Even Dempsy gets it
Recently, I bought a toy for my 8 year puggle, Dempsy, because I am worried on how lethargic he has become during this quarantine.
On one of the 2,317 times I threw his toy in the past 6 days, it landed by the humidifier. Dempsy could easily retrieve if but instead he stared at his toy and barked for help until I removed it from the humidifier’s general area. Dempsy was thrilled when I gave it to him.
So you must be wondering how you recover the 47 seconds of your life you lost in reading this so far.
Turns out Dempsy hurt his face once before when he went too close to the humidifier: that one experience was enough to create permanent memory and he learned to ask for help whenever this situation happens again.
Dempsy got it on the first try.
While I am by no means suggesting politicians are dogs, I am kindly asking what the magic number is of getting burnt before politicians feel comfortable asking for proper help.
Thousands of opportunities exist for politicians to avoid uncomfortable and painful situations by simply asking for help and yet many continue enduring pain, critique and failure than ask for assistance and guidance.
Take for example this devasting and insane global “Covid” pandemic.
As we move into shaping the “new normal”, politicians would be foolish not to take into account expert’s concerns and past experiences.
Likewise, as we move towards restructuring education in New York State during this “Covid moment, why not invite one or two of the 200,000 + educators to work collaboratively alongside billionaires in “Reimagining New York Schools”?
Vast amounts of pedagogical research exist ranging from differentiation techniques to the links between in-school nutritional habits and academic performance but I can assure you there is nothing yet on the impact of Covid on education.
This is a brand new forum for all.
The key word being “all”.
All can enter this arena and contribute incredible anecdotes while forming appropriate paradigms.
So why not include educators in the “Reimagine Schools” Council?
Educators can bring to any task force a very powerful tool — institutional memory. Their vast years of experience can help politicians in understanding the impact of revamping school hours, restructuring educational modes, revisiting curriculum and exploring assessments.
Educators can offer multiple lens including student challenges, parental concerns and pedagogical alternatives.
This horrific crisis has demonstrated, particularly to those who thought teaching is a relatively straight forward process, that teaching is a “craft”, a talent of sorts, not one that many can do.
So as politicians throughout the country start “Reimagining schools”, please invite educators to participate in educational task forces, committees and councils: they are a far cheaper resource than any private sector alternative, stay beyond their work schedule, have many success stories to share (and failures), and are passionate about their “craft”.
The moment is right.
Dempsy gets it.
Be like Dempsy
