What's wrong with education
In May 2015, I had the great privilege of meeting the community and giving a lecture at L'Abri in Southborough, MA.
One of the things that sets apart L’Abri, besides the beauty of the land, the occasional quirky concert, and of course Friday's tea & treats, is the posture of thinking Christianly, and publicly, about the intersection of faith and public life. As a young person, reading How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schafer, L'Abri's founder, was instrumental to my own thinking about worldview and purpose.
The ambitious title for my lecture, given to me by L'Abri staff, was "What's wrong with education in America and what can we do about it?"
...Small potatoes ;)
Above all, finding and exploring how we might grow all that is good in U.S. public education was my aim and hope in writing and sharing these thoughts.
Here is where you can read or listen to the full lecture.
And below is an excerpt...
“There is a time to love.
Who ultimately holds the responsibility for making sure that all of the youth in a city are prepared for life’s next steps? Leaders at the school and district levels are strapped for resources. Mayors have goals that are broader than education alone. Philanthropic organizations focus narrowly on expected outcomes for segmented populations. And due to various complex pressures, families — historically the basic unit for raising children — vary in their willingness and capacity to equip children for life’s next steps.
The result is that too many kids are falling through the cracks with not enough support. Some children suffer from a poverty of isolation.
Public, charter, private, and home schools urgently need partnerships to maximize student outcomes, and students desperately need strong relationships with adults to navigate their youth.
By knitting together, training, coordinating, and supporting volunteers from the community we can fill in the gaps.”
