On Monday, two administrators came to visit with us from the Decorah School District: the Associate Principal at the Decorah Middle School, and the Principal at the Decorah High School. They both shared some interesting insights, but I was ultimately dissapointed by their conduct and responses during the "town-hall" style meeting, for a couple reasons.
First, the High School Principal I thought seemed extremely out of touch with the lives of the children she "rules" over. The way she was throwing around research statistics gave her a persona that came off to me as cold and indifferent. Sure, the school has to act in a way that reflects research and data, but she seemed like the type of person that would blindly accept and act upon and information given to her just because it's labeled as 'data'. What make it so sacred...because some guy said it was? Last year we read a book called "Useless Arithmetic" in Paideia that I enjoyed immensely, and the primary lesson was NOT to take data and statistics conducted by someone as a given truth. There's enough "evidence" out there to support almost anything. Keep an open mind about it... On top of that, I didn't much appreciate her lack of interest or knowledge in the subject of our deficiencies in education compared to other international systems. She literally tossed them out as trivial and in no way measurable to ours. Not true, and not fair to our children.
Mr. Riley I had few issues with. He seemed pretty knowledgeable and was a great speaker. if anything, I believe he liked to boil his ideas down into a lot of watered-down "buzz words" a bit too often. We're college students and can handle more detailed discussions, but I suppose that is a matter of personal preference.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Masterclasses and Politics
It has been a Monday of note in the scholastic life of Alex Redding at Luther...
At 5:00 today in Jensen, I was privileged to be one of four students to sing for a Bass-Baritone from the UCLA graduate program, Michael Dean, in a masterclass. What an experience it turned out to be. In reflection, I can say that there are few times in my life thus far that I have felt that amount of vulnerability and hopefulness all at once. Through the process, I learned that I was basically doing so many things just outright wrong that it was almost depressing. But I can see a light, and I know that every experience I have in this way will allow me to grow even more. I'm awaiting my lesson tomorrow quite eagerly to see if some of the issues that were brought up can be worked out. Stay tuned, this might be one of the bigger turning points in my voice so far during my career here.
Also, I have a recording of my turn at the masterclass. I may be able to get up some video soon. Stay posted!
Following that event, I arrived (late, unfortunately), suit and all, to the Ed Psych lecture in Olin where our "skits" took place. My group had met earlier today and sketched out some questions, positions, and responses to things other groups might have said. We were playing the role of teachers in the district against the new administrative plan because we thought it focuses too much on standardized test scores, etc. Also unfortunately, my group went first before I got there, so I assumed a more observational role. The atmosphere of the room when I entered was absolutely electric. People were really getting in to what they had to say, even though everyone was just "role-playing." Something gave me the idea that many of those roles that people picked were not at all a far cry from their actual opinions!
That said, politics has always been a shady area in my thought processes, especially within schools. I don't much care for them. But I suppose, with the help of this class and my classmates, I better learn to start. The dynamic of the school system in our modern world is changing so rapidly; I may get left in the dust.
At 5:00 today in Jensen, I was privileged to be one of four students to sing for a Bass-Baritone from the UCLA graduate program, Michael Dean, in a masterclass. What an experience it turned out to be. In reflection, I can say that there are few times in my life thus far that I have felt that amount of vulnerability and hopefulness all at once. Through the process, I learned that I was basically doing so many things just outright wrong that it was almost depressing. But I can see a light, and I know that every experience I have in this way will allow me to grow even more. I'm awaiting my lesson tomorrow quite eagerly to see if some of the issues that were brought up can be worked out. Stay tuned, this might be one of the bigger turning points in my voice so far during my career here.
Also, I have a recording of my turn at the masterclass. I may be able to get up some video soon. Stay posted!
Following that event, I arrived (late, unfortunately), suit and all, to the Ed Psych lecture in Olin where our "skits" took place. My group had met earlier today and sketched out some questions, positions, and responses to things other groups might have said. We were playing the role of teachers in the district against the new administrative plan because we thought it focuses too much on standardized test scores, etc. Also unfortunately, my group went first before I got there, so I assumed a more observational role. The atmosphere of the room when I entered was absolutely electric. People were really getting in to what they had to say, even though everyone was just "role-playing." Something gave me the idea that many of those roles that people picked were not at all a far cry from their actual opinions!
That said, politics has always been a shady area in my thought processes, especially within schools. I don't much care for them. But I suppose, with the help of this class and my classmates, I better learn to start. The dynamic of the school system in our modern world is changing so rapidly; I may get left in the dust.
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