I just wrote the following comment to a surprising and unexpected blog post about my blog written by Kelly Tenkely. Kelly has a wonderful blog called iLearn Technology that offers some truly helpful hints and practical tips for integrating technology into your classrooms. If you haven't read it, you should. Better yet, add it to your blogroll.
In any event, I decided to share my comment because it reflects, in no uncertain terms, my current mood. It reads:
Thank you for the kind words about my blog. I hope, in my own small way, to add something of merit to the conversations that may, over time, lead to meaningful education reform. But I never forget that it's not me, but people like you, the teachers, who are the real difference makers. You're in the trenches everyday fighting the good fight for the hearts and minds of our children.
Yesterday on twitter you posed an interesting question. You wrote: "Reading outstanding edu blogs, how is it that so many can see the change that needs to happen and yet we can't seem to make it happen?"
I initially responded with a "rah-rah" answer about "keep moving forward" and about the power of "faith and conviction." I still believe those things. Very much so. However, after receiving your "tweet," I spent the evening reading edublog after edublog. The more I read, the more frustrated I became. You are so correct; the problems are well documented and the proposed solutions are not novel. And yet still we debate; we talk, and opine and propose but very little actually changes. Why? Because those of us in the edublog universe are so smart and everyone else is so dumb? I hardly think so. So what is the problem? If we know the questions, if we can identify the problems, if we know what we're doing isn't working, why don't we change?
I'm troubled. These are disturbing questions that could easily take you to an angry and cynical place.
Or......
It can steel your resolve. It can make you more determined than ever to be the change you seek. But I'll write more on that later.
In the meantime, I will continue to ponder your outstanding question.
Thanks again for the compliment. I am and remain honored to collaborate, question and learn with you.
Kelly's question was dead on and the more I thought about it, my response seemed silly and superficial. I'm not Tony Robbins; we need more than presentation level slogans to architecture level problems. We need to move forward, but we seem stuck.
Why?
Help me blogosphere. I have my opinions, opinions I will reserve for now, but how would you have answered Kelly's question?
How is it that so many can see the change that needs to happen and yet we can't seem to make it happen?
In any event, I decided to share my comment because it reflects, in no uncertain terms, my current mood. It reads:
Thank you for the kind words about my blog. I hope, in my own small way, to add something of merit to the conversations that may, over time, lead to meaningful education reform. But I never forget that it's not me, but people like you, the teachers, who are the real difference makers. You're in the trenches everyday fighting the good fight for the hearts and minds of our children.
Yesterday on twitter you posed an interesting question. You wrote: "Reading outstanding edu blogs, how is it that so many can see the change that needs to happen and yet we can't seem to make it happen?"
I initially responded with a "rah-rah" answer about "keep moving forward" and about the power of "faith and conviction." I still believe those things. Very much so. However, after receiving your "tweet," I spent the evening reading edublog after edublog. The more I read, the more frustrated I became. You are so correct; the problems are well documented and the proposed solutions are not novel. And yet still we debate; we talk, and opine and propose but very little actually changes. Why? Because those of us in the edublog universe are so smart and everyone else is so dumb? I hardly think so. So what is the problem? If we know the questions, if we can identify the problems, if we know what we're doing isn't working, why don't we change?
I'm troubled. These are disturbing questions that could easily take you to an angry and cynical place.
Or......
It can steel your resolve. It can make you more determined than ever to be the change you seek. But I'll write more on that later.
In the meantime, I will continue to ponder your outstanding question.
Thanks again for the compliment. I am and remain honored to collaborate, question and learn with you.
Kelly's question was dead on and the more I thought about it, my response seemed silly and superficial. I'm not Tony Robbins; we need more than presentation level slogans to architecture level problems. We need to move forward, but we seem stuck.
Why?
Help me blogosphere. I have my opinions, opinions I will reserve for now, but how would you have answered Kelly's question?
How is it that so many can see the change that needs to happen and yet we can't seem to make it happen?
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1 comment:
As with so many problems, I don't think there's just one answer. As someone who only just recently started blogging, delicious, twitter, etc., etc. I think I'm still pretty close to the difficulties.
I think one of the biggest obstacles to change is administrative. Our leaders don't have a vision for what needs to happen and therefore are unable to help teachers see the light.
Another problem is the technology itself. It reminds me of when I was growing up, at a time when television reception was so poor that we often got "Experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by" messages. And if you missed part of an episode there was no chance of seeing it later. For us reruns were very good if you missed part of a show. Today this sort of thing almost never happens on TV. When technology becomes that seamless teachers will be more comfortable using it in the classroom. The problem is that our students don't have the luxury of waiting.
In our country the time available for professional development is woefully inadequate, and when it's provided by the school or district it is too often not applicable to the teaching assignment (eg. a whole day of reading or math staff development when you teach P.E.)
These are just the tip of the iceberg but I think they are major contributors to the problem you describe. My tech support colleague (who told me about your blog in her blog) has said that it feels like she's trying to pull an elephant along.
I've written enough for my own blog post and maybe I'll just take what I wrote here and use it again. Thank you for a very interesting and thought provoking blog.
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