CAPE
BY DARREN REILEY
The Shedd Institute
www.theshedd.org - 541.434.7000
Rethinking Our
Schools
EDUCATING GLOBAL CITIZENS
A
s humanity becomes globalized in its economy and information
sharing, and as the number of media messages bombarding our
brains grows each year, it becomes ever more important for in-
dividual citizens to stay sharp and ask hard questions. In 1787,
Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison, “Above all things
I hope the education of the common people will be attended to; convinced that
on their good sense we may rely with the most security for the preservation of
a due degree of liberty.”
The education of everyone is not a privilege bestowed upon the people by
a democratic institution; rather, it is a necessity for a democratic institution.
We simply don’t spend enough time in public dialogue about what educa-
tion is, or what qualifies as a good education. Sure, we spend a great deal
of time and money evaluating whether a student can solve basic algebra, or
name the causes and consequences of World War I, and of course, this content
is important. Certainly, we need basic standards by which we judge whether
someone has actually been educated or not.
However, with the takeover by profit-driven standardized testing in recent
years, two issues in education have become painfully clear: 1) no one method
of assessing content knowledge is complete, and 2) we must be diverse in
deciding what that content is, and who decides it.
Especially given the current mental health crisis in this country, as evi-
denced by the recent rise in mass shootings and other pervasive violence, basic
coping skills and conflict resolution seem like a high priority, yet there are
almost no content standards for the one subject that literally everyone deals
with from cradle to grave: conflict.
The education of everyone is not a privilege bestowed
upon the people by a democratic institution; rather, it is
a necessity for a democratic institution.
Real education is not something that can be measured like a long jump or scored
like a soccer match. Real learning doesn’t only happen in a classroom, but in the
world, at home, with friends and in the community. A full education requires not just
knowledge, but wisdom. We need to learn the critical tools for processing informa-
tion relevant to the world, and an understanding of our power to influence it.
I work for an educational program combining conflict resolution and so-
cial-emotional skills with community project design, social justice education
and a survey of the work of recent Nobel Peace Prize winners. PeaceJam was
developed with the help of the Dalai Lama and 13 other Nobel Laureates to
inspire young people to learn concrete skills through creating real projects
in their communities that address global issues at a local level — issues like
understanding racism and poverty and resource conflicts. I have seen firsthand
the way that such an education engages students.
A class working on a water catchment project, for example, will incorpo-
rate geometry, chemistry, algebra, planning and budgeting, and, if the project
is done well, the social and legal context of water rights and access to building
materials. Students’ progress can be assessed — by the actual teacher work-
ing with them — through measures of work ethic, project completion or even
self-assessment.
Granted, this requires flexibility for teachers in conducting their own class-
rooms, and there is no profit in this model for Pearson, the global education
testing conglomerate, but there is a great deal of profit for students and for the
society they will certainly be shaping.
Even better, when students have input into creating a project that is mean-
ingful to them and even fun, addressing a pressing issue, they become engaged
citizens, invested in the workings of their communities. And if education is not
about preparing and empowering young people to be informed and engaged
citizens, what is it about at all? In the current flood of false information, po-
larizing political identities and thinning budgets, can even a fake democracy
afford not to invest in such an insurance policy?
Darren Reiley is the Coordinator for PeaceJam Northwest (northwest@peacejam.org) and a
member of the Community Alliance for Public Education (CAPE, OregonCAPE.org), a coalition of
parents, teachers, professors, students and community members who challenge the many assaults
on public education and who believe in a strong public education as the foundation for American
democracy. We meet first, third and fourth Wednesdays at Perugino.
Fri Jan 19
The Carl Woideck Jazz Heritage Project
The Latin Side of
Trane, Miles & Monk
Billy Boy Arnold
RJ Mischo
Deitra Farr
Oscar Wilso
John Primer
Billy Flynn
& more!
Sat, Jan 20
Mark Hummel’s
Blues Harmonica Blowout
Chicago Blues Celebration
Mark Hummel Workshop 2-4 pm Saturday
Ladysmith Jan 24
Black Mambazo
Jan 25
David
Grisman
Quintet
Tue, Feb 6
(2 shows)
Chick Corea Trio
eugeneweekly.com • January 18, 2018
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