The Failure of Public Education and Poverty: Symptoms of the Same Pathology

Posted on October 12, 2013 by admin

In a recent post on the Blog of Diane Ravitch, she talked about Michael Petrilli’s assertion that education can solve the problem of poverty.

It is my belief that understanding the relationship between poverty and the problems of our systems of education is crucial to fixing education.

Michael Petrilli’s assertion that education can fix poverty may have a ring of truth to it but for reasons other than those that he offers. What is incorrect is to suggest, as many do, that there is a causal relationship between poverty and the problems of public education in America. Clearly one is influenced by the other and vice versa but that is as far as it goes.

In my new book, Reinventing Education, Hope, and the American Dream: The Challenge for Twenty-First Century America, I suggest that poverty, deteriorating neighborhoods, the failure of so many American children, bad schools, and burned out teachers are all symptoms of the same underlying pathology. That we do not recognize the true nature of the relationship contributes greatly to the failure of educational reforms over the past half century.

I suggest that race has nothing to do with this failure but culture is another matter, entirely. There is a expanding population of American men and women who have lost faith and hope in the American dream and no longer believe that they possess control over the outcomes in their lives. These Americans reside under a blanket of hopelessness and powerlessness. What has happened as this cultural phenomenon has evolved since the end of World War II, is that an increasingly more pervasive cultural disdain for education has emerged and it transcends race.

Whatever the ethnicity of a subculture that is characterized by this disdain for education, children in these communities are not taught to value education and are not reared in an environment that would foster a strong motivation to learn. In a time when the American dream has become meaningless, an education, which for generations has been viewed as a pass of admission to the dream, is now a ticket to nowhere. The children from these cultural pockets throughout much of urban America, and in some rural communities, arrive for their first day of school with precious little motivation to learn an even less preparation. There, they are greeted by a system that is poorly equipped to respond to the challenges that these students present and by educators who are as much victims of the system as are their students. For huge numbers of these children our educational process sets them up for failure and humiliation and figuratively chews them up and spits them out.

That teachers and their principals are bewildered that these children are disruptive, earn failing grades and disappointing scores on state competency exams is, itself, bewildering. One wonders how intelligent men and women could ever be persuaded to expect anything else. Pleas to parents for help and support are shunned by men and women who, themselves, are products of the same educational process. The expectations of these parents are that schools exist to keep the kids out of their hair for five days a week and they resent the intrusion.

In Reinventing Education, Hope, and the American Dream, I reject the conventional wisdom about the reasons for the academic failure of a growing percentage of American children and offer an alternative hypothesis. I suggest that the problems with education in the U.S. are 1) this burgeoning disdain for education on the part of parents and the resulting lack of motivation on the part of their children, and 2) an educational process that is focused on failure. The very fact that children can fail contributes greatly to a reality in which so very many of them do.

The book then outlines 19 specific action strategies for reinventing the educational process to one in which children are taught how to succeed within the context of ever-rising expectations followed by 14 action strategies for re-packaging and reselling the American dream and then re-engaging parents as full partners with the teachers and principals; sharing responsibility for the education of their children. The book is available at this website www.melhawkinsandassociates.com where you can learn more about the book and also where you can explore my blog, THE LEADer, (Thinking Exponentially: Leadership, Education, and the American Dream)

Another “5 Star” Review for Light and Transient Causes, by Mel Hawkins

Posted on October 5, 2013 by admin

This “5 Star” review was posted on Amazon.com on 10/5/13

This is a superb book. Set in the near future in the USA, or maybe the Disunited States would be more apt, the author shows just how easy it is to turn a civilized tolerant nation into a fascist dictatorship in no time at all. Just two presidencies after Obama, the authorities are rounding up ethnic minorities, and shipping them off to who knows where. Well observed, and not at all far fetched, it’s only too easy to imagine this happening. The central characters are very well written and the dialogue flows smoothly. You actually want to know what happens next. Mel Hawkins has done a splendid job in juggling all the twists, turns and complications of this very believable novel. I think that this is his first work of fiction (Amazon don’t have any others) but what a start! Books like this don’t come along very often so if you’ve read this far in the reviews, you can stop now and just buy it. You won’t be disappointed.

