learning. All of this seemed good to me, an advance
from my elementary school days of individual learning and unforgiving competition,
or is it?????
Maybe things are not always what they seem and modern times are
not always better than the past. To be sure, I received a different perspective
from my left leaning daughter regarding the education her daughters, my
granddaughters, were receiving in the public school system of downtown San
Francisco.
As she explained, for those educated San Fran dwellers, if
you can afford private school, you send your kids there. If you are educated but not rich, you have
but one choice. Living in downtown San
Francisco with three young children is an enormously challenging venture, so
even if you have a good paying job, you still can be poor living in such a
madly expensive city. Furthermore, and sadly,
the San Fran public school education has deteriorated over time. There are no longer advanced classes for
gifted children. They are no longer a
priority in San Francisco. Apparently,
they can no longer be afforded.
Moreover, many inner city families are poor at high risk,
many are immigrants from Mexico and from other countries, and there are huge
gaps in how children are prepared for learning. Home life is challenging for
those families with broken homes, those with both parents working to make ends
meet, the quality and quantify of after school home life, and the part that
parents play in their kid’s education. None
of this is new information.
The San Fran public school strategy of grouping children of
varying backgrounds and ability together in a group setting is calculated. Obviously, it has advantages including
understanding each other’s culture and fostering assimilation. But, ostensibly,
it is meant to cater to those less fortunate, by mixing better-prepared and
gifted children with those less prepared and less gifted. As usual the strength of a chain is dependent
on its weakest link so learning in this setting benefits the least prepared
children at the expense of the better-prepared ones. School preparedness does not flow directly
down socio economic lines but there nevertheless is an undeniable relationship.
The idea is that this environment is the best strategy for
society, not only in education but also has a trickle down effect on behavior,
home life, crime, and for sure, future outcome.
And it is likely that the rationale for this type of education does
indeed have the community interests at heart. But it is also true that it does
so at the expense of those gifted and advanced children who would greatly
benefit from a public school system that offered a menu of learning options
based on interest and ability. As
always, there are always winners and losers in any decision affecting
people. My question is are we
sacrificing individual excellence for the common good?
Ironically as my daughter pointed out, it took only one
generation for our family to graduate from less fortunate to more
fortunate. Despite my disadvantaged
background, I was able to provide for my children to attend private school –
Punahou from 4th grade and then attend the best colleges that money
can buy…..Duke and Princeton. My
daughter also attended U College London, and U Pennsylvania. Both of my children left school without a
penny of debt. I paid the entire bill
from beginning to the end.
Sadly, my grandchildren, now 4 in number, will not have the
same opportunity that their parents had.
They cannot afford private school and God only knows how they will pay
for college without incurring huge sums of debt burdening their future with
school loans that will drain their future. This is not unlike the situation
facing most young families in America. I
offer no insight in how this will come down in the future. I have to live my remaining life hoping for
the best and helping out when I can. That’s
the best that I can do.
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