From: "Polly Gower" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
My name is Polly Gower. I am a parent of 3 children and have been interested in how children learn in school ever since my early years in grade school. As an adult, I have continued to advocate for school reform with the belief that we, as a society, should be educating our children differently.
Paul Bianchi reaffirmed, for me, many ideas that make sense for learning. We need to have small schools. We need to recognize individual differences and learning styles. We need to allow children to participate in educational decisions that affect them. Children learn when they are happy and enthusiastic. Our children need to be educated by an entire community with service learning opportunities beyond the classroom - real life, practical experiences.
One point that Paul Bianchi made that really inspired me was his comment on understanding our "common ground". We, as a community, all have the same interest in seeing that we have good schools and well educated children. We may have differing opinions about how to go about doing these things however, we need to remember what our "common ground" is and work together in achieving our goals by continued dialogue with all community members (teachers, students, parents, administration, businesses etc.). I'd also like to see the school community work towards consensus decision making. We need to be open to creative ideas, continue to learn from past mistakes and know that things will change and evolve over time.
There were many other interesting comments made during Paul Bianchi's talk that I hope to address in this forum as it continues the rest of this week. We all need to work together to create a balance of power and respect between schools, families and the community and do a better job of appreciating and supporting our teachers!
I appreciate being a part of this conversation and look forward to other responses and opinions.
Polly Gower
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