6 quotations to support my change

6 quotations to support my change for adding a “community service” program by Gerry Josephsen 12-3-13

1.        “Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and Why” by John Gatto, in the first paragraph he states, “I taught for thirty years in some of the worst schools in Manhattan, and in some of the best, and during that time I became an expert in boredom. Boredom was everywhere in my world, and if you asked the kids, as I often did, why they felt so bored, they always gave the same answers: The said the work was stupid, that it made no sense, that they already knew it.  They said they wanted to be doing something real, not just sitting around.  They said teachers didn’t seem to know much about their subjects and clearly weren’t interested in learning more.  And the kids were right: their teachers were every bit as bored as they were.”

If kids partook in community service it would take away from the “stupid, boring, sitting around” feeling and help them be productive.

 

2.        “Against School” by John Gatto, middle of page 2, “Mass schooling of a compulsory nature really got its teeth into the United States between 1905 and 1915”, he goes on to say that there was a threefold purpose: “1) To make good people. 2) To make good citizens. 3) To make each person his or her personal best”.

 Even though the “Mass schooling” system has its problems and has been said that “School has done a pretty good job of turning our children into addicts, but it has done a spectacular job of turning our children into children”. (Gatto “Against School” page 4, last paragraph) I like the threefold purpose stated earlier to help make students good people, good citizens and their personal best, which getting them involved with community service as a required class to graduate, they would be more than “addicts” and learn to serve other people.

3.        “The Banking Concept of Education” Chapter 2, by Paolo Freire, 1970, page 3 – 1^st paragraph, he states that “Those truly committed to liberation must reject the banking concept in its entirety, adopting instead a concept of men as conscious beings--and consciousness as consciousness intent upon the world.  They must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making and replace it with the posing of the problems of men in their relations with the world.”

When students are out in the community doing community service like: working for the county picking up garbage, going to nursing homes and reading to the elderly, planting flowers for the Rotary Club, helping the Chamber of Commerce with their annual fund raisers, and many more.  The students are learning what the “problems of men in their relations to the world” are. They see the need as more than the “route learning” that is part of the “banking concept”.

4.        “Gift of Grit, Curiosity Help Kids Succeed” by Jerry Large he sites “Paul Tough” and his “new book about what it takes for a child to make it: ‘How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character’.” Large goes on about Tough and says, “Tough pulls together research and real-world experiences that indicate the relentless pursuit of higher test scores and greater proficiency in this subject or that is not the way to produce successful people.”

“As the title says, if you want success, build character and the rest will follow”.  

“If you want success, build character and the rest will follow”.  There is no better way to “build character” than to get out there, working in the community, picking up trash and serving others. It is not only “building character” but very humbling and eye opening to see that the community needs our next generation to work and be part of it to be “better people”.

5.       “Gift of Grit, Curiosity Help Kids Succeed” by Jerry Large explaining  more on “Tough” in his book that is giving an example of two schools and the second school “Riverdale” he says, “The children at Riverdale were shielded from the possibility of significant failure. They worked hard but weren’t fundamentally challenged.” “ A big part of building character is overcoming failure. Too much adversity is bad, but so is too little, which doesn’t allow a child to build grit.” “Grit is one of the characteristics of successful people.  Here’s a list of the others: self-control, zest, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism, and curiosity.”

It takes “grit” to pick up other people’s trash, to visit a nursing home and see “real people” are and their needs, to work together building life around “real” things. Community service build that “grit” it takes to succeed in life.

6.       “A Real Education” by Barry Boyce. In Boyce’s first paragraph he is giving parents an exercise to imagine their child going for an interview and end up realizing that their education “didn’t cover the essential skills for this job – being able to calm yourself and regulate your emotions in a variety of situations; understand your own emotions, accurately perceive others’ emotions, and empathize; listen attentively to what someone is saying, negotiate, and confidently persuade; think through problems effectively while considering others’ perspectives.”

What better way to learn to “listen attentively” to “negotiate and confidently persuade;” and “think through problems effectively” than to do community service.  There are projects through “Habitat for Humanity” where people build their own homes and help others to build.  You have a contractor supervising the job and lots of work to do.  Building a house and being the “gofer”   you have to “listen attentively” and “think through problems”.