twoplustwoequalsblog

or, “Matthew 7:3″

Tonight was the “High School Parent Focus Group” led by the new superintendent of schools in South Windsor, Dr. Kozaczka. According to the agenda, “This could be the beginning of some positive changes at the High School and the first step to have our concerns and suggested improvements heard.”

Having heard of this opportunity to give my feedback to a new superintendent, I jumped at the chance. With my first semester in college behind me, and a good while to reflect on my high school experience and see how it reconciled with what I have heard from others at college, I was excited to be able to speak directly to the people who have the power to change how the educational system in South Windsor is run. I prepared a number of topics that I wanted to raise, mostly focusing on gifted education, the culture of the high school, and how we can give students opportunities to push their educations farther outside of school. I must disclaim: I was not exactly invited. My mother was going, and I asked to tag along and listen.

I arrived about an hour into the meeting, which was slated to run for three hours. The table was already full, so some chairs were pulled up to make room, but I was still seated awkwardly off on the corner of the table, in “row two” of a round table discussion.

I have attended many feedback sessions, especially at Olin, where feedback is valued above all else. We were given a lesson on giving feedback and instructional cards instructing us how to most effectively communicate our ideas without making the other party feel intimidated or unfairly criticized. My goal for the “High School Parent Focus Group” was largely to sit in the corner, but I figured that being a recent graduate, and having actually been through the school system being discussed, I might be asked to share an experience.

Upon my arrival, the topic being discussed was in regards to an incident in which a teacher purchased decorative swords for students during a field trip to a Medieval Fair. Swords are, understandably, against school weapon rules. I am not sure if students got in trouble for having the seemingly-sanctioned swords or if some of the parents were uncomfortable by their presence near their own children, but it was quite clear that the parents wanted something to be done, and they wanted the superintendent to do it. He, quite gracefully, explained that he was unable to take action without further information, and a forum was not the appropriate place for detailed information to be shared.

He followed the rules of feedback quite well. Acknowledge that there is a problem, and agree that you will work on it. I think he made the appropriate steps in asking that the conversation stop there and move on to a new issue.

The next topic discussed by the parents was the environment of the high school themselves. Descriptions including the word “prison” were raised. The parents criticized the school for not fairly enforcing rules and for allowing double standards between athletes and regular students. The interesting thing behind this tangent was that almost every story was backed by a personal anecdote relating the speaker’s child.

Now let us back up a step. Who would take time out of their Thursday evening to attend a forum with the new superintendent of schools? The answer is people who are passionate about something regarding the school system. What, and for what reason, are people most likely to be passionate about? The answer is something that they view as broken, because it has personally and negatively affected them.

At Olin, the number one thing we have attempted to do with any large scale feedback is to prevent it from becoming a gripe session. When you get large numbers of people together, human nature means that they will band together against what they don’t like. The discussion going on at the South Windsor Public Library tonight seems to be exactly that. With one superintendent facing off against over a dozen disgruntled parents, I don’t know how anything productive can possibly come out of this meeting.

So, parents, I apologize that your student was unfairly disciplined. I, however, would like to suggest that there are much more important topics to discuss given this opportunity. Do you care about issues like class leveling preventing opportunity; department heads who are out of touch with students; an “us vs. them” mentality at the high school (oh wait, that’s the only one you do care about); or the fact that there are very few outside of school opportunities for students to pursue their academic interests? These are the points I wanted to see discussed.

Oh yea, and then they kicked me out because they were uncomfortable having me around.