this reminds me of an interesting anecdote. Several years ago, I was in a coffee
shop, a struggling 1st-yr undergrad, a dyke-in-drag in a very girlie
teacher-education
program: I was glum and pouring that mood into my coffee,
when an older woman approached me and asked me if I was alright. (!) I
said sure, I was just struggling with school -
and we began to chat about education and reform (how to change the system)-
she was(is) Russian, and Gorbachev was newly in power.
She was both excited
and nervous about the changes, but said that it was necessary for the Russians
to start re-designing their infrastructures - some Russians, she said, thought
Gorbachev was too radical, and that the system would collapse...
and I said that for "real" change to happen, you have to tear down the
existing structures in order to re-build; otherwise, you are just building on
top of rotten foundations. She agreed, quite enthusiastically.
Kind of a rambling way to insert a point about re-design, but
alongside with Eva's thoughts: what would it take to tear down the existing
structures of schools in order to rebuild?
Inner-city schools, all urban-design schools are built, I think, on
rotten foundations. What would it take to start anew?
like, what if there were no classrooms? (Hm. John Dewey-esque workshops and
studios
come to mind...)
diane, letting loose a bit of a babble
>
>Thinking of Peter Smagorinsky's story posted earlier today, too...
>
>Eva
"Every tool is a weapon if you hold it right."
Ani Difranco
*********************************
diane celia hodges
faculty of education
university of british columbia
vancouver, bc canada
tel: (604)-253-4807
email: dchodges who-is-at interchange.ubc.ca