I'm reading an amazing book called In Defense of Troublemakers."
It has me thinking: Why ask why? Just accept “it is what it is” and go on with your life. But is that true? Should people, especially innovative people accept “that’s just the way it always been? If that was true, then many of our greatest movements would have never happened. The Renaissance would have never happened Cleaning up the cities and bringing healthy food and medicine would not have been Autocracy would have run amok Questioning is a great idea, and we as practitioners of leadership need to ask more questions and encourage the why in people. Simon Sinek wants people to start with why. We need to start with why more! It is really important to slow down and to think about the underlying arguments for any reason a person presents to you which tries to persuade you. Asking why can help you, the individual start to piece together the reasons or rationale behind a person’s beliefs or actions. I recently found a number of articles and papers which describe how people tend to believe what they already believe, even when the EVIDENCE is opposed. How can people do this? Aren’t we rational? We really aren’t. The authors of two books, Thinking, fast and slowly, and Blink, describe to their readers the idea that “gut reactions” or “gut level knowledge” is considered more valuable. Second the authors point out that people tend to support knowledge that backs up our own experiences or beliefs. Another author, Evans, in the book The human side of school change, tells readers a really important concept. If you have entered into a bad situation, and continue to exist in that situation, after a while, you won the situation, and will defend it as “the reality.” Where has civility gone? No one says hello No one smiles No one cares We are suffering a physical and emotional and spiritual hunger. “I cant help you” is a common refrain “I’m sorry its not my job” It was their fault. They did it to themselves They don’t deserve this. Why do you have this- you don’t deserve it. Time to re-frame the message. Instead of us versus them its all of us. Decisiveness is the tool of the destroyer. It is the cancer which destroys the community from the inside. Enough. No more “that’s not good enough.” Now it will be ” great start- lets keep going- together.” You need some food- Please ask. If I can, you have it. You need a hug- please ask. I will give it. I believe in you- I support you- I value you. This thinking is concerning- why and how do we move to change people’s minds when they won’t ask why? Change our tactics to a different way of trying to get people to question their realities. It is the only exercise that will help us make change for the better. CTJ Solutions, LLC is devoted to helping you or your organization in its quest to move from okay to OUTSTANINDING! Baseball is like education. Hear me out! (lol)
Just like baseball, our education system is standardized with rules of play. We know what a school should look like. We also know how each team has areas that they recruit fans from. Just like schools. Our local is our reality. Baseball and education are further similar in that there is a farm system. Each major league baseball team recruits through the draft and free agency to build a team for the future. Schools do the same activity. Schools have future teacher clubs. But the also recruit. Not the high flying recruitment that major leaguers receive, but recruit still the same. Many school systems want the best and the brightest teachers. They also want experience teachers. So what happens? Larger schools across the urban and suburban areas usually find teachers and administrators from rural districts. The bigger locations offer more money or more perks. What is one perk of a larger school? A person in the urban or suburban communities can "get away" from the school. They do not need to shop in their local supermarket or grocery store. They do not need to, as part of a suburban or urban community, chance running into a student or their family at a local restaurant. A second perk is how many preps a teacher is assigned. It is very different in a rural district where a social studies teacher may have to teach all of the secondary social studies curriculum from grades 7-12, or all the science classes 7-12. Instead, a teacher in a suburban district or an urban district may be expected to teach 1 or 2 preps. This is a huge time saver, and allows folks to focus into their work and not have to do multiple preps every day. A third perk may be the spaces or technology. Some rural and urban schools were built almost 100 years ago. Suburban districts are often much younger, born after World War II and the baby boom. Suburban districts allow teachers a better hvac system. You do not understand how high quality HVAC can make a huge difference for quality of student experience. Schools in suburban and urban schools are often flooded with technology funding, and have provided computers, display boards, and more current technology than many rural schools, who may need better internet services than currently exist. A fourth perk is the ability to work with a team in urban or suburban schools. In many schools of size, a department exists, and local support networks like the Teacher Centers are large, have many resources, such as experts, and can invite in more professional expertise. For a novice teacher, a mentor in their own field can be made available , unlike in many rural schools, where just having a mentor is a win. Finally, as rural schools are often the stepping stones for administration, teaching, and other fields, the constant churn is like baseball. If you change leadership, or have a new team, your community experience the Tuckman rule for team development: forming, storming, norming, preforming, adjourning. I am sure you have a favorite team that had for bright shining moments an awesome group, that then broke apart. Some players retired, some left for more money or opportunity. Some were bought out (or cut) in order to reduce costs. In rural American schooling, our funding has dropped with huge consequences for programming since 2008. We have experienced two major recessions, and significant reduction in programming. Our students need stability. Our teachers need stability. We do not expect a pitcher to also play outfield or infield. The news media calls attention to this unique event. Yet in education, we ask a kindergarten teacher to be ready to do any elementary grade to 6th. We ask secondary teachers to be ready to teach any course in their content in grades 7-12. We ask principals, and superintendents to do three to five people's jobs. No wonder there is a revolving "call up" to suburban schools. People by human nature want to do good and do well. Right now, just as our career minor league baseball players have to "ride the bus" instead of fly on charter jet, our rural educators do not have what urban and suburban colleagues have. In order to make life better, lets give our rural teachers support, encouragement, and thanks. Let us as society ensure their work place is safe, up to date, and supportive of their professional work. Casey Jakubowski, PhD is a 20 year educator and author of 20 articles and book chapters published internationally and nationally. He has presented over 50 times on a wide range of education and improvement topics. He is the author of Edumatch (2020) Thinking About Teaching, and the new book Cog in the Machine ( Edumatch). He can be reached on twitter @caseyj_edu In mid March of 2020, the normal world, reality came tumbling down, as a novel corona virus, Covid-19 shuttered schools and transformed face to face teaching into an untenable position in almost all public and private schools in the USA, and many places abroad. The respiratory virus and the response to the pathogen, required states and schools to shift to a quarantine based model, with some online lessons, and multiple packets of worksheets emerging from teachers and support staff.
