From: djohns@elm.circa.ufl.edu (David A. Johns)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american
Subject: Re: Education
Date: 5 Jan 93 18:34:42 GMT
Distribution: soc
Organization: University of Florida, Gainesville

Do you think William Raspberry reads s.c.a.a.?

Here's his column, copied from today's Gainesville (FL) Sun.

David

===============================================================

William Raspberry

Education really does start at home

WASHINGTON -- Before the Clinton administration takes over and
launches a whole new assortment of studies designed to determine what
has gone wrong with public education and how to fix it, let me offer a
modest proposal: Let's start paying attention to what we already know.

One of the things we know (though it almost never enters into our
policy discussions) is that so much of the learning that matters takes
place outside the school setting.

I don't mean things like the ABCs and the colors taught by parents and
babysitters, or talk of politics and stockmarkets overheard at the
family dinner table.  I'm talking about the attitudes and habits that
make school-learning possible: patience, persistence, self-esteem,
reading for fun, the love of learning.

I'm talking, too, about somthing as simple as trying hard.  I'm
convinced that a good deal of school failure is the result of
inadequate exertion.  Sometimes it's because children have not been
taught the value of staying with a task, sometimes it's a failure to
believe that trying hard will make any difference.

And sometimes it's because the youngsters don't know they're *not*
trying hard.  I'm thinking of my own son, who thought he was working
hard when he spent an hour on his elementary school homework, who
*knew* he was working hard when he spent longer hours and library time
on his prep school assignments, and who now accepts as routine the
evenings, weekends, and holidays he invests in his university studies.

Yes, he could have learned these habits at school or from peers, but
they are learned most readily at home.

These are among the things that middle-class parents almost routinely
try to instill in their children (which is one of the reasons why
middle-class children tend to perform better in school).

But to acknowledge that is not to concede that children from
low-income families are doomed to school failure. I have urged
repeatedly that every community ought to have regular sessions where
parents of young children can learn the tricks and techniques for
getting their youngsters ready for school.

I urge it again, and for a simple, pragmatic reason: If parents don't
value learning and show their children that they do, schools are hard
put to make up the difference.

Other equally important learning takes place outside the academic
setting.  Two of the most important lessons children can learn are
that they matter and that they are counted on.

Schools can reinforce these lessons, but they are best taught in
real-life settings -- by parents and neighbors who insist upon the
privileges but who also assume the duties of membership in the
community.

Whether it's running for office, working on behalf of other
candidates, campaigning for a stop sign at a dangerous intersection,
or joining the orange-hat anti-drug patrol, involvement of familiar
adults in community civic activity is a powerful way of teaching
children the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.  Nor is there
any question in my mind that children who grow up believing in their
ability to make a positive difference also tend to do well in school.

More to the point, if the adults at home and in the community don't
teach the importance of neighbors' relying on each other, don't expect
civics and social classes to do it, no matter how clever the teachers.

The same thing applies to the other things we want our children to
know, but which schools are poorly equipped to teach: honest, ethical
behavior, respect for the person and property of others, fundamental
decency.

These are the things that used to be taught in religious institutions
and only reinforced in schools.  Now it seems they are hardly taught
at all, and the resulting lack of discipline, order, and civility
shows up as school problems.

I don't mean to say that educational problems will have to wait until
we first restore the influence of parents, communitites and religion,
or to suggest that there is no need to spend more money on schools.

I don't even argue that it would be enough to get back to the way
things used to be.  The workplace demands of the future will require
something we have never accomplished: the education of *all* of our
children.

I simply offer a reminder -- to the Clinton administration and to the
rest of us -- that if we are serious about education, we've got to
look at more than schools.

Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american