Practical Theory

There's a great passage in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about "The Church of Reason" -- how there are really two universities... the physical plant where paychecks are signed, books are sold, tuition is paid, etc... and the actually learning that goes on... the learning can happen anywhere, but the point is that the physical bricks and mortar of the university make it a convenient place for the real university -- the one of the mind (for me, the soul) -- to reside. What you realize in reading it is how fragile and rare and vitally important that second university is... and how many people don't understand the difference between the two.

The real University, he said, has no specific location. It owns no property, pays no salaries and receives no material dues. The real University is a state of mind. It is that great heritage of rational thought that has been brought down to us through the centuries and which does not exist at any specific location. It's a state of mind which is regenerated throughout the centuries by a body of people who traditionally carry the title of professor, but even that title is not part of the real University. The real University is nothing less than the continuing body of reason itself.

In addition to this state of mind, "reason," there's a legal entity which is unfortunately called by the same name but which is quite another thing. This is a nonprofit corporation, a branch of the state with a specific address. It owns property, is capable of paying salaries, of receiving money and of responding to legislative pressures in the process.

But this second university, the legal corporation, cannot teach, does not generate new knowledge or evaluate ideas. It is not the real University at all. It is just a church building, the setting, the location at which conditions have been made favorable for the real church to exist.

I think at Beacon school, we have the second university. I'm not sure that "reason" is the right word, and neither was Pirsig. But the construct is the right one. Call it Church of Learning or whatever, but I think we've got it. And I think it's rare and powerful and fragile as all hell... so I'll do what I need to do to nurture it.

Schools like Beacon, where true, constructivist learning is valued and where it happens, need to always stay vigilant so we don't lose that second university. When it disappears, it can take a long time before its obvious. The school can look the same for a long time, but sooner or later, people realize that real learning -- the kind that cannot be easily measured on a test, often times, as disappeared. There are schools all over NYC that were once places of true learning that were regulated or tested or atrophied into mediocrity.

This is why school culture is so vital. Any local government could build the first school. Any government can test the first school. But to create the second school takes much, much more.

Deborah Meier was interviewed by the Washington Post on Tuesday, and it's a predictably great interview. She talks about how we can seek alternatives to standardized tests and still have standards, and of course, she gets in some excellent points on what standardized tests don't do:

Not only do the tests not measure basics, but they also distract us from teaching the kind of stuff that might engage kids' minds and hearts, stuff that would force them to engage in the real discipline of intellectual life -- weighing evidence, seeing other ways of looking at the same data or situation, comparing and contrasting, seeking patterns, conjecturing, even arguing. The trouble with such skills is they don't come packaged with right/wrong answers.

And for me, this is the point. Yes, we need to make sure kids can read and write... that kids can do enough math so that they can get through the world, but after that, kids will learn different things. Teachers will also teach different content somewhat, because they will probalby care about different things. That's o.k. Students who have a teacher in front of them who is passionate and caring about what it is they are teaching... and a teacher who dares kids to think deeply and powerfully about it... they will learn how to think and learn far beyond anything a test can measure.

Oh... and here's the Meier Amendment that I'm all in favor of:

Such a basic test should first be taken by the folks we honor by electing to office. That's the Meier Amendment: the people who legislate or mandate a test should be required first to take it themselves to ensure that it's measuring what they think it is. It's a form of validity checking. They might even have their scores posted!

Woody Guthrie is still relevant. Go see what Whiskey Bar reminds us of.

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York islands
From the redwood forests to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

Nobody living can ever stop me
As I go walking
That freedom highway
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

As I was walking
on down that highway
I saw a sign there
said "No Trespassing"
And on the other side
it didn't say nothing
That side was made for you and me.

George Bush has no shame.

I don't even have anything to say in response. I'm so angry at him and sad for our country.

November cannot come soon enough.

Rod Paige has called the NEA a "Terrorist Organization." He would have you believe that the rank and file of the union membership -- teachers, of course -- are all in favor of NCLB, but it's only the union that is against it.

This is just more outrageous behavior from the man responsible for some very questionable data reporting on the so-called "Houston Miracle." This administration just doesn't trust and doesn't like teachers -- especially public school ones.

But Paige's statements go way too far for me. Calling the largest teachers' union a terrorist organization is an unforgivable insult to the profession. Rod Paige should resign, and I'm telling the President myself.

Here's my letter:

Dear President Bush,

As a teacher (and UFT member), I am outraged by Secretary Paige's statement calling the NEA a "terrorist organization." For the Secretary of Education to have such blatant disrespect for the largest union of teachers is an insult to those of us who work hard every day for our nation's children.

An apology from Mr. Paige is not enough, as he has shown a powerful disrespect for teachers with his comments. Rod Paige should resign from his position as Secretary of Education, as he has shown himself unwilling to work with one of the largest organizations acting as a force for good in the lives of America's children.

Yours truly,
Chris Lehmann
Beacon High School
New York City, NY

Pathetic.

