I must be feeling better ... I have "rants" burning in my belly! 

• As I signed in today, I noticed the question concerning Sen. McCain's use of a familiar (once popular) racial slur.  Interestingly, what upset me wasn't his use of the term ... in reference to those who held him and his comrades captive in N. Viet Nam!  What upset me was that the question was even raised in the tone used ... to incite an onslaught of tongue lashings from ill-informed bloggers.  Good grief!  Is the man not permitted some remnant of humanity even though he seeks election to the highest office in the land?  To my knowledge, it is not something that is common to his everyday language and does not  refer to ALL Asians for ALL time.  We're willing to overlook Uncle Bill's oral activities but make an issue of this???  Oh please!

• Then ... dear sandyquill got me thinking about "inclusion" in Public schools.  Should ALL students be pushed through the same program?  I know when I was growing up ... in the dark ages, for sure, those with hearing impairment went to a different school (some still do!) and those with other physical challenges went to schools that specialized in treatment and development of children with these limitations.  There are not many of these "special" schools left.  Instead, as many as possible regardless of their ability levels are "herded" (word carefully chosen for my own reasons - later explained) through the curriculum.  (Hope you cannot see the steam emanating from my delicately exposed ears!) 

ALL children are NOT alike.  ALL children (or people) are NOT created equal!  (With equal RIGHTS, yes ... but we are not all equal!)  Some of us are great with words, some in speaking others in writing.  Some of us have "Idol" voices while others need the proverbial bucket to carry their tunes.  Some are driven to understand how things work and study the smallest things ... a door scraping across a carpet,  the way a single blue beta swims in his dish,  the difference between a spiny crab and a well worn snail shell.  Some of us see colors vibrant and true in constant motion while others see snapshots in black & white.  Some of us learn by watching those who know.  Some of us need to DO to learn ... to use our hands, our feet, our senses, even our whole body to absorb information.  When ... oh when did our esteemed educators determine that all children learned the same way?   

They did not, of course!  Yet ... public schools persist in their endeavors to purposefully herd every child through the same curriculum, without respect for the child's individuality or personal learning style.  And we let them!  When will educators once again admit ... with the support of administrations & budgets ... that each child is an individual and for a child to honestly learn, s/he must be given some room to explore, to follow their own star.  Curricula are intended as guidelines, not edicts or oracles of the gods.  One of the down sides of pigeon-holed learning is those who refuse to conform are tossed aside or socially shunned. 

Consider one 17-year-old boy who twice failed grade 10. This student's IQ score, at barely 100, allowed him to squeak into the public school's regular program, but his school's testing practice prevented the boy from rising past the bottom scores in his class. For a while, in spite of his difficulties to pass most tests, the student desperately tried to succeed at school. Life on a farm taught him the value of hard consistent work, and the boy's easy-going nature splashed color on classroom activities. His infectious laughter made him a sought-after friend to both peers and staff. The shop teacher told how he frequently hung around to help out after class, and how, when volunteers were requested, he was first to respond.  

Although the boy mastered few skills championed in traditional Western curricula, he clearly possessed his own unique array of talents. While he showed higher than average inter-communication ability, however, he withdrew and often grew noticeably quiet when tests were handed back...  

"One principal suggested that the boy came to school with the 'wrong abilities.' Other educators, like his science and music teachers, suggested that the school issued this student the 'wrong tests.' … Unfortunately, however, the boy failed grade 10. Already stung by two previous failures and rather than repeat again, eventually he simply dropped out of the high-school system."  

How have children like this been shoved aside over the years?  How has the public school system served their needs? Perhaps they were given some illustrious label like ... DYSLEXIC ... AUTISTIC ... AHAD ... or when in doubt ... VIRAL!

Yes ... there are those who legitimately suffer from these conditions, yet over the years they seem to be broadening in scope and diminishing in substance, if you understand what I mean.  In other words, these terms are becoming blanket conditions to cover many of those who simply don't fit in! Or do it differently!   

So I ask again ... why do we allow our schools to teach each child with identical methods, sometimes resorting to curriculum scripts, to keep things as sterile as possible!  uuuuuuggggggghhhh!  They're WHOSE children???   

Maybe tomorrow, I'll get to explain some of where this originated!   

 

~ B