Meville

I just graduated with a masters in Educational Administration this past July, from the University of . . . lets not say where. It just eats me up alive how ridiculous, not to mention expensive, this higher education was for me. I pursued this degree in the hopes of attaining a position where I can actually do something useful to change (or at least positively affect, make a dent, a ding, anything!) the disgraceful state of public education. I may not have been able to affect the system at large, yet I was in a position to at least alleviate some of the problems in a small district. Or so that’s what I kept telling myself – but my issues with gov’t schools are rants better left for another post. My current beef here, is at the college level – specifically the training program used to rear future administrators for schools (mostly public).

One would think that at a higher learning institute where education is the focus, one would be rewarded for questioning the ineffective practices that are in place in today’s schools and for offering up fresh ideas during class discussions. You know . . . innovative, forward-thinking, thought-provoking, change-inducing ideas that attempt to revamp a system that is sorely lacking in its ability to produce a future generation that would one day stand up and question any perceived wrongs of their own time. Maybe these sort of progressive exchanges exist in other colleges, in other areas of the country. Not so here.

Now without going into too much detail (I’d rather not shoot myself in the foot or burn any bridges at this point), here are some highlights courtesy of this very special staff:

• Class is discussing the importance of teacher professional development and research: The professor concludes by stating that (and I’m paraphrasing because I don’t think my mind could grasp, much less store, her actual words) teachers shouldn’t be bothered with keeping up with research – teachers are already very busy and they don’t need to be bogged down more than is necessary. It should be the responsibility of the administrator to conduct the research and disseminate it to the appropriate teachers.

What?!!! Are you serious? This person actually discouraged teachers to learn more about and be kept abreast of the latest research in their field in order to be more effective and efficient at their jobs – jobs that affect children’s lives! Then she proposes that the principal be the one to do it. Now, if you are fortunate enough to have a great principal – she just piled on a ton of work to one of the busiest people in the building. If you have an incompetent one, she just proposed that the laziest person in the building do it. And mediocre ones may or may not care. Can you imagine if doctors in the medical field were discouraged to learn about new methods, treatments, and relevant research? We’d still be amputating limbs to let people bleed their ills away.

• Students ask the professor for advice on the upcoming written comprehensives: The professor basically told the students that they would have to conform to one official educational philosophy on their written comp to receive a passing grade in order to graduate.

I have a big problem being told what to think. I have a bigger problem being told what I can’t think.

• During an “exchange” (basically an argument that would ensue whenever I really disagreed with this professor – I always let little things go), he informed me that I wouldn’t be able to change anything because people around here “have been doing things this way for years and years and it’s probably not going to change”

Great. Thanks. Could you guys please make that your official motto so that potential students can knowingly enroll in this dynamic institution?

This particular ed. admin program prides itself in the ability to inculcate its students (who are mostly current teachers) with many of the same basic principles, methods, and practices that are to blame for the current state of our schools. How many other schools around the country are doing the same?

OK, so I went into some detail. It couldn’t be helped.