One Size Does Not Fit All

One Size Does Not Fit All

It seems like everyone these days has an opinion on what's wrong
with America's schools. Usually there is one perspective missing from
the melée: that of the students experiencing education on a day to
day basis. That is why I was thrilled to see Nikhil Goyal's One Size
Does Not Fit All: A Student's Assessment Of School on the Orono
Public Library's new books shelves.
When I started reading I was very impressed with the level of
scholarship and research Goyal presents. The passion comes through
also. He started school eager to learn with a joy in reading and
writing and a view of the library as being "...like a candy store and
an ice cream parlor, rolled into one kid paradise.". By high school he
had become a test acing honor student. His family even moved to a
wealthy community with an ultracompetitive school system. This all
led to an epiphany. "After being assimilated into the Syosset High
School ecosystem, I noticed that I was bored as hell in class and
absolutely nothing I was taught was relevant to real life. I was
trained to be a drone...Testing, more homework, and memorization did
not equate to true learning." Speaking to students from other states
and realizing they had common frustrations led him to write a book to
get their voice heard.
Does he have legitimate grievances. In my opinion, yes! Some of
the things he is highly critical of are:
*an educational system that doesn't adequately prepare students for
the job market of the future;
*the lack of support for critical and collaborative thinking,
collaboration and communication, curiosity, risk-taking, and
overcoming failure;
*the centrality of fill-in-the-bubble standardized tests for all
children including four-year-olds;
*the corporate takeover of education by use of unrealistic
expectations that doom public schools to failure;
*merit pay systems that treat teachers as factory workers rather than
skilled professionals...
Goyal has hope, though, and he ends the book with some really
good ideas on ways to make schools places where true education can
happen and curiosity and creativity are not crushed. A lot of them
are excellent. I'd say that for teachers, admin, school board
members, parents, and anyone else who has skin in the game One Size
Does Not Fit All is a must read. YOWZA!!!
On a personal note, this month I have two venues to read my poetry
in. Last week I read at the Sigma Tau Delta (University) Open Mic
Night. This Friday peeps can catch me at Orono Arts Cafe.
A great big shout out goes out to my new friend, Lily Eskelsen-Garcia
who is a truly inspirational speaker, a staunch advocate for the right
of all children to learn, and, oh yeah, NEA vice president. You go,
Girl!
Julia Emily Hathaway



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