(Being somewhat unable to get around I have pulled up something I wrote a while back and was never going to post.)
They came and took the teachers and all their things.
"You do not need this," they said.
Paints and chalk were placed on the cart.
"Creative thinking is for math and history."
The string instruments were locked in cabinets.
"Self-expression should be in sports or...
well, nothing else really." He said as he packed the make-up.
"We will tell you how to express yourself."
"It is not what you see in this room that is important,
It is what you hear that must be learned."
"Listen, repeat, and repeat again.
That is good."
"Don't you want to pass the test?"
"Don't you want to defend and protect the country?"
"Just fill in the blanks."
"Learning is so easy
Is it not?"
Is it supposed to be easy, I wonder.
"You do not have to add anything.
Just remember what you are taught."
"You do not need to disagree or
question or be so critical.
There is no time."
"Find a space at the end of the row."
"Do what you are told."
The classroom is so crowded.
The teacher is too busy to
attend to my individual quirks.
Science, poetry, acting and art are all too big
for my learning space now.
Sit still...you get 30 seconds of directed attention.
Does anyone have a band aid? (Photo was taken at the Zoo.)
That is awesome. Absolutely breathtaking, Tabor. And it so could happen.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, food for thought Tabor - Dave
ReplyDeleteWhy weren't you going to post this?
ReplyDeleteWow, that tiger is magnificent!
Well that says it all in a most powerful way. I am so glad you shared this.
ReplyDeleteAs always - thank you
ReplyDeleteLove the image...
...and you forgot Driver;s Education. Driving is also considered an art.
ReplyDeleteHave you had an xray yet? If you aren't bounding about yet, you might consider it. I'm just a worry wart.
To all, I walked about a half mile today down the road outside my driveway! No x_ray...but well on the road to recovery.
ReplyDeletei get a knot in my stomach when i realize scenarios like this are much closer and more possible than we think. i worry so much for the next generation of students which includes my granddaughter. when i think back to my own schooling ages and ages ago, it's not the facts and details that i remember - it's the concepts and ideas. this is what i desperately try to instill in my students. it's why i still teach even when education is headed down a road that is so obviously, tragically wrong.
ReplyDeleteAin't it the truth. With pressure on schools to be "more accountable" it's the poetry, acting, and art that are the first to go down. I see it happening before my very eyes.
ReplyDeleteBut in spite of it all, don't you think the creative soul fights back? That it cannot be stifled? I am seeing so many people beginning to express their own thoughts, their own unique way of seeing the world in an amazing way.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Parochial High School they cut the Art n Music out of the curriculum. Now I'm the only artist n musician from my entire class! (I have a Fine Arts degree)
ReplyDeleteI was lucky to have musical public school friends n visited their school- could be why- But it did make me hate school!
My frustrated eldest daughter only stayed in sometimes because of band- Then went to Berkeley College of Music, n did symphony before having babies.
How many others have wasted their talents due to folks who don't know that an artist invented the washing machine...
This subject hits home with me-