Let's Change Directions

I just now read in the newspaper that the new Governor of New Jersey proclaimed his intent to fix public education by such things as mandating more tests and paying teachers on the basis of student scores on the mandated tests. That Governor is but an example: politicians all over the country are making similar pronouncements.

The effect of doing what those politicians say they're going to do is to change the purpose of public schools from serving children to serving adults. That obviously makes no sense from an educational point of view. (Anybody who doubts that what those politicians are saying is senseless needs to listen to what the education journalist Marion Brady has to say on the subject. Brady's article in the Washington Post on January 10 is an excellent place to start.) But politicians listen to their own drummer, and their drummer plays to a political beat.

I think I know why politicians (and bureaucrats) advocate senseless public education policies: they don't know any better. The way our political/bureaucratic systems work is that the politicians get their information from people who come into their political world; and that political world is about power and status. As a small recent example from my own experience, a Kentucky legislator asked me where I stand on the issue of "charter schools", which is pending before the Legislature. My answer was that I regard the issue as more fundamental than "yea" or "nay" to that particular piece of legislation. That answer didn't help the legislator a bit; the system he works within requires that issues be defined in the context of his political world. (Incidentally, I regard that legislator as a good one; it's not him I'm faulting -- it's the system).

Abraham Maslow, who was a prominent pioneer in the field of psychology -- he was highly regarded in the business world for his insights on management -- gave us a quotation that helps sum up our problem: "If your only tool is a hammer, before long everything looks like a nail". Power -- the power to coerce and the power to reward -- is the hammer of the political/bureaucratic system. What that New Jersey governor is saying -- senseless though it is from a learning point of view -- is a predictable product of the political system. (As one of my old friends puts it, "Politicians like to get credit for doing good things for the people". The Governor is telling the people that he will fix the schools, and that the citizens need to do little more than appreciate him for doing that job.)

What I'm saying about the difference between politicians and citizens is something I've been saying for a long time. But I've seen the difference in actual operation; and what I've seen has convinced me that my own time and energy needs to focus on communities where the citizens are actively connecting the young people with the life in their community. My best example right now is a community I've talked about before: Linefork, located at the base of Pine Mountain in Letcher County, Kentucky. I believe Linefork is shaping up to be an excellent example of what small communities can accomplish when they look to their own strengths. Linefork is very much an Appalachian community, and the self-reliant Scots-Irish culture that has been in those mountains since right after the Revolutionary War may well be largely responsible for what I see happening. If that is correct -- if the Scots-Irish culture is indeed a positive force -- Linefork can set an example not only for Appalachian communities but for rural communities wherever a sense of self-reliance is alive and well.

I think I need to tell the Linefork story -- and the story of the example that I believe Linefork will be providing. I'm not talking about a scholarly report -- I want to see the spirit of Linefork everywhere -- but I think I can be factually accurate.

We may want to change the name of this blog -- I've toyed with "Appalachian Generations Connected" -- but let's think about that later. For now, I'll plan to emphasize Linefork and what it inspires

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I've told in earlier postings about Linefork's involvement with the return of the American Chestnut tree to the Appalachian forests, but I haven't told that story well enough. I'll have more about Chestnuts and Linefork in a week or two..

Bob Cornett