The response to the virus, forcing almost all Americans to work from home, now meant parents were working with, or in many cases, in parallel to their students for the entire day. No longer were children placed on a bus or dropped off at school while the adults went to work, came home, and ran children to activities and events, before a mad dash of homework at the end of the day. Weekdays bled into weekends, and laundry, food prep, and distance work and learning became the routine, and the norm. Positives emerged from this world pandemic, as many people now began to understand what teachers really do for students. In many places, teacher parades (in their car) and zoom meetings, and phone calls, became reality checks, as educators tried to show their students, many of whom would never physically be in the same space as their teacher again, that they are missed, they are valued, and they still weigh heavily on the teacher’s mind, even as the teachers are working with their own children at home with school work. In response, people realized HOW MUCH WORK teaching is, and how DIFFICULT good teaching is, on a day in and day out basis. Parents respected their own children’s teachers, but now began to see the profession was once again a group of dedicated, and super humans, who do a lot more than is required. Some negatives have really come home to roost though. First, society is now realizing that the school is a critical and significant resource in feeding children. As almost 25% of American children live in poverty, schools have again, with herculean effort, organized ways to deliver a lunch and a breakfast to houses. many local restaurants, those most in danger of closing due to the health crisis, and looming economic crisis, have provided free meals to young people as well. Second, with the emergency turn to internet based learning, many areas, especially rural areas, still do not have the infrastructure to support this form of communication, information delivery, and contact with the rest of the world. In 2020, as I use high speed wifi in a suburban area of upstate NY, students not more than 10 miles to the east have no internet coverage, very spotty cell service, and limited cable access. The need for internet in the present society has moved many to claim that the net is no longer a service, it is a utility. Third, many students do not have devices in their homes capable for use. With libraries and public community based organizations closed because of the health crisis, students who relied on the desk top computers in those spaces are cut off. Very few have a mobile device, such as a tablet, or lap top, do do research, read e-mails from teachers, or do homework on line. It has become crystal clear that there is a profound difference among social classes between levels of at home resources. Fourth, The education system in the US continues to demand too much from educators. The drive in education for the past 30 years, to hold professionals with graduate degrees and state licences “accountable” has in reality been a disguise to demand way more than is humanly capable for a sound, rational, and balanced existence in education and life. Just like the middle ages demanded educators who were religious monks or the sisters of the teaching orders in the late industrial era, teachers are sacrificing their own children’s learning, time, and curiosity to ensure their classes are conducted. We are also seeing so many educators asking students to complete worksheets and packets because… somebody wants proof that learning happened, and that teaching occurred. I hope this situation, as bad as it is leads to some changes and reforms in education. Specifically, I hope that funding for education increases to levels that allow each and every child access to internet at home, with a device that can allow research and learning. I hope that each and every child can have more hands on experiences which align with developmentally appropriate activities like play and exploration. Classrooms should not be worksheet after worksheet. They should be experimentation, and experiences, and field trips outside of school into the environs. More adults are required in the classroom, to guide students to learn about many different skills, and hobbies, and arts, and museums. The classroom should be reserved for presenting on learning experiences from the field. I believe that small rural schools should be supported with greater resources. If not, our smallest schools will not survive the impending economic problems, which have always relied on the illusion of wealth or money or value. Rural schools are still trying to spend both sides of a nickle, and kudos for that effort. But they need relief. They need the ability to harness distance learning and off site student collaboration across greater networks to achieve great things. Children are fascinated with the world. They want to learn. Yet somewhere along the way, learning morphs from a joy to a chore. We need less standardization and more individualization, and the resources, professionals, and systems to undertake these models. I fear what will happen though, is that budget constraints will damage our learning, and we, as Americans, will return to our regularly scheduled programs of accepting the givens. I hope that a movement will begin, one which demands changes, epic changes, to our educational system which values creative thinking, critical exploration of real life, and a movement away from paper to experiences. America is at a crossroads moment, and I believe that this is the sputnik spark to light the flames of reform. This blog post first appeared on my wordpress site, then became a chapter in my Thinking About Teaching book from @Edumatch
