Back to School and the Value of Education

I love going back to school; I am filled with fear "how am I going to do it all this year with work, family, keeping up with my field..." and on it goes; but there is something wonderful about closing summer and beginning the year.

This year is especially bright as my oldest is entering grade five.   Grade five is my special year; this was the first grade I taught, and I love the curriculum.  I love the age.  I am a classic grade five teacher and I can't wait to return to teach that grade.  The students are on their way with reading, they can write, and they have a level of independence that is so lovely.  They want to do things and take on responsibility!!!!  It is truly my favourite grade to teach.

So, as a back to school treat, I thought I would watch the documentary Waiting for Superman with my kids.  I am generally a poor documentary follower - documentaries make me really nervous for these reasons:

1.  Usually a broad brushstroke is taken to a hugely complex problem or issue
2.  It is filtered through the eyes of the documentary maker
3.  The documentary is taken as the "word of God" or the "truth" for many individuals, and all sorts of things get distorted.
Now, I know that Davis Guggenheim is highly regarded, and overall, he has an interesting idea: take on public education!  

These are my thoughts after watching:

1.  Yikes, is this the state of education in the USA?  Or parts of the USA? And this is precisely the way the writers want me to think....is it all really that awful?  I know that it isn't and I know that there are fantastic schools; so why am I starting to think in "broad brush strokes" like this?


2. Poverty and the American dream....diametrically opposed yet so intertwined.  I found the sequences with many of the struggling families universal:  wanting a better future for their children, working hard to make this happen, and yet, so far away from their goal.  


3.  Where is the dignity of the individual?  I found watching the end sequence, where families and their children were waiting to see if they made it into a charter school, and their names were called out it public, very very very sad.  My sons asked, "Mommy why are you crying?"  I was crying for each of those families not able to get into the school their child needed, and in a way, being publicly shamed because they were not chosen.  How awful.  Was I watching a documentary or a horror film?

Did I like it?  Not really.  I didn't feel uplifted by the social message.  I visited the website.  We can do it...we can make education better.  And yet, I don't think the problem is really a problem of education.  It is easy to target.  Just like health care, or taxes, or the state of the economy.  

I think our education system mirrors who we are, and what we value, as a society.  So I will leave it at that (yikes, another brush stroke!!!). 

Do you value education? Does the country you live in value education? What about the city you live in? The community?  Your family?