"If you plan for one year,plant rice;

If your plan is for ten years, plant trees;

If your plan is for a hundred years:

Educate children."  Confucius                      

     I believe that as educators we must provide a safe environment where all students can learn. The family is the first structure a student experiences; one hopes is nurturing and caring, where individual needs are addressed.  Our schools should become extensions of that lifeworld with caring teachers; where students learn to accept and embrace each other's differences and where tolerance exists; where students are not afraid to make mistakes; this will help create balanced individuals and this is how we start building learning communities.  The lifeworld of a community is defined by Thomas Sergiovanni (2000) as " what makes each school unique, its members (parents, teachers, students, stakeholders), their interactions with one another, and their norms and shared values" (p.1).

     I believe that we must provide an environment where intellectual freedom flourishes. Each student comes to school, with his/her own experiences.  Experiences that have been formed in his/her home and social surroundings. The student should be free to explore his/her/ own ideas as well as those expressed by his peers and teachers in order to understand the concepts at hand.  I believe the school should provide activities with a purpose, which will lead to the acquirement of knowledge.  John Dewey (1938), the great philosopher and educator, expresses how when students take an active role in what they learn they do not feel controlled or manipulated, and as a result, learning occurs, " In all cases it is not the will or desire of any one person, which establishes order  but the moving spirit of the whole group" (p.54). I believe that when the experiences of a child are properly channeled, he/she will make positive contributions to society.

     I believe that we must address the needs of the learning-different.  I believe as educators we must assess and address the needs of the individual learner.  Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard University, in his Theory of Multiple-Intelligences (1983) states the different ways an individual acquires information.  He refers to the Seven Intelligences: Linguistic, Logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.  We all as teachers have had students that do no perform well in norm or standardized tests.It is crucial that we assess the students' learning style early on in order to provide the necessary stimulus and venues for him/her to succeed.  Students do not acquire or process information uniformly.  It is the responsibility of the educator to acknowledge the needs of all learners.  I believe programs should be available after school to provide extra help for needy students, with emphasis on the learning-different.

     I believe is the purpose of education to create discerning learners and critical thinkers.  Students are exposed to a myriad of information through TV, music, and the internet.  However, not all information is accurate, and much of it can have a negative influence on our students. This can lead to the formation of biases and misconceived ideas.  I believe it is the role of the educator to help eradicate false information and aid the students in the development of independent minds.  I believe in the creation of a curriculum that espouses Howard Gardner's three virtues:  1) Truth. He uses Darwin's Theory of Evolution. 2) Beauty. The music of Mozart, particularly " The Marriage of Figaro." 3) Goodness: The Holocaust, as an example of its opposite: evil.  What human kind is capable of doing, given the wrong circumstances.Other examples could be used to illustrate this principle.  Howard Gardner (1999) wants education for understanding. He calls "for an education that inculcates in students an understanding of major disciplinary ways of thinking" (p.117).  He outlines how to reach understanding. His blue print is:

• Dept over breath- Less is best, concentration on crucial ideas, not isolated facts.
• Set a goal- Work bakcwards; identify steps needed to get there.
• Student centered vs. teacher centered.
• Create discerning learners that can make intelligent choices.                     

     I believe that we must provide all students with a wide rage of learning opportunities. Surveys should be given to students asking their opinion on ways to teach certain topics.  Students should be involved in the creation, management, and presentation of projects; this will allow all students to best utilize their various learning styles.  Students can benefit from an immense source of knowledge; their community by ways of student apprenticeships. 

     I believe in the creation of an independent educational committe in the district.  This committee would be composed of parents, community leaders, elected teachers, educational experts and other stakeholders.  The committee would play an important role in the assessment, and creation of various school programs.  Quaterly meetings would be held to assess and address emerging problems.  Reports would go out annually to inform the community as to the status and progress of the schools. The members of the independent educational committee would be empowered to influence and affect  the district's educational system. At the local school level, teachers and departmental supervisors would visit blue-ribbon school districts. They would share with other teachers in their schools observed successful educational methods.  I believe teachers should receive monetary incentives when they attend workshops, and share with colleagues techniques and processess learned. Stipends based on merit, should be granted to exceptional teachers.  The teacher is the facilitator of knowledge; the student is at the core of the learning process.  Students would complete surveys, where they would assess teacher's techniques, and learning activities.  Data collected from these surveys would provide feedback, which would be incorporated in the designing, implementation, or elimination of courses. Honor courses would be accessible to students willing to excel.  There would not be tracking or grouping; a democratic school system provides choices.

     As leaders, we must realize what changes we need to make in order to make schools ready for the information age.  The interests of our community must be at the core of our decisions.  Let us set aside our differences and unite, as we propel our district into the new millennium.

References

Dewey, J (1938).Experience and education. New York:

         Kappa Delta Pi

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple

           intelligences. New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1999). The disciplined mind. New York:

           Penguin Books.

Sergiovanni, T. J. (2000) The lifeworld of leadership. San 

           Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Images

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