These have been weird times. Nothing more to say. I say weird because I am tired of the word “unprecedented”. I am tired of people saying we must “pivot” as well.
I have found myself in a very weird and often times dark headspace. It started with the pandemic and disruption of work that I was in the middle of as we worked to close out another school year. And then with the recent events of unjust behavior of police with George Floyd(and all of the other countless stories prior) the world is finally saying no more.
And I hit a void. I could not create. I could not problem solve. I could not do much of anything. The layers of my own voices and headspace combined with reality of what so many others have and are dealing with froze me.
I am slowly emerging from my pit and have been walking for over an hour each morning thinking, listening, questioning, evaluating.
I have spun myself in a frenzy by questioning the value of my work, the importance of my work, and why does any of it matter? I am still wrestling with these questions and thoughts, but through this congestion something even more important has emerged.
As schools across the nation and world are grappling with the daunting and somewhat impossible task of preparing for schools to open for the fall of 2020 I am seeing a huge red flag in the education system(I know there are many).
I want to make a disclaimer right here that what I am about to challenge is in regards to the SYSTEM of education, not the educators and people doing incredible work day in and day out.
In my state of Iowa, districts are wrestling with the monster document of the Return to Learn plans due July 1st. Part of this work is conversation and plans not only around opening of schools and technology, but equity, social and emotional health, and other important matters. While many districts don’t know what to do with some of these topics because they have been able to ignore and look away at some of the glaring issues when it comes to equity and social and emotional health of not only students, but employees, they can no longer turn a blind eye and are seeing some huge disparities.
One of my fears all along with this work is moving through a checklist to be “compliant” instead of doing the difficult work of change. And the unrest of our nation is making me connect some dots.
It is no surprise or shock that most people find the mission and vision statements of most districts, schools, and education organizations to be a sugar coated statement of feel good words that don’t mean anything. It is not to say that there are not individuals who teach and model these words, but as a system do they really back up the statements with action?
- all kids matter
- everyone is safe
- committed to learning
- committed to success of our students
- insert phrase here
And yet if these are indeed true statements, then why is it that I have yet to see many districts post in solidarity anything about recent events and supporting the communities who have been hurt by current events? Where are the supports? Where are the messages to the communities? Where is the presence of acknowledging work being done to help the school communities see that this work is a joint effort between schools, districts, parents, and the community at large?
What I see and read is silence. Nothing. To me, it looks like turning a blind eye. I understand we must process, learn, and adapt at different paces, but in this time of great divide we must pull ourselves together and offere support and understanding more than ever before.
I know that posting a message on social media platforms or emails does not mean anything without action. However, not acknowledging recent events hurts and leaves out important members of school populations and communities. We say all kids matter, but what are doing to back these statements up?
I spent time searching my local area to see what has been shared or communicated and could not find anything. Nothing. It is not to say that I did not overlook something, but I hoped that I would not have search very far to see messages of support, messages of comfort, messages of community building, and messages of strength.
It is time we do better. We are in the midst of redesigning and rethinking education and we must not overlook the fair treatment of everyone while we have a great opportunity to do so. Otherwise, history will repeat itself as we have seen time and time again while we continue to convince ourselves and our communities about the safety and well being for all in education.
Let’s not miss an opportunity to do great work and make the necessary changes to the education systems. We have an obligation to get it right while we have a real chance to make the changes that we have not had before.
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