I know that the thoughts of the community here, and mine certainly, are with Rep. Giffords, the wounded in that horrible incident, their families, and the loved ones who have been lost.
I know what my first reaction is to the shooting, beyond grief for the individuals directly afflicted and longing for a society where this does not happen, but I think John’s right, and not just because the facts aren’t all in. I’m trying to leave space in my head and my heart just for those who have been so horribly touched by this before picking up my cudgel again in what surely should be purely political battles.
So, just to provide a moment’s distraction, let me point out an article in The New York Times that reminds us that even in hard times, the kids can be all right, thank you very much.
In it, reporter Sam Dillon tells the story of William Fitzhugh’s work on The Concord Review, which publishes exemplary research papers (what I remember as term papers) by high school students.
Fitzhugh comes off as a complicated character, which is one way of saying that he sounds like he could be a total pain in teh ass. And the fact that his journal now publishes almost exclusively work from private school students — while public school work used to have a much higher representation — reminds us of the fact that the barriers to membership in the elite are there and real, and growing higher.
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But three quick quotes/thoughts. First, Fitzhugh reminds us of the joy of encountering really good work.
Mr. Fitzhugh said he has so far been unable to find the right person to succeed him, and the review’s future as an online journal remains uncertain.
But when he feels discouraged, he said, a new essay will often arrive, like, say, the 11,000-word paper that came in the other day from a student in Hong Kong examining the history of scientific inquiry in China.
Suddenly he is thrilled anew that the review has called forth impressive work from a young scholar on the other side of the earth.
“It’s a great essay, and I can’t wait to publish it,” he said.
Second, on a truth I know to be real from my own work as a teacher of writing and documentary film-making:
Mr. Fitzhugh…taught history for a decade at Concord-Carlisle [Public] High School in Massachusetts. When he started teaching in 1977, he was advised by colleagues to assign only short papers, five to seven pages — if at all.
But well into his teaching career, he received a high school sophomore’s thoroughly researched, 28-page paper on America’s strategic nuclear balance with the Soviet Union.
“That taught me I hadn’t been asking kids to work as hard as they could,” Mr. Fitzhugh recalled.
Amen and amen. Students can do much more than they or you are sometimes prepared to believe. If you don’t tell them that they can’t, they may delight you. Moral, to self, as I prepare what I know to be a very demanding course: frame the assignments so that the students have a venue in which to do something satisfactory — while never eliminating the possibility of going for something extraordinary.
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Last: the piece provided a nice nod to oft-reviled teachers’ union chief Albert Shanker, who gave Fitzhugh early and eager support:
One of its earliest cheerleaders was Albert Shanker, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, who before his death in 1997 wrote at least two newspaper columns and personal letters to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the MacArthur Foundation, and Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, extolling the review and urging them to provide it with financial support.
“We know that most of the youngsters in our schools don’t write very much or very well,” Mr. Shanker wrote to the endowment’s president, Lynne Cheney, in 1991. “There are probably teachers who don’t believe their students are capable of putting together a decent paragraph. The Concord Review shows them how much our students are capable of.”
Exactly. Our kids are capable of great things. It is good always, and especially at times like these, to be reminded of this.
And now, back to thinking about those in peril and in sorrow.
Update: Oh sh*t, oh sh*t, oh sh*t. A nine year old child has been killed in the Giffords shooting. My son is at a playdate, and I want him back right now so I can hold him to he shrieks. I’m still not going to say what I am, ignorant still, thinking of all this. But oh damn it all to hell, a nine year old.
Image: Rembrandt van Rijn, Titus at his desk, (Rembrandt’s son) 1655.
Yutsano
That seriously made me LOL. And the distraction is appreciated Tom. Even if only by me.
nwithers
Reading this reminded me of this article on wired where a class of 8 year olds published a paper in a peer-reviewed scientific journal (with some formatting help from their teacher of course).
c u n d gulag
Never “misunderestimate” the kids, just the adults!
I’d like to comment further, as a former Adjunct Professor, but I’m sick over the shooting in AZ.
And please, everyone, let’s STFU until we know the details. We know when, where, and how. We don’t yet know who, and why.
Until then, an atheist like me is keeping those people in their thoughts, others can keep them in their prayers.
And btw, as a kid born in the late ’50’s, who’s lived through them, ASSASSINATIONS are NOT the answer! Be the victim a Democrat or a Republican.
nwithers
ack, I seem to fail at links Link here
Tom Levenson
Slow on the uptake, me. Link added to the source article above.
