Edvolution

Garrison Keillor added his two cents to the No Child Left Behind debate with his editorial We're Failing Our Kids. The tagline is No Child Left Behind has plenty of flaws, but throwing it out because it's a Republican plan is morally disgusting. Read his editorial at Salon.com. (http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2008/01/30/education/) I was appalled. The bard of Lake Woebegone siding with George Bush? It can't be. I've long enjoyed the wit and wisdom of The Prairie Home Companion where Keillor displays a rustic kind of homespun wisdom in his monologues and songs. He calls himself a democrat and his writing is flavored with small town, common sense liberalism. So to hear him suggest even the slightest support for Bush's education agenda hit like a punch in the gut. I immediately thought He doesn't know what's going on. He needs to be taught a lesson. I felt betrayed. Those primal feelings of defensiveness, however, are exactly at the heart of his message. We've failed our children because we haven't helped them learn how to rise above those feelings. We haven't taught them the value of listening closely and with compassion to opponents so that common ground for negotiation can be found. Instead, liberals and conservatives alike, dismiss the concerns of their opponents with utter contempt. Keillor points out that liberals in the U.S. have done exactly that with No Child Left Behind. The result is no genuine discussion, no compromise, no progress and the children lose. This is behavior that may have had value for our most primitive ancestors but it certainly does more harm than good today. We as a society and as a species are tragically stuck - making little progress on issues like poverty, pollution, oil, etc. - because our primitive inclination is to fight, not to negotiate. And every time we snear in contempt at those with whom we disagree, we model that way of thinking to our children. It's particularly reprehensible because we know better. Conflict resolution and negotiating skills are long studied arts that can be learned easily by children. But we have to get it through our heads that they will never learn these lessons from lectures when what they see and hear is so different.

Sue Palmer's advice on how to bring up children might sound — if not heard in context — too old-fashioned, too alarmist or even maybe too naive to prepare their loved ones for the rapidly changing, fiercely competitive society of the 21st century. The prominent literacy specialist from Edinburgh sparked debate in Britain and elsewhere last year, when she suggested in her ominously titled book Toxic Childhood that the rapid social changes of our lives, including the shift in women's roles and our increasingly technology-driven culture, are damaging children's mental health, as well as causing a wide array of learning and behavioral problems.

Children of the Code, (http://www.childrenofthecode.org) experts explore some key factors and issues related to how children's early learning trajectories determine their level of readiness for taking on the challenges involved in learning to read. View the interviews at Children of the Code. (http://www.childrenofthecode.org/Tour/c3b/index.htm)

A grassroots organization of parents, educators and interested others are banding together to create a holistic school for K-8 in the east end of Toronto. They have been working for about a year organizing, planning and outlining a curriculum and now they have a proposal receiving serious consideration from the Toronto District School Board.

Here's a brilliant innovation that demonstrates holistic education at its 21st century best with elements of technology, community service, project-based learning and more.