Renaissance fairs, Civil War, Revolutionary war, 18th century products and Masters of Craft: artisans in 21st. Living history and a great many return to craft works! My wife is the owner of secret garden designs. She loves crafting and sewing. She loves to work on period pieces. We both love finding out about what life was like in the past. We watched the entire Timeteam series from the BBC. We both watched the Farming Series from BBC. I enjoy the works that Genesee Country Museum, the Buffalo Niagara Historic Village, and the Old Bethpage Village on Long Island. My wife grew up next to Museum Village in Orange County NY. Her brother served as a Civil War Re-enactor. one of my favorite social studies teachers in Junior High was a Civil war Re-enactor. A colleague of mine and a fellow Alpha Phi Omega member participate in Civil War Re-enactment. There is a wide number of suppliers for re-enactment, including Townsend, Old Suttler’s John, and Pearsons. So why do people re-enact? For some, its the process of studying archaeology and history by doing it through the process of Experimental archaeology, a recognized field of study which allows scholars to glean an understanding into how tools were used, how structures were built, and how the daily lives of people came to be. Many times, the people involved in experimental archaeology provide valuable insight into how theory became applied practice. Other members of the community enjoy the fellowship of the community. They find the events and the comrades they make to be supportive, welcoming, and unique environment to pursue a passion. There are website, books, and a wide variety of youtube videos devoted to the time periods and materials for reenactment. If you want to learn how to cook from the Civil War era there are recipes and cooking demos. Cook books abound. Different crafters make reproduction tools and equipment that would be used in the time period. We all know food is a great attraction for people. From eating hardtack and salt pork, to cakes and fry breads and roasts common to the era, a veritable feast can be consumed on a reenactment event weekend. One of my dear friends, Amelia is involved with the SCA. Her mundane existence as a technology director at a school support system and her weekend persona are amazing in their existence. She is a thrown weapons master, and arts and crafts guru, and yet runs the website! It allows her enjoyment, fellowship, and acquisition in knowledge of crafting skills which are dying. I would recommend each person look at the following books for understanding about re-enactors and craft skills: Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy Reliving the Civil War A Compendium of Common Knowledge, 1558-1603: Elizabethan Commonplaces for Writers, Actors & Re-enactors The Constructed Past: Experimental Archaeology, Education and the Public (One World Archaeology) Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival Popular media also discusses reenactors as well. Almost all of the series are BBC or CBC based television programming. Major news magazines like Salon and The Atlantic have run stories on reenactors, or living histories. Parks and Recreation had an historical reenactor as part of their series. NCIS used a re-enactor death to create a story line. Bones has used historical re enactors to advance the crime fighting adventures of Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. One of my friends from Western New York collaborates in a War of 1812 re enactment with Canadian units. this activity inspired him to study history at college. He also became part of a Re enactment club that started a Venturing Scout program on living history. For students and adults, the living history world is a no opportunity to wonder about what was. Our museums and historical societies do wonderful events and activities and fairs that bring history alive. While not always 100% accurate, it does get the ball rolling. Just like Genealogists and history written for the masses are not always accepted, historians and social studies teachers should look for common allies in our fight to be relevant and expose more students to the wonders of the past and the unique and gripping stories. Engagement =interest= relevance. Fleetwood Mac had it right!
