Politics of Fear: The masked educational villain!

Before we view the main idea of this post let me make a few notes.

Again, this blog is not made to dis-respect or insult teachers more so it is made to challenge the educational institution. I realize post number one was very assumptive and somewhat generalized. By no means do all teachers dominate over students. A lot of teachers do not. I realize that teachers have certain "TEKS" they must teach to us. All students empowered by change wishes to do is to reform the way we teach those TEKS by shifting away from test prep and move to more project based learning. Can we not teach the TEKS without pre-prepared worksheets? I would say yes. 

Now let us get to this weeks topic: 

The Politics of Fear: The masked educational villain!

Let us start with history. 


It starts at the beginning - the time in which progressive educators wish would have never happened. The world introduces standardized tests to measure education in schools. These tests are enforced through out the educational world. The "dark side" has now taken over. The educational world is told, "if you do not teach the mandates of these tests, you shall be fired". Now, here is where the politics of fear come in. Teachers fear that if they do not teach right they will be done away with. What does this lead to? The root cause of all evil in schools: TEST PREP! TEST PREP! TEST PREP!

As Sabrina from www.failingschools.wordpress.com puts it: 

"The fear pushes administrators to crack down on those areas that are most visible to the district. If they don’t, they risk losing their own jobs in a turnaround or school closure. They pass the fear along. For teachers, there’s a difficult choice: should you teach to the Test, or to whatever your principal and district value at the moment, or teach to students’ needs, abilities, and interests? Theoretically, those things should not conflict, but when high-stakes assessments can’t be adjusted to suit different learning styles, only account for a narrow range of subjects, and produce information only after a cohort of students have left a given classroom, conflict is inevitable. The fear looms: is it best to go along with the program–”play the game”– even though it’s not real education? Is it worth it to risk a steady salary/your professional standing/your entire career to stand up for what’s right for the kids?" 

Failing schools is a marvelous blog spot, and I would encourage readers of Students Empowered by Change to read it as well.


Let us get something straight. The politics of fear is not only enforced by tests. There is a surrounding student-to-teacher Relationship that causes, "fear". The teacher has a certain educational relationship with a learner. The learner must always find the way to adapt his/her self to critically recognize the teacher and the way that teacher teaches. In the process of this, the learner begins to become silent so that they can, "follow", the regular educational system. This "following" causes the learner to continually fear speaking out in the classroom environment. The problem in this relationship is students begin to feel that not understanding a concept is only their fault. In turn, the students quit asking questions because they fear their teachers criticism. Is this a healthy student-to-teacher relationship? Absolutely not. 

How do we make these relationships better?

The answer to this question is simple.

1. Students must not be scared to rise up and tell the world we are not "OK" with our education to continue in this way. We want a progressive change! 

2. Teachers must move away from test prep materials and move to a more progressive project based learning system. The projects will eliminate fear because students are now critically thinking with their classmates and are not afraid of presenting their own ideas or questions. The best part is that the projects can teach students the materials they need to know for their tests! Teachers will be happy as well! I realize that all standardized testing is not going to go away anytime soon. One thing is for sure though, the way students are learning for these tests is evolving! 

Here is a fantastic example of project based learning in a public texas school!

May the force be with Students Everywhere! 

Blog Called Ignorant and Arrogant...Responses to Criticism

We Cannot Be Ignored! 

Criticism and Ridicule

In response to last weeks blog post entitled "The Student Revolution" I have received many forms of ridicule and criticism from my own teachers.   

I have been told that this movement is perceived by professional educators as being ignorant and arrogant.


To add insult to injury another teacher told me, "because students do not have have any knowledge about the real world they should have absolutely no say in their education." 


In an attempt to silence my voice, and student's voices, I have been told that because I am Ignorant and Arrogant that  people will ignore this movement.  

Over and over again I have been told by teachers that our education can not change because of Austin's requirements for TAKS & STAAR Testing. 

As an example of the entrenched paradigm that many educators are stuck in, I was told that "if you cannot take a worksheet home and learn from it, then that's your problem."

