Ignorance, Excellence and Equality

I have been thinking a lot about Thomas Jefferson’s word, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” These words are very much true and I completely agree with them but I can’t help but wonder about what the word ignorant meant for Jefferson versus what it means today for education. The definition of ignorance is, lacking in knowledge or training, unlearned, uninformed, unaware. Back then education meant the three Rs, patriotism, history and the bible. Schools were created to “weed out” the excellent for the future of our country. Only white males attended and schooling was inconsistent and “equal education for all” wasn’t even an after thought. Would you call Jefferson ignorant for what he thought school could do for America? Or would you say he was uniformed, unaware of what education should be or could be?

As school progressed and the purpose shifted, schools offered more, and the role of the school became more imbedded in everyday life for the majority. However, ignorance in schools remained as the “war against inequality” rose to the forefront of education reform.

Today we see our classrooms as a place to foster thinking and give everyone the chance at the American dream. We don’t “weed out” the excellent and we don’t discriminate against race or gender…. Or do we? Do we remain ignorant to what ALL of our children need to achieve excellence? Is education equal for all? We know schools are not equal. States have different standards, laws and funding. Teacher training varies greatly among universities. Curriculum is different and varies in quality. This country fought for equality but did we really get it, or did we just grant everyone access to an unequal organization?

Our intention is to provide equal opportunity to achieve excellence for all of our students by saying every American child has the right to public education…that CCSS will provide standardized education for every child in every state throughout this country… that every child will be given the services and support they need for an equal chance to engage in curriculum, discover themselves as learners and attain the knowledge and skills they need to go on to college and be successful in their adult lives. The thing we have to remember is intention and implementation are not the same thing. Can we truly provide equal education to ALL? Can every student achieve excellence? Can we do these things in a divided inherently unequal “organization?” Are we just making the next ignorant decision? I think Thomas Jefferson we be proud that while ignorance has gotten in the way of excellence and equality in this country, we still push forward. We question and reflect on our past in order to (hopefully) improve our future. We remain mindful and what might work better and be better for our children, our country and now the world community they are apart of. Through this process I believe ignorance can never win. There are times we may be uninformed or unaware but we learn, we change and move forward.