Guiding Principles for Discussion

This forum is definitely not for everyone. It is open to discussion and to reasoned criticism, but it is designed to give like-minded people the chance to contact each other and develop their ideas. If someone wants to make the case for the corporate Ed "Reform" movement, there are plenty of other places to do so. The corporate Ed "Reform" movement is a goliath, spending millions of dollars to spread its viewpoint. It has a dominant influence on both of our major political parties and most of the nation's newspapers. We need spaces to discuss and produce alternatives to the corporate control of our schools and our society. 

We must be civil. In one sense there is little to be said here, but our standards of civility have fallen so low that we now need to make the obvious explicit. There is no excuse for name-calling or personal insults, even directed against the "bad guys." As angry as I get sometimes and no matter how much I disagree with their positions, I try to remember that most people are doing what they think is best.  

Fun is fun, but snide remarks not only impede the work, they render it moot. Literacy and education are a means to an end, that end being treating others with care and decency.  If we are cranky and snotty, the game is already over. Rude comments are always an attempt to rob someone of their dignity and are therefore indefensible and counter-productive.

Don’t question someone’s motivation without evidence. Yes, in some cases their motivation can be pretty clear, or inexplicable without dark motives, but in general we want to give people the benefit of the doubt.

The point is what is right, not who is right. Those who lose sight of this often end up clinging to mistaken positions to avoid being seen as wrong. We need to practice a certain amount of detachment. 

Discussion is the starting point, not the end. Christopher Lasch's comments provide insight: 

"We do not know what we need to know until we ask the right questions, and we can identify the right questions only by subjecting our own ideas about the world to the test of public controversy. Information, usually seen as the precondition of debate, is better understood as its by-product. When we get into arguments that focus and fully engage our attention, we become avid seekers of relevant information." (1995, 163) 

I dislike blogs. I think they are a very poor substitute for live conversation. But I can't currently think of alternatives for contacting people across long distances. Unfortunately, reading most blogs about education is frustrating and dispiriting. Typically I find a few worthwhile comments interspersed with a great deal of snarky indulgence. In the end, nothing gets decided and no action is taken. The purpose of this forum is discussion about the course of action to take in order to restore the democratic purpose of public education.