Tommorow is a big day. I'm heading to Washington DC to begin a week long research trip on urban education and the impact that the new "Paternalistic" schools are having on impoverished students of color. Starting with the SEED School, an inner-city boarding school in the heart of DC's poorest community and moving through Baltimores' Talent and Development High School and onto a group of schools in NYC including KIPP Harlem, I am anxious to begin my adventure.
A mere four years ago I was introduced to the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) and soaked up as much knowledge as I could about the works that started with Ted Sizer and spread across the country like wild fire. Progressive and democratic, the schools created within the CES network opened my eyes to anothe way of "doing school." A way that involves student voice in decision making, a personalized education for all, inquiry and discovery based classrooms with a focus on depth over breadth and whole school communities centered on teaching and learning. The 10 principles laid out by the CES group still impact my teaching career and won't soon be forgotten. The works of Sizer, McCarthy, Meier and many more are astonishing and the effect they've had and continue to have on students across the country are endless.
Tomorrow, however, turns over a new leaf. The new movement of "Paternalistic" high schools that dictate how students dress, talk, behave and "do school" are succeeding and although they are in no way liberal environments run as democracies, they are showing significant results. These schools, which at the core focus on two essential items, love and acheivement, are "no-excuse" schools with extended days (sometimes 7:30 - 5:00), three to four week summer programs for all students, and a drive for succeeding that could only be matched by a young Bill Gates. Although it's at times hard to imagine working in a school with this type of intense focus, it's also becoming hard for me to imagine the opposite. Knowing what's out there and working and not using it to improve the lives of my students.
Our educational philosophies are constantly evolving as we question what's best for students, but I must say that mine has never been questioned in such an extreme way. The bottom line is that I want my inner-city, impoverished black and hispanic students to compete with middle-class, predominantly white America. What I have to do now is put aside some of my engrained beliefs on what school and classrooms should look like and open my mind to what's out there and is really making it happen.
The journey begins tomorrow and I can't wait to engage in new learning that may forever change the way I view what's best for urban education in our country.
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