Its time to GO YOUR OWN WAY. Your system asks you to give all, and in return, you are given very little back. How many of you have sacrificed something? Health? Stability? Live comfortably like your parents? I know some of this is #firstworldissues, but we are the USA right? I was born in 1977, as the US was recovering from the oil embargo. Carter was in office, and the economy was tanking. My parents were first generation middle class. Dad, a railroad fireman. Mom was an RN. They had just bought their first house, in suburban Buffalo NY. I was born a year after they were married. My brother came along a couple of years later. So did our puppy Indy dog. It was a really great suburban life, with a corner lot, and friends, and bikes, and grapes and rhubarb in the back yard, and a pool. We could go to Disney world. Dad made enough money that mom could stay home with us. One of my favorite memories is going for my fourth birthday to see the trains that Dad worked on! It was awesome! Then, in 1982, the economy crashed. Dad was furloughed from his major rail road job. We went on public assistance, and our grandparents on both sides, and my aunts and uncles pitched in to help. This should not have happened. According to the social contract, my Dad’s Bachelors degree in Chemistry, and Mom’s 3 year RN degree should have been the American Dream. Professionals, who did better than their parents. Nope, the system broke. And we had to move away from family and friends as Dad finally was hired by New York State to oversee the water control testing in Gloversville NY for the Sacandaga and Black Rock regulatory district. Mom went to work at a hospital to help us, especially as the economy was still weak, and the state employees were not paid, but given “script” or IOUs for a few checks. Then Mom and Dad found out that my youngest brother, Adam was on the way. Mom was really sick, and needed medication. The prescription was ill regulated, and Adam was born very ill. He died soon afterward, after doctors demanded payment for life saving surgery, after the insurance companies refused, as the treatments were “experimental.” HOW CAN LIFE SAVING SURGERY BE EXPERIMENTAL? We did have some joy, as my sister joined the family, but still, it was stressful, and a bit overwhelming. Mom and Dad and the family were broken, and we left Gloversville after Dad accepted a position in Buffalo with the Asbestos control bureau. Mom went back to work helping very at risk children at a resident facility. This was in the mid eighties. Buffalo was still in its doldrums, and the economic and environmental ravages all over the region showed. Old crumbling businesses. The ghost of the Industrialize glory of Buffalo’s past sat like empty rotting hulks along the lake front. Entire swaths of the “Queen City” lay vacant, or scarred by the poverty that followed the loss of jobs, social services, and community engagement of failed urban reform policies. As I now realized, my parents sacrificed a lot so that our family had a decent up bringing. Our extended family helped, as gifts were usually towards a college fund. And I went to college, a state school, and learned to teach social studies. In 1998, when I graduated we were again in an economic upturn, but upstate NY was still in trouble. I was fortunate to have a job teaching, and did so for a year in the Western Southern Tier of the State. Here I saw the abandonment, and abject poverty of the area. Once the home to transportation hubs and light manufacturing, southern Cattaraugus County had been left for dead. Back in the 1970s, when NY City suffered a severe economic downturn, upstate politicians had told NYC to “drop dead.” Now the downstate politicians in power had decided to return the favor to upstate. The school district was exploring a merger with a neighboring district due to population and revenue loss. The tourism and “art economy” had yet to take off, and the area was really poor. After a year, I stupidly left to follow my now ex-wife to Central NY/Leatherstocking region of Chenango County for her full time teaching job. After five years, and watching the economy crash again after 9/11, and the really bad policies of the party in charge, we went our separate ways. Yet again, CNY was suffering economic decline, as industry de-invested from the area. Extraction economics, like lumbering were decimated by poorly thought out trade policies, and the mindset of big businesses that people were disposable resources. After moving away I noticed a trend, and I saw it again in 2008, as the economy crashed again. People with skills and resources had no say. Economically, trickle down economics failed, and the wealth rushed to the top of the pyramid. The wealthy became super wealthy, and hard dedicated workers were lost. The economy has moved to a “gig economy” model, where there are no longer social ties between people, there is no obligation from the upper class to the middle, working, and lower class. There is a return to 1700s thinking that economic failure is a moral failure. The thinking is if you are poor its due to your laziness. Yet sociologists, political scientists, historians, economist and others have proven that the real issue is with the system. As my friends, colleagues, family members and contacts are furloughed, laid off, downsized, contract terminated, I really don’t see the really wealthy really sacrificing. I see a ton of people being nasty, and folks in power suggesting if 3% of the population dies in order to reopen the economy, then the sacrifice was worth it. YIKES- in war, death is inevitable. In a communicable disease, a pandemic situation, all death from the disease is preventable. If our nation continues to underpay, under support, undervalue workers, we do not deserve the title of the Greatest Nation on the Planet. I am angry. I am mad. I am stuck at home, because I am a 3%- I have a chronic aliment that would make me a cupcake for a Covid 19 virus. I can thankfully, work from home, but I cannot come to grips with the anger I feel for this medieval attitude towards fellow humans. All sense of nobless oblige has left many of the wealthy in the US, and the political officials who seem to forget their job is to help the masses, not the 1%. The only way I can help is to help you. Please let me know if you need 15 minutes to talk about how to take back your own lives. We need to support each other, and let the upper crust know enough is enough. |
AuthorOver 20 years experience in consulting for improvement. Lean and Six Sigma Certified. PhD in Leadership Archives
November 2022
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