Where do we look for help?

A few weeks ago while scrolling through my Twitter feed I noticed the following editorial on NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune: Life shouldn't be so dangerous for children in New Orleans.  These articles are heartbreaking, but they are all too common and often no longer cause the average citizen to sit up and take notice.  In fact, I suspect a large percentage of those reading the article will not even pause to give it a second thought as they view this as a normal outcome given the geographic location and the ethnicity of those involved.

This article piqued my interest because the authors primarily addressed the role and responsibility of Louisiana—the government—in remedying the issue of youth homicide.  While I certainly believe there are steps federal, state, and local government can take to address this issue, government intervention is rarely the answer to the problems plaguing our communities and this situation is no different.

There is a cultural dysfunction present in many of our urban areas and it results in the death and incarceration of a disproportionate number of young black males.  I do not believe the government is capable of adequately addressing this problem nor do I believe government offers the best solution(s) to the elimination of this problem.  I believe the solutions to this problem reside in the communities themselves, but before I get too far ahead of myself, let me provide you with some examples of cultural dysfunction in our inner-cities.

This year was the 38^th annual Crim race.  Shortly after passing mile three I passed a male teenager standing on the corner wearing a t-shirt with the slogan “Flint Above Everything” emblazoned across the chest.  On the surface this may appear to be relatively harmless, but I think it is a manifestation of the twisted thinking that pervades our inner-cities.  I immediately began to wonder what that particular slogan meant to the young man wearing the t-shirt: Flint above family?  Flint above God?  Flint above future success?  In short, was this guy seriously “ride or die” for a city he most likely did not choose to live in, but rather lived within its geographic boundaries due to his or his family’s limited financial means?  I also have tremendous concern about the folks printing, selling, and wearing this t-shirt.  People choose to purchase and wear these t-shirts for a reason; that is, what people choose to wear is indicative of how they think.  Young people are attempting to project an image when they wear such clothing and this image is part of the dysfunction we must address.  Finally, shame on those profiting from this dysfunction that results in the deaths of our youth.

What does this shirt say about the person wearing it?

My wife and I were walking down Saginaw Street in downtown Flint a while back and we passed a younger, perhaps 18-24, African-American male walking a Golden Retriever puppy on the sidewalk.  We immediately looked at one another and didn’t have to say a word.  Here is what we were thinking—“That is unusual.”  You see, the stereotypical dog breed for that demographic in Flint, MI is a Pit Bull with a chain around its neck straining against its leash with the owner trailing behind barely able to keep the dog under control.  Why is this so?  I believe it is another manifestation of the cultural dysfunction present in urban areas.  It is toughness by transference: my dog is tough and intimidating; therefore I am tough and intimidating.  Manliness or toughness is not dependent upon the dog at the end of a leash, but that is far too often the belief.  I am the proud owner both a Pit Bull and a Miniature Golden Doodle (go ahead, start the jokes)—neither serve to make me any more or less tough. 

Two of my babies

We must address this twisted view of toughness and manliness.  Toughness is doing what you should do even when you don’t feel like doing it, day-in and day-out.  It is going to a job you greatly dislike because you know your family is counting on your check to pay the rent, keep the lights on, and put food on the table.  Being a man is taking responsibility for your actions, owning your mistakes, and working to make it better.  Government cannot help us inculcate this type of thinking into our communities. 

Asking our government to develop solutions to the problems facing our nation’s inner-cities is simply not the answer.  First, I would suggest our government has consistently displayed very little interest in the well-being of our urban areas.  In addition, the steps they have taken to address past problems have largely proven to be ineffectual and in many cases exacerbated existing challenges or created new challenges.  In all seriousness, how is the government supposed to affect a paradigm shift that eliminates violence as a viable solution to solving problems in our cities?  Would you suggest that some public service announcements by President Obama might do the trick?  Perhaps we could start a "Just say no" campaign for violence similar to what we did with the use of narcotics—this is obviously said with tongue planted firmly in cheek.  Second, the solution to the problem is best developed by those most familiar with the problem or those experiencing the problem first-hand.  Third, in order to adequately address the problem, there must be support from the community plagued by the problem.  Thus, I believe it would work best if the solution was not handed down from lawmakers drastically distanced from these communities, but rather formulated within the area afflicted.  Our urban areas are facing serious issues, and while I do not know where the solutions will originate, I do know they will not come from Washington D.C. or our state capitols.

A lesson from middle school

Well, we are well into the academic year here in Michigan and I am betting that quite a few teachers have identified the students they would already like to see removed from their classrooms.  Those students that if they were absent tomorrow would be living examples of addition by subtraction: subtracting them from the classroom setting adds something to the quality of the educational experience for the rest of the class.  I get it: some students make our lives immeasurably more difficult and make us question our career choice.  However, before we judge these students too harshly, or give up on them, let me share a story with you.

Some things you hear in a school just break your heart.  Last year I was talking to a 6^th grader about his plans for Thanksgiving break when I heard something that really hit me hard.  The student I was talking to was explaining to me how he was journeying to Detroit with his father to spend the weekend with family.  I replied that it sounded like fun when he proceeded to tell me “Yeah, they have a PS3 and I really like playing it.  I used to have a PS3, but my mom had to pawn it for money and she forgot to go back and get it.” 

I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that most of you reading this post have never had one of their belongings pawned to help mom make ends meet.  It may come as no surprise to you this particular student often struggles to behave properly during the school day and is frequently reprimanded, punished, and removed from class.  In fact, I am willing to bet that most of his teachers would have identified him as their most significant challenge.

That day, prior to releasing our staff for Thanksgiving break, I shared this story with our staff.  I asked them to think about this particular student’s day-to-day life at home.  I asked them to think about how the context of this student’s life might influence the behavior we see at school.  In my opinion there is no doubt that context influences, if not directly determines, behavior.  Every person has a story, and each and every person we encounter is fighting some type of battle.  Be gentle; be kind; and be understanding.  Have a great school year and continue making a difference.

Can MOOCs and blended learning serve to shrink the achievement gap?

Can MOOCs and blended learning serve to shrink the achievement gap in American education?  This is a question I began to ask myself while listening to a podcast from Econ Talk from the Library of Economics and Liberty.  This is one of my favorite podcasts and one I listen to weekly.  This podcast featured Dr. Daphne Koller, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and one of the founders of Coursera along with Andrew Ng.  Click here for a link to the Econ Talk website or here for a link to the podcast via iTunes.

I am optimistic regarding the potential benefits of MOOCs and of blended learning.  I believe these modes of education do offer potential benefits that could assist us in shrinking the achievement gap in our country.  Daphne Koller argues that “MOOCs can be a significant factor in opening doors to opportunity” and I agree with her wholeheartedly.  MOOCs possess the power to reach the most marginalized student and to serve as a leveling mechanism in education.  I believe we will see more and more education providers begin to take advantage of the potential benefits of this mode of education as we move forward.  In addition, I believe blended learning may be utilized to overcome many of the challenges we encounter in urban education.  For example, increasingly we hear a great deal about the the flipped classroom and  how it assist in the completion of homework, maximizes class time, and how it is being used to increase academic outcomes.  Here is a link to a pdf file that discusses the basics of a flipped classroom in case you are interested.