Once upon a time, there was a village that had a great heritage of education among its citizens. For many years, the community had wonderful schools, but more importantly, great scholars, statesmen, artists and educators. Education was important to families, children and businesses. For years, it was rare to find anyone who wasn’t a graduate, and almost everyone believed in the worth of a good education.
Over time, the community’s commitment to education waned, and more and more students lost interest in education. A steady stream of students dropped out of school. Absenteeism grew. Test scores declined, discipline problems increased, and many children began to rebel altogether at the idea of going to school. Few people wanted to teach. Smaller schools arose for those families who cared about education, but even those schools could tell that times had changed. Students were no longer interested in education. It wasn’t important to the community.
Families became less and less supportive of education, and some insisted that too much time was spent in class and on homework. Some parents questioned the purpose of classes that had always been part of the school. The village was reaching a crisis point.
Of course, there were some who insisted that the community should redouble its efforts at education. They spoke and protested and wrote, but to little avail. Only a remnant listened or wanted change. Education declined and declined, until the time came that the village schools were a shadow of their former self. More seriously, few students were getting a good education, and the community was suffering in every way, but fewer still cared.
And then one day, there arose some younger educators with new ideas. They believed they could turn the schools around. They were excited about their plan, and met with the leaders of the community. The community leaders asked if these young educators were committed to producing truly educated students? Were they committed to graduating scholars who would be able to write, invent, lead and create as educated people? The young educators assured the community that they could. Their confidence was infectuous, and the community handed their schools over to these new teachers.
Soon the plan went into effect. Within weeks, everything had changed. All the old classes were dismantled. The school day was shortened. Classes were now filled with movies, music and entertainment. The goal of every class was to have fun. Where classes were taught, they were aimed at interests of the children: sports, MTV, dating, fashion, pets and so on.
School was hardly recognizable to the old guard. What had once been a school, now appeared to be an entertainment mall, where everything was done for the amusement of the students.
But the interest in school returned, and then increased. Every student loved school. They couldn’t wait to go and see what concert or movie was planned for today. With more and more fun, there came more and more students. Special events got larger and larger, until school became almost like going on a cruise or to an amusement park. Attendance, enthusiasim, and excitement were at record levels.
The new leaders were justifiably proud. “This isn’t school the way it was for your parents. This is school just for you and your friends. This is school where you can be comfortable and be yourself. We want school to be fun, and we want you to be excited about telling other kids how great school is now.”
Other communities came to observe, and more and more communities began to rework their schools in the same way. A movement of new, fun schools began to spread across the country.
Of course, there were a handful of people who were unhappy. They gathered in their homes and kept their complaints to themselves, but finally, they asked if they could meet with the town council, and with the educators.
The town council agreed, and everyone gathered. The new educators were basking in their success, and many congratulations were offered from families whose children were now ready to go to school every day. More and more students said that they wanted to be teachers too.
Time came for the critics to speak.
“Friends, a few months ago, we sat here together and asked these educators if they were committed to education. We asked if they were committed to turning out educated young people. Scholars and leaders for the future. They assured us they were, and we gave them our schools.
They lied. They didn’t believe in these things. Instead, they changed what we called education to something else entirely. They devalued education, and replaced it with entertainment. They found out what our children wanted OTHER THAN education, and they gave them that very thing, but CALLED IT education. It’s a bait and switch, and we’ve been snookered.
Now the world is singing their praises. The schools are full and the children love what is going on. But I have some questions for you:
What are the ACT scores for these schools? You see, we no longer give the test.
Where are the foreign languages? We no longer teach them.
Where are the Math courses? We no longer have them…or any engineers.
What are our students reading? Not books. Maganzines and the internet. Junk food for the mind. Almost no novels are being read. Our students watch movies and TV instead of reading.
Where are the scientists? We don’t teach science anymore. We teach about celebrities and fashion, but we don’t teach science.
I could go on and on, but I wonder if anyone cares? Does anyone even realize what has happened? We’ve been lied to, and we’ve accepted the lie!”
The young educators listened to this, shook their heads, laughed, and asked to speak.
“Friends, today, your schools are full. Your children love school. They can’t wait to come. They are busy and involved. They have school pride. They love their teachers. Many of them want to be involved in education. We’ve given you results that you never saw before. Change has been hard, but change is good. It’s been good for our children and community.
We believe that one day, these students will become great scholars and truly educated people. But first, we had to get them into the schools. We’ve done that. Be patient, and watch them as they become more and more the educated people you wanted them to be. Just remember that times have changed, and we can’t do what we did before and get results. Can you really argue with success?”
The room was filled with applause.