During spring break, Shadoe and I attended a forum discussion at Tulane University. The topic was entitled, “Toward a Meaningful Educational Opportunity: Ensuring Equity in a System of Choice and Autonomy.” Yeah, the discussion itself was quite a handful of jargon also. While I couldn’t understand some of the jargon the panelists used, I did get that they were discussing New Orleans recently radicalized school system. Okay well first, let me try to recap what some of these panelists touched on. The first speaker was Dr. Warren Simmons, an executive director at some institute for school reform from Brown University. His opening statement was that he was neither a proponent, nor an opponent of choice. He felt that if we establish choice as the lever for urban school reformation, there should be more thought placed into exactly how this choice is organized. If “choice” is the answer to poor schooling, he wants to be sure that choice will in some way ameliorate the disparity in where different schools start out (i.e. their resources) with the use of autonomy and freedom…to choose. Dr. Warren firmly believes that it is crucial that some guy above the school system and who has a direct impact on the school system will think about this question of choice in order to provide a more equal distribution of resources so that all schools have an equitable starting point. An equitable starting point doesn’t necessarily have to mean all schools should be given the same thing, because most schools excel and are week in different aspects of their curriculum, resources, etc. Instead, schools should be analyzed on an individual basis and provided with the necessary equipment, tools, and resources to bring all schools to an equitable starting point. Dr. Warren suggests the community think about constructive support for schools, not necessarily to be delivered singularly…it can be a combination of local home grown providers as well as national providers. Also, he feels that this said person or entity above schools should also be the tool assessor/reformer for kids with disabilities so that they do not get lost in these charter schools.
The last thing he brings to attention is the dire need for communication. Communication is crucial in school reform discussion because choice and autonomy can mean different things to different groups of race and language. For example, the term autonomy does not exude wonderful, pleasant feelings to the blacks in the South because it was a term used to legalize black schools being separate from white schools. It is important to translate these terms cross-culturally in order to develop and establish a common meaning for common good.
You know, speaking of terms that can be twisted to associate with both positive and negative feelings….this reminds me of one of the many enlightening conversations I have had at the St. Charles Guesthouse. By the way, the St. Charles Guesthouse never ceases to impress me. Yesterday, the word “inversion” was brought to my attention. It’s a very cute word actually. One of our fellow housemates saw the book at a thrift shop and was compelled to come back the next day to buy it. According to the author, inversion is the “language of dehumanization.” Inversions happen everyday and it’s basically when a person takes something positive, twists it, and makes it negative and criticizes another person for it. For example, take a person who has absolutely no obligations, no tasks or errands that must be run all day. They are essentially free, free of restrictions, monotony and limited choice. Now another person may see this, and here comes the trick, twist this freedom and instead call them lazy. This can apply especially well for hippies. Society doesn’t think too highly of hippies, instead of being free to do as they please, they are instead viewed as a worthless group who doesn’t make “use” of their time or contribute to society. Honestly, I can’t say my own thoughts are always guilt free of inversions. I will, however, make a more conscious effort to be sensitive to these types of dehumanization through my own use of language.
Anyways, I got lost in thought. I’m sure the concept of inversions can be applied to the schooling system here but I’ll postpone that analysis for now. Finally, I’d like to mention the last speaker, Dr. Luis Miron, the Dean of College of Social Sciences at Loyola University. He used a very applicable quote that impressed me. I can’t recall it word for word, but he basically said that creating the Treme Charter School was similar to the concept of “making Creole gumbo.” He quoted someone saying that the generic ingredients will always be things like okra, seasoning and so and so forth because everyone has their own recipe…but the main ingredients of administration, teachers, students, and parents, should be held constant. This component is crucial in the quality of the “cuisine.” ‘Not everyone who has tasted gumbo before can cook it, and even then, some cook better than others. Similarly, not everyone who has attended a school before can run one.’ I think this analogy is a true one for the Louisiana school system, I hope more people adopt this point of view and that it will help for the better.
Sorry, one more thought. Ever heard of the word paranoia? Most likely. Ever heard of the stems para-, ortho-, and meta-? Maybe you have from your last organic class, or a friend annoying you about his last organic class? Well most of us know that paranoia is about excessive fear or anxiety, that others are constantly trying to sabotage you. So basically, you live your life thinking of the world as a threat to you and thus live constantly consciously aware of others. Now, have you heard of metanoia? To my understanding, which can be blatantly wrong so forgive me if I mislead, metanoia is when you constantly change your mind about everything or anything that is encompassed in life..constantly reshaping not only your own thought process, but yourself. This is a persons constant struggle with their own mind whereas paranoia is the constant struggle and worry about other people’s thoughts. Wow, I don't think I used the words "constant" and "struggle" enough to describe these meanings. Don't mind that. Moving on now, orthonoia on the other hand is living unthreatened by all, including yourself. I would have never stumbled upon these words if it wasn’t for my brother who sent me MGMT’s album and then I heard one of our Guesthouse workers repeat those words to me. Here’s a random link to the British epidemic of orthonoia. Haha. I guess their tabloids hadn’t successfully put them in a state of paranoia like America’s have…
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