Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Let's just go to Paris
http://www.le-hiboo.com/1062-loney-dear/
Tonight my family and I attended the modern version of parent-teacher interviews. Instead of sitting down with the teacher one on one where we could get to scoop on how your little angels are doing, our children showed us around the classroom, leafed through some of the year's assignments, and chatted about their goals for the school year. The teachers circulated like hired hostesses.
This is a big change. Gone, apparently, are objective measures like grades (unless you hunt for them or add up test marks yourself). Instead children are judged holistically on a multitude of qualitative measures that weren't shared with us. Maybe they come later.
I best not venture an opinion on all this. Like anything in life there are merits and gaps and like everything in life it's best to not get too hung up on how things SHOULD be. I'm not going to change the school's policy for evaluation. Nevertheless, I left the school tonight feeling apprehensive. Are my boys doing well? I think so. They seem happy. The teachers smiled and nodded. But I wonder how all this touchy-feely mumbo-jumbo will translate when they are in the post-secondary world of quantitative measure? It's all about the GPA when you are studying (competing) with a pool of thousands. Maybe they'll be lost. Maybe they'll have the self-confidence to try hard and not tie themselves in knots over the numbers.
So yeah, I guess I'm not OK with this. When I got home my brain said it'll probably be good in the long run, but my gut said HEARTBURN, and my tongue was dry for whiskey.
Instead of following my usual route of discomfort escape, I chose to watch Loney Dear in the video above. His unpretentious performance, improvisational and without boundaries, along with the videographer's stream-of-consciousness shooting technique settled me right down. Art heals.
And now I want to take my boys (and my dear wife) to Paris.
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Art definitely heals.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you - some clear answers on exactly what your goals are helps, but seems to be something we get increasingly less of in the modern world
ReplyDeleteAnd there is such a thing of too much evaluation when we're kids - yes we need to achieve and get qualifications, but its also supposed to be a place where we learn to be good people
DFTP: I agree. And we need a new subject: morals and ethics. They could talk about all the religions and have debates about tricky decisions (e.g., should the government support smoking -- by allowing it to be sold -- while at the same time encouraging us to avoid it). It's clear the many parents are not offering this knowledge to their children.
ReplyDeleteOur kids attend a private liberal arts school. It's academically rigorous (and and grade appropriately) but the boys love learning. I'm pleased with the feedback and not concerned about their future at this point. I sometimes wish the opposite for them...relax, breathe deeply, know that your mind is strong. I'm certain I would feel like you though, Michael, if I didn't sense enough structure and milestone checks. Your boys are so young. For some reason...not sure exactly why...I don't see them as *lost* in the future.
ReplyDeleteIt's all the same fears in homeschooling, more or less, I think, just without the touchy feely parent teacher nights. Are we doing too much academic work? Not enough? Is she learning self-discipline? Is there enough repetition to form those neural pathways? Should I battle to get her to write more? Does she need more social interaction? Less? I think we should all just take them to Paris and let them run through the countryside and climb trees or something.
ReplyDeleteI love the music.
Also, I think we should buy them all twelve string guitars.
ReplyDeleteChrisy, I'm feeling better about it. My oldest and I sat down this weekend and discussed his school year so far and what he would like to put some extra attention on. I was impressed with his insight. It took this parent-teacher-STUDENT night to give me a nudge and ask questions I don't usually ask. "What do YOU think my boy?"
ReplyDeleteTinsenpup, yes, isn't he awesome? You are right: we all have the same fears I guess and we have to remember that people can turn out well without parent input. My parents just handed me over to the school. Talk about school? My Dad only asked if I could get a job with that art degree. And then he let me figure it out for myself.