When I think about public education and the changes of late going on with the Common Core, a part of me harkens to a childhood friend I had whose prowess at investment banking has made him very rich. We haven’t seen each other that often as adults, so what we mostly have in common are the kind of childhood memories that live with you forever–like what Sina Bennett said about his kissing during Spin the Bottle, and the day in fifth grade when he and I decided to see what would happen if we took the D Train from our neighborhood, Brighton Beach, into Manhattan and had ourselves the urban equivalent of a Tom Sawyer adventure.
From what I’ve gleaned from the writer Malcolm Gladwell over the years, adult success is almost always a happy combination of personal qualities and good fortune. I try to remember that—and remember the adult successes of many individuals I knew from childhood—when I continually hear from parent friends about how now, more than ever, they’re fretting about public education in New York City.
This topic deserves much more than the sliver of personal reporting I’m going to give it here, but I thought it worthwhile repeat what I’m hearing from the front lines. Bottom Line: There’s growing the concern that that time spent “teaching to the test” is becoming the overwhelming driver of classroom time in public schools, putting the big squeeze on arts learning, and creative learning more generally. When New York State adopted the Common Core learning standards last year for grades K through 12, it meant that teachers would basically have to accelerate the curriculum to reach more ambitious learning goals that are in line with the pace of academic standards around the world. That sounds like a good idea, yes? But the lingering question is can it be done in a way that also cultivates curiosity and passion in young learners, or are we pushing are kids into rote learning at too young an age?
Personally, I feel like I don’t know enough about how kids learn or what really goes down in a classroom to have strong opinions on this topic. That said, I do feel like my son’s school is full of dedicated educators, and he seems to be learning and improving and he likes going to school, regardless of what’s going on in education politics. At the same time, when friends with kids in private school–including some who transferred their kids out of our public school–talk about the differences between the two realms, it cuts right into the issues everyone is concerned about. With more room to maneuver, at the grade school level at least, private schools seem to favor a style of learning that celebrates curiosity and discovery rather than prioritizing a relentless preoccupation with fundamentals. Or at least there’s more of a middle ground.
Who knows?
For now, I’m counting on Spin the Bottle, the NYC subway system, and some wonderful educators to keep my son moving toward his appointed destination in life. My old friend, however, sent his daughter to the neighborhood G&T school for one year, and then high-tailed it to the private school sector.
