When I was a kid (and I admit that was a while ago), there was a very straightforward scenario that went like this .... when you were old enough to go to school - off you went to school - your local school, just like the kids in your street and the street next to that, the black kids, the white kids, the kids whose dad had a professional job and those whose dad drove a truck - all went to the local school - the only ones who didn't were the Catholics - but who knew what they got up to. That scenario was the beginning, the middle and the end of 'going to school' (until High School... anyway). Every time I moved house the scenario was the same - new house, new friends in the street, new local school that everyone went to - except the Catholics - and in case you were thinking we moved to find a better local school - that just wasn't a concept around in those days. School was school - they had a stuffy old male principle in shorts and long socks, teachers (some good, some better - some old and some new, some strict and some not), classrooms with their bright green and blue carpet and matching little chairs, a sporting oval, sporting carnivals where the same kids always got all the medals every year (because kids won and lost in those days - no concept of everyone being a winner- didn't stop us all trying either), school discos where you did bush dancing or even the penguin dance, parent and teacher nights, your dad on the P & C, excursions to exciting places like the wood mill and a sheep farm, MS read-a-thons, the 'how did i get here' film night that made you squirm, the canteen where your mum didn't serve people unless they said please (more squirming), and all the bits in between from kindergarten to year 6 including report cards.
Thinking about how straight forward it all seems I just can't imagine what my parents did for conversation without having to sit around talking/agonising about what school their kids should go to, what pedagogical philosophy they thought suited us best, or thinking up inventive ways they could fake an address to get us in another local school which everyone (who doesn't go there) seems convinced is for some reason so much better than theirs.
The fact is that way back then a lot of parents believed in public education - and for good reason - because generally it was good, it was free and it was a part of the fabric of the community. Parents used it, supported it and believed it delivered a solid education in the basics (although I don't think they even thought about them as basics then - it was just an education).
So now some decades later I find myself continually thinking about the choices (or lack of choice) I feel I have because I only have the local school, and the angst I feel in my minority status as a parent sending their child to their local school and that somehow I have let my child down, wishing all the parents in the streets of 6163 (even the Catholics) were doing the same and not thinking twice about it (let alone a thousand times).
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSUCH a tricky topic! You knows I knows what you is talkin' about.
DeleteI know your angst hon, and I can't lie - I feel it too sometimes. But usually I look around and I LOVE what I see. The teachers are all long-termers with a fierce dedication to great and creative education. Our local school is awesome, culturally rich and reflects what the real world is like.
You have touched on what irritates me the most about these types of conversations though - the implication that I don't care about my kids because I'm not even trying to send them anywhere else. Feck - I don't even want to! Hows about hanging in your own hood and enjoying what's good and making some more of said good stuff instead of slaving yourself to the 'grass is greener' syndrome (and thereby teaching your kids that 'the grass IS always greener'!)
Sigh. And yet, I love some of these peoples who have these conversations with me. I guess they're loving their kids the way they do. And some folk have got pretty good thought-out reasons for their choices. I just hope they're examining what they're teaching their kids by their actions.
P.s. The naturopath I see told me the other day she knew some people who had sold up in Atwell and moved to 6163 BECAUSE they'd heard the school was a happening hub of creativity and parent involvement. Hmmmm - now what are we supposed to think of that?