Drip by Drip

 At one time, the idea of school as we know it must have been revolutionary. Over time, "drip by drip, year by year" the manual of being a teacher and being a student was written (Godin 2010, 120). Before long, everyone knows school is done in a certain way and those for whom that structure doesn't work are destined for digging ditches.

School became successful in draining creativity and joy out of learning, until the point where asking teenagers if they like to learn only elicits guffaws. We know the rules, which have been developed over the years to combat any of the negative, distracting behavior of being an artist, writer, musician, or independent thinker. In a sense, mediocrity became a desired quality because no one tries to tear down people who are equal in effort, thinking and output. The problem is when someone tries to undermine the rules by working harder or working by their own rules.

The way school is run today, with "common assessments" and the common core, everyone is expected to learn the same things, in the same way. The "resistance" as Steven Pressfield calls it creates conformity because it takes too much energy to overcome institutional expectations, which include those of the school administration, other teachers, parents, students and the community. It takes the rare person to step out of that brainwashing and create something new, or at least a new way of looking at the topic.

Part of the problem is that we have been told for a long time to "run schools like a business." That leads to homogonized students and methods to make things the same, like a can of Coke. that may be great for the people who are rule followers, but not so great for people who bristle at that sort of life.