The Other Side of Fear

Everything we want is on the other side of fear. - Farrah Gray

Who is Farrah Gray, you ask?  Well, Farrah is an African-American male from the south side of Chicago.  (Ever been to the south side?  It houses some seriously dangerous neighborhoods juxtapositioned with the University of Chicago, from where more Nobel Laureates have graduated than any other institution of higher learning in the world.  Interesting place.  I lived there - even as a Cubs fan.  That's like being a Packers fan in the Vikings fan sea.)  When Farrah was six, he was selling body lotion door to door for $1.50.  At age 7, he was carrying around a business card that read, "21st Century CEO".  (I think that's awesome!)  Well, he wasn't a CEO by 2000, which was the beginning of the 21st century.
He was a millionaire at the age of 14, in 1998.
For the last 40 years, America has spent THREE TRILLION DOLLARS (yes, that's "trillion" with a "t") on remedial education and school improvement models.  And here we are, with the gifted education world BEGGING to have its SEVEN MILLION dollar Javits grant back.  That equates to .00175 of the money we have spent on "reform".  By the time students in India and China finish high school, they are four years ahead of American students in their education.  To translate that, American students would have to finish college just to be on equal pace with Indian and Chinese high school graduates.
Here's a thought (and one that I like very much, thank you):  let's balance the score card.  Let's put the same emphasis on rigor as we do on adequacy.  I doubt any Packer fan or any Viking fan would want the coach and the team to focus on "average".  Why is it that we have such high expectations for our athletes and not for our academics?  Every single child, no matter the gift or talent, deserves rigor.  What do I mean by "rigor"?
1.  A construction of knowledge.  These are very important words, carefully crafted.  It's the construction of knowledge, not a simple regurgitation of facts.
2.  Sustained inquiry into important concepts.  Again, carefully crafted words.  Sustained, so not a one-shot deal (for students or staff, frankly).  Inquiry - so we are focusing on essential learnings and higher-order thinking.  Concepts - those overarching themes that can transcend content, such as "change".
3.  Meaningful connections to students' lives outside of the classroom.  School should not be separate from life - especially since we are requiring our students to spend so much time there.  School, and the learning that takes place in school, should be relevant.  Students should understand the importance of education and its direct relationship to their everyday lives.  And frankly, if we made school a place where meaningful connections were made (yes, they can be made in American History, in World History, in Language Arts, in math, in science, in economics, music, art, pick it - I could go on and on.  And while I'm at it, economics could relate to American History, to World History, to language arts, to math, to science... see where I"m going here?), it would be more fun to teach and more fun to learn.  Students and teachers alike would share a reciprocity - each would in turn be a learner and a teacher.
So... we should focus on passion, and focus on the prize.  But it's scary to go out of our comfort zone.  And frankly, American education is sitting in the middle of an extended comfort zone.  We've been doing things largely the same since agrarian times (summers off), and then our current system (age level learning, i.e. grade levels) was borne out of the industrial age of assembly lines and sameness.  So it's scary to leave all of that which we know behind and embrace a new way of doing things.
I don't know of a parent who would say, "I just want a so-so education for my child."  Or "it doesn't matter if my child really learns much or not." 
Everything we want is on the other side of fear.  Homer Simpson once said, "Trying is the first step toward failure."  Thanks, Homer, for that inspirational quote.  We may fail.  I have failed many times as an educator.  (Boy, I remember some of my lessons that I thought were going to be just great and turned out to be, well, good learning experiences... for ME!)  What's wrong with failing sometimes?  We all can't be perfect out of the gate.  But by giving in to fear and NOT trying, we are sending a LOUD message to our children - that they should not try if they can't get it right the first time.
I for one won't give my students that message.  That's why I'm in the job I'm in right now, and trying to effect change.  Farrah Gray is right.  What I want is right on the other side.