John sent this today:
Ben,
The recent article in the Atlantic Monthly on the middle class in America really made me think about some of the issues we have been discussing on the blog recently. Here is a paragraph in particular:
“Among the more pernicious aspects of the meritocracy as we now understand it in the United States is the equation of merit with test-taking success, and the corresponding belief that those who struggle in the classroom should expect
to achieve little outside it. Progress along the meritocratic path has become measurable from a very early age. This is a narrow way of looking at human potential, and it badly underserves a large portion of the population. We have
beaten the drum so loudly and for so long about the centrality of a college education that we should not be surprised when people who don’t attend college—or those who start but do not finish—go adrift at age 18 or 20.”
This “large portion,” is the 96%. Elsewhere, the author points out that middle class men have been hit particularly hard because they are less likely to be in positions in which social skills and higher level thought are placed at a
premium.
This article only reinforces for me that the most important work we as teachers can be doing with our students is to be present and human with them in the classroom, give them a chance at success, and really model for them what it means to interact with others in positive, productive and healthy ways.
John