I hope there’s some talk out there about the film ‘Race to Nowhere’ that’s currently traveling around the country. In the interest of getting the word out, here are my impressions. If you’re not familiar with the movie, director Vicki Abeles has made a film about education in the U.S. and the myriad of ways that the system is failing to prepare and provide for our kids. It’s not a particularly uplifting film unless you’re an optimist, (which, thankfully, I happen to be!), but it does have a substantial amount of useful information, not the least of which are the thoughts and feelings of the students themselves.
Here’s the link to the website. The trailer is on the site and on youtube, too.
Regardless of how you feel about education in the U.S., the film brings up some almost irrefutable issues that we need to think about as a nation and decide whether they matter to us or not. The ways our children are hurting as a result of their journey through K-12 education are almost entirely social and emotional, with some significant physical stresses heaped in there, too. The issue isn’t necessarily that they can’t finish high school or go to college, it’s also about what state of mind and body they’re in when they get there and how they feel about themselves along the way. It’s a question, really, of community values. Do we value our children or do we value their successes?
Daily I encounter the question of what it takes to enact change in our schools. Why is there such a difference between what we know and what we do? We know a lot of what we put our kids through isn’t good for them. Why don’t we choose a different path? The most common answer to this question seems to be fear. Fear that our children will miss out on some future opportunity if we don’t push them hard enough to keep every available door open for them. I do agree that fear is a huge factor. However, how about the fact that we don’t know for sure that doing something different will really work? All we know right now is that what we’re doing isn’t going so well. What if we showed successes in the schools that are trying different things? What if we showed what these kids look like as successful adults? At 25? At 45? Put the evidence out there for everyone see that it really does work, that we really can produce happy, productive and successful adults without using a high pressure, cookie cutter method that defines a narrow version of success.
Why is this so complex? Why is there such a difference between what we know and what we do?
The stakes in keeping the system the same are often high, including the economic stakes of educational testing companies, colleges, and private tutors. There are also significant socioeconomic factors at play. There is also a legitimate lack of knowledge by parents, educators and policy makers about current research around how kids learn and how their brains work. There are legitimate differences in what we collectively view as success. I’m sure we can all think of many more reasons to be resistant to change.
I would argue that although all those obstacles exist, the most relevant question to ask here is, “What will happen if we do nothing?” To enact change will take either slow and steady progressive decision making or an all-out revolt. I think Abeles is hoping for the revolt and honestly, so am I.
On a fortunate side note, Abeles ultimately ends up highlighting extraordinarily well some of the things that go right in the system – great teachers, homework that is relevant but not crushing, engaged families and several more, by contrasting with the negatives. What truly shines are the indomitable spirits of the kids she talks to in the film.
Abeles is clearly able convey that the responsibility for asking hard questions lays with all of us. A series of suggestions and relevant points at the end of the film targets specific groups one at a time – administrators, teachers, parents, students – aimed at engaging them in their share of the effort.
After the screening, the most common questions audience members had all involved one word. How. “How do I…?” “How do we get other people to…?” “How do we effect change?” “What can I do tomorrow or next week?” I think it’s time we worked hard to answer the ‘how’ questions and help people to see that they themselves are the actual tool for change.
Alex Russell
Thanks for this post Alex, really important questions. Reminds me of something:
Every year, for around 41 years now, Phi Delta Kappa & Gallup poll parents about schools. Over and over we score our child’s school high compared to schools-in-general. In 2009 (here is the report):
Two options to interpret this: We’re over-critical of “schools in general” or we’re under-critical of our own child’s school.
I suspect that we protect ourselves through the latter. I mean, if I was sending my child to a “C or D school,” then I’m practically abusive! I must be a bad parent… so I focus on the good things. “Well maybe the kids are treated like cattle, but the teacher is usually nice.” (By the way, a whopping 74% of respondents gave that score to “schools nationally”)
My point is: Tolerance can block change.
Schools, libraries, afterschool programs in this country should be magnificent. What if they were overflowing with joy and wonder, completely safe, abundant with resources, staffed by world-class professionals, fully accountable, and so magical that all of us would love to be there everyday?
Until that day, we SHOULD be indignant, even outraged, by the short shrift we’re paying the future.
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