The man's ego knows no bounds. He has lost the backing of the progressives who spoke out for him in 2000. He is losing the support of the groups he founded -- as Public Citizen backs away from him. Matt Gross says it well, when he writes:

Not content with having destroyed, in 2000, the reputation he had built up over a lifetime as a trusted champion of progressive causes, Ralph Nader is once again embarking on one of the greatest ego quests in American history.

While most progressives have turned away from the mirror long enough to look at the Bush administration and realize that defeating Dubya is the only priority in 2004, old Ralph is still transfixed by his own gaze. (Look how beautiful and righteous I am!)

And what's so sad is this just reminds me of my PIRG days. So many of the upper echelon of the PIRG staffers had the same sort of self-righteous arrogance that Nader showed on Meet the Press today. There really were only two sides to every argument, the PIRG side and all the wrong people. I didn't always agree with the exact PIRG line, and it was for that reason that my time at PIRG was short-lived. I managed to redefine my own activism into education, choosing teaching as my grass-roots activism, but I also saw a ton of 22 year olds look at PIRG and think, "Well, if this is the activist life -- and if this is how progressives act -- I'll just go to law school instead." Clearly, PIRG isn't the only model, just as Nader is not the only progressive out there, but they were one of the organizations that hired young people. Just as Nader's prominence in presidental politics gives him a very powerful voice in the progressive movement. Both Nader and the PIRGs wanted such loyalty from their supporters that dissent wasn't really part of the equation.

I don't know... when the Nation, when members of the party you were claiming to help to build (why did you abandon the Greens, Ralph?), when so many people who should be your supporters beg you not to run, and you choose not to listen to any of them, why should any of us listen to you?

By the way: The Nation's Open Letter to Nader is a must read.

Via Palimpsest, here's a nice quick Blog Tip sheet. I've been meaning to start to put together resources like there, and I just haven't.

I encourage Beacon bloggers to go to Six Apart's Movable Type web site and start to figure out what nifty stuff blogs can do.

Update: I just installed MT-blacklist, so if you have been getting spam-comments in your blog, those should disappear now.

There's some real writing to do today, but first...

Via Kerry Lutz and John Scalzi: Are You Yankee or Dixie? -- I test out as 35% -- Strongly Yankee. Kat tests out as 53% -- slightly Dixie. Her Midwestern / Southern / New York City muttness made for a fun test.

And more fun: (Also from Kerry)
I am an Intellectual



Which America Hating Minority Are You?

Take More Robert & Tim Quizzes
Watch Robert & Tim Cartoons

Photographer Derek Powazek gives us a pretty wonderful photo gallery of what marriage looks like. These photos were taken on February 15, on the steps of City Hall, in San Francisco. And what is most striking about the photos is the join and love in the couples' eyes. There were so many great photos, but there's one that told such a story. (Granted, I have no idea of the story is true... but, hey... even if it's not, it still is.)

The picture was of these two older men coming out of the main entrace of City Hall. I would guess they were in their 60s. They are both dressed in suits, one of them in a three-piece suit, and they are holding hands. They are smiling, although it also appears that the bright light is a bit of a shock as they step out into the light. And as I looked at the picture, I imagined that hey could have been waiting for this moment for decades. I imagined their lives at home, together for twenty... thirty... forty years... and I pictured them hearing that the mayor was going to do this. I can imagine them getting dressed and hurrying down to City Hall, not even quite believing that after so long, there might be some small official recognition of their marriage on the part of our government. The looks on their faces somehow convey joy, love, relief...

And for me, there's an obvious next question: Our society doesn't allow that kind of joy why?

And in a truly bold political move, Chicao Richard Daley has spoken out in favor of gay marriage. He is into the idea of Chicago doing the same thing San Francisco has been doing.

This might be a lefty perspective, but I don't see this issue going away, and I don't see our side losing. Those people who are against this sound to me like those folks at the end of the 1950s-60s civil rights movement who were desperate to find excuses to deny blacks rights. Their rhetoric gets more shrill, and their arguments don't hold up.

And to counter that, we've got the truth in images like this.

Happy Belated Valentines Day to All.

Howard Dean addressed his supporters today, and you have to hand it to the man. He can turn the progressive phrase. I do hope that Gov. Dean takes the energy of his supporters and keeps them involved. We need more grass roots activism in this country. We need people to understand that activism takes time. It's not about one win or one race. It's about the long haul. It's about making the best possible choice even when you can't make the perfect choice.

The next few years should tell us whether or not Dean's campaign had a lasting effect. I do think that he was the first presidental candidate to understand the grass roots power of the internet. (I think that Jessie Ventura's first run for governor figured it out first.) The problems with the Dean campaign don't overshadow that. Now, every campaign will have to have a "blog" even if most of them don't and won't really understand why a blog is different than a public relations release machine.

Smart candidates will understand what Dean understood... that people will respond to candidates who use the internet to bring the candidate closer to the people. Dean seemed to thrive on his interactions with every day people, and his internet strategy captured that energy.

I can't wait to see what he does from here.