The Tranquilizing Drug of Gradualism

I was seven when Martin  Luther King gave his I've Got a Dream speech.  In it he used one of my favorite lines: "This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism."

Of course at the time King was referring to segregation and racial inequality, but these days his phrase could pertain to many issues and I think of it often in my field of education.  Specifically: Why is progress moving so slowly on the Navajo Reservation?  Why are we perpetuating outdated paradigms in public education?  What are we really willing to do to close the achievement gap in regards to test scores, honors courses and graduation rates between whites and ethnic minorities (Native Americans where I live).

The pace of change can feel like watching boulders move.  I'm a former music teacher so the word Adagio would still be considered too fast. We must create change on behalf of children: the western rez is short of all resources including police officers and Social Service positions/money, counseling services just to mention a few.  How can the Child Protection agency be CLOSED!  The answer is they don't have enough money and personnel to be open or even on call every day. 

In school: endless meetings about tardy policies and levels of discipline.  Good God - if we spent half that time on strategies for engaging our students, we might get somewhere!  Bell schedules, little boxy classrooms, lined up down skinny halls, classrooms that look exactly the same as decades ago - six straight rows with five desks per row, REALLY?  Why are we still teaching like it's 1974?  Make that 1954.  (disclaimer: I'm acknowledging there are exceptions.)

Our teachers are "struggling" so far this year because we changed from a 90 minute block schedule (4 a day, rotating A and B days) to a 7-period day, same classes everyday.  What they really mean is that they're having trouble changing and when I say changing, I mean having a shorter prep.  The transition was "so fast" because we didn't talk about it in endless meetings for two years.  The state said our CTE (Career and Technical) classes had to meet everyday or we'd lose our funding aaaaand BINGO, we changed the schedule.  (note to self: money creates change faster than even the magic DATA word.)  Now yes, this was a faster transition than the norm, but it was still decided before the Spring semester was over - an entire summer isn't enough time to reorganize lessons from 90 minutes every other day to 55 minutes 5 days a week?  sigh -

The gradual drug is a tranquilizer.  It numbs us into complacency and allows us to keep walking into the same madness day after day.  Our children need us to make changes.  They deserve protection and a vibrant, meaningful education.  We're the adults: educators, social workers, policeman and politicians - we have to stop drinking the Kool Aid and DO SOMETHING!