"If our children are to grow up to make important contributions to society, it is essential that we provide them with powerful tools and experiences across the curriculum. This goal will require a new culture of teaching and learning that engages students as contributors."
I think this is a wonderful summary of this reading. The tools are out there. The students know it! If we want them to be engaged, we need to speak their language, and if we want them to be able to contribute as adults we have to teach them the mode and means for doing so.
I was struck by this today, in particular. Our school is in the unfortunate circumstance of qualifying for SIG funds. While not the "lowest performing" school in the state, we are a Title I school that took funding and didn't show an improvement. Our school board has decided to apply for the grant, and so the student body was informed of the decision today. They understand, now, that means removing our current principal from the position and hiring a new school leader. What was the response?
Quite appropriately, I believe, students were upset to not have a voice in the decision that is facing their school. They created ballots for students to vote whether they would take the grant or decline the funds, had they been asked. An enterprising student created a Facebook survey asking students for input - students can select multiple choices such as "we don't need the money," "we should have a say," and "we should keep Mr......".
While I am saddened by the position we are in, I am so pleased with the engagement of the student body in this process. They are struggling, right alongside teachers, with what this means for our school. They want to know how they can be heard, and they are really trying to get advice on how to do it in an appropriate way so that they are taken seriously. While walk-outs and other things have been mentioned, I have heard students tell each other that these aren't the ways to go about being heard - how dramatic is this peer-to-peer coaching that is going on!
I know the Facebooking has only just begun when it comes to this issue, but I am certainly pleased thus far with how students have reacted - they are really invested in the outcome, and trying to approach it as best as possible. This is one small tool (Facebook) that they have taught themselves how to use - and have harnessed as a communication tool for civic discourse. Wouldn't it be amazing if we had taught them to use these other tools too?
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