The Climate of Fear and How It's Crippling Education
Pretty strong opening, eh? When FDR delivered his first inaugural address, our nation was gripped by an economic stranglehold. Fear and desperation permeated our very culture. Doubt and paralysis infected our banks, our businesses, and the American psyche. FDR's famous "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" was both insightful and prophetic. While change did overcome fear, it was change through radical policy shifts. Only by embracing new policies, new methods, and science did we transform fear and paralysis to growth. Are we brave enough to do the same today? I wonder. The model we trained ourselves in is antiquated. The generations we educate do not learn, function, or exist in a world that we knew and worked within. How are we changing our educational practices to meet these changes and are we doing so in a timely manner to prepare for WHERE our students are going? I don't think we are; furthermore, we are not doing so fast enough. There. I