A Slight Divergence

     I know that the focus of this blog is supposed to be children's literature and about how much of our responsibility as teachers entails a wise selection of the proper materials, but as I mentioned in my previous entry, I was looking through some bookmarked news stories recently, and have come across another one that I feel compelled to share in this space.
    It is no secret that the systems of education in the US have been consistently failing to achieve their intended goals of improving our internationally ranked level of student achievement. Over the past several decades there have been innumerable changes, reforms, and budgetary restructuring plans put into action in an attempt to recapture the status once held by our nation's schools, but so far the results have been marginal at best.
     I wouldn't even know where to begin to address the issues facing the "educational renaissance" that it seems we as a nation must attempt to undertake, but what I do have is a curiosity when it comes to what is working for schools, teachers, and students in other parts of the world. Yes, I understand that other countries' systems have many problems and deficiencies of their own. I also know that in most cases, a direct application of their seemingly good methods or practices would be more difficult to implement in America, given the much more highly diverse populations of students in our classrooms, but as you'll see from the video embedded below, there are interesting ideas, such as teacher re-education in other countries that act as a sort of "No Teacher Left Behind" program. I can't help but think that we would benefit from more widespread use of something like this here in America.
     It has always been my contention that the best teachers under whom I've studied have also been those who recognize their own need to be eternal students. I know that this is the reason that I've returned to school myself, and my purpose in creating this post is not specifically to have my readers agree or disagree with the point of view provided. It's just here to (hopefully) make you think, wonder, and question. I'll leave you now to watch the video below, but before I go, I would like to borrow these few parting words from renowned author and 1988 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Naguib Mahfouz :

"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions."