Reflection on Chapter 5: The Flat World and Education

Reading about the three states last night really opened my eyed to the differences in the way states fund education, prioritize education, and create innovative plans for education. Based on the reading in chapter 5, the system in Connecticut sounds pretty good, almost utopian in many ways. I am surprised that I have not heard more about their successes especially since in Idaho, we are looking to other states to help us with our budget and achievement woes. I have been convinced for quite some time that we are on the wrong track in Idaho; this chapter reaffirmed that to me. How we move forward and possibly reach for some of these lofty goals is a big question that lingers in my mind.

The major theme of equality in the text has also got me thinking about equality. When I think about the meaning of the word, the definition of equality in math immediately comes to mind. That mathematic definition leads me to think about each child getting the exact same education, the same educational material, and the exact same experiences from school, everything is the same, it is equal. I know that each child in my classroom doesn’t get equal time and even possibly even equal effort from me. I do however; strive to give each child what they need to succeed and to achieve their best in that year that I have them. I struggle knowing that there are schools that don’t get the best education, and some don’t even get what they need to succeed.

I am also perplexed about the apparent conflict between the goals of excellence and equity. Can’t we have one without sacrificing the other? Maybe on the large scale of a national education system it is difficult to achieve excellence and equity but I know that in my classroom I can reach for those two goals for both me and my students. This is small potatoes, but it is something that can make a difference for me, my classroom, and each individual student.

“The craving for equality can express itself either as a desire to pull everyone down to our own level (by belittling them, excluding them, tripping them up) or as a desire to raise ourselves up along with everyone else (by acknowledging them, helping them, and rejoicing in their success).”

Friedrich Nietzsche