The American Solution?

Pragmatism doesn’t win elections.

A pragmatic candidate may very well begin answering each question with, “It depends on” or “When considering all of the variables” or some other introductory phrase that does not bend to the impatience of today’s populace. People are inconvenienced by wordy explanations peppered with logic and reason. 

People perceive such logic as a candidate attempting to skirt an issue.

Ideologies win elections.

Ideologies are simple, quick, and easy.  

Ideologies cling to the necessity of a villain – somebody, or something, has to be at blame.

Recently, we’ve seen political ideologies place blame on immigrants, Wall Street tycoons, and big government.

Today, blame is placed on the impoverished.  The public, through its ideological prism, sees the lower class as lazy, incapable, and unskilled - that they are to blame for their own plight and that they should have known better, perhaps long ago during their adolescence, for the career path they had chosen.

It seems blame has now diffused into the middle class.

Nearly seventy years ago, coming out of the Great Depression, Abraham Maslow offered a theory that schools recognize still today. Maslow theorized that that if one were to reach their potential, one would have to overcome a series of challenges before doing so.

Photo source - Wikipedia

The first of such challenges would to overcome hunger and thirst and to be properly rested.  Over the last year, in the town in which I reside, one out of every three school-aged children participated in the “reduced or free lunch program”.  One out of every three, before they learn their math, science, or reading, must be fed by the school – must be fed with tax dollars.  Sixty-one percent of the children in this country are victims of neglect.

The second such challenge would be for the person to have a sense of security and safety.  In Wisconsin, the percent of married-couple households is 51.6%, the percentage of kids who are read to every day is 46.1%, and, nation-wide, 44% of children are victims of abuse.

Before a young person may discover their potential, as characterized by Maslow’s third and fourth stages, one must have a sense of belonging, friendships, respect of and by others, a sense of achievement and self-esteem.

 

In other words, before a student in today’s culture is ready to learn math, science, or reading skills, a school must expertly nourish, keep safe, and build a child’s sense of belonging to something greater than him/herself.

Sometimes, one potential is not expressed in math or science.  Sometimes, if we’re lucky, one finds their potential in the arts or music.
 

As a teacher, I see many who are choosing impractical career paths such as these. 

I see kids who dream to be artists, actors, musicians, or athletes. 

I see kids who hope to become an art therapist for autistic children.  What a beautiful and perfect expression of one’s potential.

Yet, I feel compelled to shake my head, in obedience to the socioeconomic structure at large, and challenge them: “How will you ever pay the bills!?”    

What a sad expression for what we’ve become.

Disregard FoxNews and MSNBC, advocates of ideology and promoters of villains.

Do not search for a person of pragmatic qualities, become one.

Our children depend on it.

If we must resort to scores on standardized tests, then consider which countries are out-performing the U.S.: Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

 

In Finland, teaching is a prestigious career. Teachers are highly valued and teaching standards are high. 

Their schools are free from prescriptions based on political ideologies. (See BBC article.)

In Finland, to be competitive, the government has concluded that they must substantially boost investments in education and research in order to foster innovation and cutting-edge development.
(In the town in which I reside, the schools have given the responsibility of working with our most challenging kids - those kids behind in their math and reading and kids with special learning needs - to people making $9/hour.  These paraprofessionals are not master teachers, are not formally schooled in the challenge, and some are not even college educated.  They are people in town who are looking for work and willing to work for that hourly wage.) 

In Finland, the personal income tax structure is more progressive, the capital gains tax is greater, and the corporate tax structure is more demanding. 

Is it socialistic to look toward Finland for answers?

Is it un-American?

Does it violate our sense of national identity?

Only if one were ideological.

We have to find our potential beyond simple ideologies.

We can no longer skirt issues and defy logic.

We have to become pragmatic.