Winston Smith
This is very interesting. I’ll have to check out this journal, and tell my students about it. We’re a public school, though, so…
I do want to note (and I teach philosophy in the roughly analytic style…so that’s important here) that I currently think that short papers are very important–short, good papers, that is. Producing a giant research paper is difficult and valuable…but producing a short, tight, carefully-reasoned paper is also good. Even students who can manage a big research paper often can’t really do the kind of clear, careful thinking that they really need to do if they’re going to develop intellectually in the way that they should. And, given the amount of time required to evaluate such papers, there’s no way to grade a 20-page, carefully-argued essay.
Tom Levenson
@Winston Smith: I couldn’t agree more. But the two disciplines are different. There is nothing like the first time you get your hands on primary sources and think a new thought — which you then embed in an argument. Mine, in 10th grade, came when I read Frederick Douglass’s letters.
asiangrrlMN
Thanks, Tom. I needed a reason to half-smile amidst the worry. This did it. I like reading about how kids are doing all right.
@Yutsano: How you feel, hon?
PurpleGirl
Back in junior / senior high school (for me, circa 1960s), a paper for English on the work of an author meant comparing and analyzing at least three of the writer’s works. It meant taking quotes directly from the works to back up whatever point I was making. (For example, in a paper on Tennessee Williams I read The Glass Menagerie, The Night of the Iguana, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.) Some ten years later, my niece (attending a private Catholic prep school) was told that all she needed was 3 quotes from 3 books about the author in question. She was not expected to actually read the works she was writing about. (So education has been an iffy thing for a long time.)
arguingwithsignposts
thanks for the post, tom. and as the father of two girls in that age range, and a son a little older, I’m with you on the sentiment. very sad, indeed.
trixie larue
Concord is not as equal as most other public schools. They have more money to spend on education and it is great that the students are as accomplished as they are. And Lynne Cheney’s statement is from 20 years ago. But most cities are not in that class. So, we continue to defund public education and then complain how bad it is – the republican method of governing.
Tell me something funny, please.
Gina
I can’t comment on the shooting, because nothing I have to say would be constructive or illuminating. I’ll just hope things don’t get worse, and wish the survivors strength as they heal.
On another note, about expecting more from our kids, did anyone else catch this piece in the WSJ. Title: Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior. I almost called Poe’s Law, but then I see the author of the article is also peddling a book on the theme, so I figure she’s out pre-release trolling to generate some sales. Should work, anything from one woman excoriating other women usually sells like hotcakes.
I’m also reminded of this site.
Phoebe
@nwithers: !!!
That bee thing is fantastic!
Earlier today I was planning a new class with other teachers, wherein kids go on an exploratory urban bike ride, take pictures of things that interest them for any reason at all, and investigate whatever it is until they have a story for the blog. It could be bees, architecture, a particular business, where-does-our-recycling-go, who owns empty lots and what do they plan to do with them? What are they allowed to do with them? That kind of stuff. Anything. And completely driven by their own interest. Which is why I LOVED this part:
trollhattan
@ Tom Levinson
I do understand. We’re hosting our 9 YO’s birthday sleepover tonight, so will have seven or eight girls the same age as the poor Tucson victim. It’s hard to be cheerful and not project, “what if?”
metalgirl
Crazy, random stuff can happen anywhere. I heard Ms. Giffords interviewed yesterday on NPR and was shocked to hear the news of the shooting and death of several others. I may be alone in wishing this incident leads to stricter gun laws not favorable to automatic weapons (which were used in this case). I’m fine with people having guns for hunting and personal protection but automatic weapons, to me, cross the line. Just my opinion (I don’t own anything but knives for cooking :)
Menzies
I appreciate the mention of Shanker. I’ve been researching him since I found out charter schools were originally his idea, or rather since he saw them as a way to improve education, rather than corporatize it.
And more generally, I appreciate the advice. As an aspirant to teaching, it helps to have every little piece of advice I can.
Ruckus
@PurpleGirl:
Same time frame and what I remember most about school was that I was bored most of the time. Sure some of the students could not learn that fast but it seems most could learn at a much greater level than given. So many courses presented the same material year after year. After year. And once the cycle of learning something, building a base upon which to add more is broken, it seems so easy to, as a student, say fuck it. That doesn’t mean one doesn’t learn as we progress through school, it means a lot of us don’t learn to study properly, or to understand that learning is a positive until we get a lot older and at least a little bit more mature. It seems like the old conservative line that Head Start doesn’t work, that once the kids get into school they loose all the progress made. It doesn’t look at it from the other prospective, they made much better progress until we put the into the system which does it’s best to push them through, not promote learning.
And please don’t jump on me about teachers. I think most teachers I had or met where motivated, smart people, some pretty great, some not so much. IOW pretty regular people. I think it’s the system, with great ideas like, no child left behind. Nice catchy phrase with really crappy execution. We don’t need everyone taught to some bullshit minimum, we need better.