Although I make a point in writing for GoldenSwamp.com not to use this as a political pulpit, this morning I cannot resist commenting on the Presidential Primaries. It was actually reading a New York Times story about President Bush’s State of the Union address that prompted this post. Called “Camelot ‘08 Overshadows Bush Speech,” the story included these observations of the President’s attitude:
There was nothing mournful or valedictory about Mr. Bush’s delivery of his seventh State of the Union address, a speech that acknowledged, however briefly, that the economy is in trouble. Mr. Bush, looking fresh and rested, made a point of sounding good-humored as he delivered less-than-glowing news.
At times, it seemed as if Mr. Bush was determined to turn the clock back before his presidency and his father’s, as if to reclaim, one last time, the mantle of Ronald Reagan.
As the recent endorsements of Barack Obama by Ted and Caroline Kennedy have set primary coverage buzzing, optimism and melancholy for good times are the big story line for politics this morning. Sadly, in the past couple of weeks Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” version of the optimism of morning and happy synergy of Camelot has been clouded by some folks not capable of dreams beyond their own ambition.
As we attempt to understand and guide education into a very changed digital and networked future let us understand that Reagan, JFK and King show us a valid strength. “The great communicator” Ronald Reagan’s words are the most simple and powerful: Morning in Education. We can understand what that will be through the Camelot model of the Kennedys. No one has set the path more clearly than Dr. King with his “I have a dream” vision.
Poppycock? Too optimistic? Education has problems too dark for morning to shine in. Schools are no Camelot. Kids cheat and cannot be trusted. Children cannot overcome bad things that happen at home. Teaching is more a discipline challenge than passing along knowledge. Meeting minimal standards is a victory for kids; they are not as able to achieve as we were in the old days.
There is a habit by a lot of people of thinking and saying these negative things, and effectively giving up on fixing education. Yet there is nothing as effective in keeping things the way they are as saying: “Nothing can be changed.” The status quo and those invested in it are powerfully protected.
It really is now “Morning in Education.” The coming of digital technologies and the global open Internet have made it impossible to learn only in the digital dark, to be excluded very much longer from the new Camelot commons of open education, and not to catch the dream of the dawning golden age of learning.
Our grand optimists do not give us poppycock. They provide our first peek into good new days as they are arriving.