Another response I received from my initial blog post was "Your Blog is crap and any educator who reads this should realize You need help."

Respectful Responses from 

Students Empowered by change (SEC)

With full respect to educators I would like to respond politely on behalf of the Students Empowered by Change.  I do not wish my voice to be the only voice in this discussion so I encourage readers to voice their responses in the comment section on this blog. 

Teacher Comment:  Your Blog is both ignorant and arrogant

SEC Response:  

Students Empowered by Change is neither ignorant nor arrogant. As high school students we are very aware that the real world is coming at us quickly and globalized change is happening fast!  As digital citizens of the globe who are connected and possess the digital literacy to see the warp-speed changes in the world that our teachers do not seem to even notice.  This knowledge about the lightening speed of change in the world is exactly why we are trying to change the way we are educated. Was it not Ghandi who once said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Students Empowered by Change (SEC) has very specific goals. We want to enjoy learning through a proactive system of experiences and not just another mundane, drill and kill, worksheet. 

In the previous blog post we presented three ways to improve learning.   First, we want to be able to use our technology to access the knowledge base of the world.  By interacting with this knowledge we can advance our learning to real world scenarios.  The second demand to improve learning was un-schooling and moving away from the useless practice of using worksheet and knowledge based homework assignments with no real world relevance. 

SEC even presented three alternatives to the present system of learning. 

1. Project-based learning
2. Socratic Circle Discussions
3. Student lead learning.

To My Educators I pose this Question:  Where are your proposals to improve the education I am receiving?

Finally, we demanded that a student leadership team be formed to improve our schools policies and practices.  We demand that this leadership team have real power to make change in our school and not just be a pawn to the present system. 

The aforementioned goals are not arrogant or ignorant at all. 

The idea of bright and responsible students having a say in their own education is not ignorant.  We are the ones doing the learning and should certainly have a say in how we accomplish the learning.  We care about our education but are being bored to death with meaningless work that has no real world relevance. 

Teacher Comment:  "People will start to ignore Students empowered by change."

SEC Response: 

People will not ignore us if we keep the movement rolling. People have viewed the initial blog post over 600times! People are looking at this movement and not ignoring it! The Education Service Center at Region 17 in Lubbock, a Texas based education service center, re-tweeted the link to the first blog post as did hundreds of others!

WE ARE BEING HEARD & WE WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE NOISE UNTIL JUSTICE IS SERVED! 

Teacher Assertion:  "We cannot change because of a standardized testing and rules and regulations imposed by the state." 

SEC Response:   

This is not true! The problem is not increased standards.  The problem is that teachers have been drinking the test prep cool-aid of way to long.  We can Change and switch to Project-based learning, Socratic circle discussions, and student lead learning and still be successful on the standardized test! In fact the research proves that we will perform even better!  Teachers just have to devise sophisticated lessons as projects, socratic circles, and student lead learning  We should not allow standardized tests to restrain our learning! 

Teacher Comment: "If you cannot take a worksheet home and learn from it, then that's your problem."

SEC Response:  

                  This is not Learning!                             
              This is not teaching! 
              This is not meaningful practice! 

Some Quick Shout Outs and Notes

First: I would like to say thank you to everyone who read the first post, re-tweeted it, and told your friends! Every view makes a difference! We had a rock solid 562 views as of November 4th! People are at least talking about the revolution and that is what is important!  My hope is that through my expression of my own struggles and beliefs as a student a new conversation can be started on the way to a new way of schooling, teaching, and learning.  

Second: I would like to point out that this movement questions the institution of learning not people or individual teachers methodologies. Students Empowered by Change wishes to focus on students having a say when it comes to how we learn and how we are taught. 

The state goal of this movement is to fundamentally change the educational paradigm and the mindset of teachers and policy makers.   

Third: I do not need the kind of help that one of the teachers above suggested.  I do not need psychological help or counseling.   I am perfectly sane! I promise! 

I do however need your help in spreading the word and continuing to force the conversation.  Please re-tweet, email, talk about, and generally promote the Blog.  This is the "help" that I need. 

THANK YOU EVERYONE! HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE POST!