Review of Reinventing Education, Hope, and the American Dream

Posted on October 3, 2013 by admin

Reinventing Education, Hope, and the American Dream, by Mel Hawkins

A Review, by Ron Flickinger

I just finished reading the current draft of Mr. Mel Hawkins book, Reinventing Education, Hope, and the American Dream: The Challenge for 21st Century America, and have decided that it is something, particularly Part I, that should be read by a wide variety of audiences. In general, on a scale of one to ten, I would consider American Education (not Public Education as Mr. Hawkins identifies it) to be no more than a two. If totally implemented, Mr. Hawkins recommendations would move it up to at least an “Eight”. . . . his well-researched suggestions would advance our culture by light years.

Chapter 6 entitled, “The Role of Culture” was one of the best, well-written/easily read overviews of the impact of the culture wars on the preparation of our young I have ever read. Not sure that there is anything new in this, but it is so comprehensive, yet so concise that the words literally jumped off the page at me.

This is the first author I think I have ever read who finally attacked the evil of compulsory education. His rationale for moving compulsory education to the age of 14 would, I think, be justification enough to get rid of it completely and put the choice of providing state-sponsored education fully in the hands of parents when their children reach whichever arbitrary age seems most appropriate. Compulsory education is a complete contradiction and it’s about time someone attacked it. We value the things we choose, not the things fostered upon us in an arbitrary and hap-hazard manner. Hats off to this author for so clearly bringing this out.

Every school staff should read chapter 1 and 2 and use them to evaluate their programs and attitudes toward young people and learning.

The other tremendous positive is Mr. Hawkins point-blank, simple attack on the ridiculous system of placing young people in grade levels based upon age. In my entire professional life, I have never found any study which supports this. Every learning theorist I ever read gives a wide variance in brain/social/background readiness for every academic objective in every grade level. If learning were the true goal of schools, common sense would tell us to evaluate current status and build from there. This book is extremely clear on this point and the very fact that few places do this, public or private, shows the resistance to reality American educators embrace.

I share this author’s vision that all work is honorable and all humans are uniquely designed to function in ways that benefit the entire society. The student who likes to tinker with machines and is not at all interested in literature should not be held in less esteem at school than the lit student. The larger social system will value some skills more than others and will obviously pay more for those skills, but the culture has to find a way to communicate to its young that the guy that gets your plumbing right enhances the quality of your life just as much as the mayor of your city.

Educators continue to embrace the elitist notion that academic success is the end-all, do-all for financial, social, and emotional success. Any reform of American education must include respect for all God’s children, not the 20 percent who happen to intuitively respond to academic activities.

Ron Flickinger
Career & Technical Education Consultant
Fort Wayne, IN

Light and Transient Causes by Mel Hawkins, “. . . best book I’ve read this year.”

Posted on September 22, 2013 by admin

Official Review: Light and Transient Causes by Mel Hawkins
Post Number:#1 Postby Bookworm_82 » 11 Sep 2013, 20:44

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of “Light and Transient Causes” by Mel Hawkins.]

“Light and Transient Causes” is a fiction book of about 360 pages in length. It comes across as a thriller, however I found myself unable to put it down. The best book I have read this year. I was riveted by the way all the actors were introduced and woven into the story without falling short of any details or suspense. Absolutely, hands down, knock your off your socks book to keep you wanting to read more.

The book is set in “present day” plus a few years, the author chooses to open the book in 202x, with the “x” being up to the readers imagination. The U.S. Government has begun to cleanse the American population of minority races. Indianapolis is chosen as a test project by the newly installed “Military Governor of Indiana,” and the action begins right from the beginning of the book all the way to the last sentence. The scary thing was the references to present day people (President Obama) and the events that have taken place (Invasion of Iraq, Policy on Israel, etc.) to make me feel like this “could” happen, but felt good knowing that it was fiction.

If I had to improve one thing, it would be plot development. The book starts medium paced, however, it wasn’t clear why certain actors and scenes were introduced, because as the book went along, they never fully developed. It wasn’t until midway through the book did I realize that the focus was on the “battle of Indianapolis” which took up the majority of the action. The author could have cut out the beginning portion and focuses specifically on the battle scenes.

If you want to read a thriller that has a lot of battle scenes straight out of a war novel, than I would recommend this book. I give the book 4 out of 4 stars. It is worth reading for both fiction and non-fiction readers. I am more of a non-fiction, war novel type reader, so that is why I feel this book was so good. I have read many war novels that fell short with the battle scenes; this book was right on the money.

If there was one thing that I would change, it would be the title of the book. “Light and Transient Causes” should be re-titled something with a modern day revolution twist to it. I would recommend something like, “The War Within,” but no matter the title it is a great book!

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Buy “Light and Transient Causes” on Amazon