Reconstructing the Total Educational System

RECONSTRUCTING THE TOTAL EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

(Book: Education for Responsible Citizenship, year: 1977, by: Frank Brown, page 21-23)

A partial reconstruction of the total educational system can be based on an initiative by the school. Particularly at the junior and senior high -school level, many school systems are developing program, in which students participate responsibly in adult roles. In 197 2, the National Association of Secondary School Principals sponsored a conference which led to more than 1,000 high school action learning programs in which students worked with adults both for pay and as volunteers. The National Commission on Resources for Youth published in 1974 a book entitled New Roles for Youth, in which dozens of exemplary programs o(' youth participation are described in some detail, complete with suggestions of how to set up and conduct such programs.

The longest experience in the use of out-of-school educational activities derives from the cooperative work-study program in vocational education programs partly supported by federal funds. Typically, a student works at a job half a day and attends school half a day. A coordinator is employed by the school not only to place students in appropriate work settings, but also to help the employer develop a sequence of job assignments to give the student a chance to continue learning rather than simply to perform routine operations. The coordinator is also expected to assist the teachers in the school to relate the curriculum as far as possible to the experiences the students are having in their work. A recent evaluation of cooperative high school work-study programs was conducted by System Development Corporation. Their report furnished several kinds of evidence of the value of this program in preparing a young person for effective job performance, enabling him to obtain employment after graduation; and furnishing motivation for his schoolwork.

During the past twenty years, a wide circle of schools have sought to make real the community school idea developed by Maurice Seay, Harold Sloan, and others during the thirties. In essence, this idea conceives the school as an institution of service for the entire community, and the community as a major resource for the education of students. The embodiment of this concept in practice involves cooperation between the school and many community groups, organizations, and individuals; it also involves the utilization of out-of-school educational experiences. Major support for schools in this movement comes from the Community School Association, with headquarters in Flint, Michigan.

Important as they are, cooperative education and community school activities are not enough to furnish a comprehensive learning environment for citizenship education. A major part of this environment lies outside the school walls, where students spend most of their time. Reconstructing the total educational environment to overcome its recent erosion will require a new role for the school. In the past, the school supported and reinforced the dominant civic values of the community, without conscious recognition of its role. For his well-known readers, William H. McGuffey chose stories and essays that reflected currently accepted values, but most teachers and administrators were not aware that schoolbooks had educational objectives beyond the development of' reading skills and a widening of the student's horizons as he grasped the ideas presented in the stories and essays. Now it is necessary for the school consciously to reexamine contemporary conditions, to identify the contributions it can make, and to encourage and support the efforts of other community institutions.

The school cannot easily deal with comprehensive citizenship education, because it cannot be the chief contributor to such education and cannot effectively dominate the coalition of community groups that must work out a feasible program of mutual responsibility. The school has had little practice in planning and implementing programs in which it plays a junior partner's role.

Another difficulty arises from the need to keep closely in touch with the out-of-school experiences of the students in order to focus on the real ethical situations these children confront in learning to be good citizens. Simulations cannot fully convey to students the dilemmas that tempt and torture human beings.

Nevertheless, there are contributions that the school can make, many of them in harmony with its traditional role of developing cognitive abilities and habits, The school can encourage students to reflect on the problem situations they encounter, to analyze these situations, to try to predict the consequences of several possible courses of action, to compare their thinking with what they actually did, and to note the consequences they experienced.

Furthermore, the contributions envisaged by the curriculum constructors of the last century are still possible today. Literature can illuminate social issues and help students understand and feel the significance of courage in acting in accordance with conscience. Movies, television, radio, and the press can also furnish material for this study. The school can help the student evaluate critically the offerings of these media and develop criteria for selecting what he will spend time viewing, hearing, and reading. The school, working closely with other constructive community groups, can influence the content of these media and their distribution to children.

The school can also continue its long-accepted role of providing within its environment a democratic society closer to the ideal than the adult community has yet been able to achieve. It can provide a setting in which young people can experience concretely the meaning of our democratic ideals. In the school, every student is to be respected as a person, regardless of his background. In the school, the students can experience a society where justice and fair play dominate, a society where people care about each other and where all have an opportunity to share in planning activities, executing them, and gaining the rewards of what they have accomplished. It is not always easy for teachers and administrators to provide this kind of environment, but it is crucially important for children to see firsthand a society that encourages and supports democratic values.