The World is Flat!?

I am currently reading the book "The World is Flat" and it is extremely interesting but, perhaps, even more scary. According to the book we are just hitting the tip of the technological revolution that is "flattening" the world and allowing more people than ever to take part in this game of life. People in other countries, countries that we (Americans) tend to look down on--or not look on at all--are suddenly finding their spots and achieving. What happens to our kids?

We are continuing along the same path as we have for years. Our kids don't seem to have the fire in their bellies that others do. They don't have the desire to succeed that others do. They don't even have the awareness of the necessity to want to succeed. Other kids, in other countries, all around the world...they want it. How do we change this?

I don't think that it is education on the whole that is "bad". I, definitely, am not blaming the teachers. I think...I think I'm talking to the leaders. All the people at the top of all the Districts, mini-districts, schools, etc. All of these people are the ones that make the decisions that the teachers have to deal with. Deal with because the teachers are never really given the opportunity to speak, to suggest, to give their input. Which doesn't make an ounce of sense to me since we are the ones that are in the classroom everyday seeing these kids. We know their abilities. We know why in a class of 40 you might have 27 Fs--no one asks if 15 of those are kids who never come to class. Nope. We are just told that we now have some new program to implement, new lesson plans to design, or new people to entertain when they feel l ike waltzing into our rooms to "observe".

Our kids are suffering. They are the ones that will need to compete in this "Flat World". They are the ones that will need to run as fast as the slowest competitor. We need to figure out the motivating factor. And, I believe, the parent factor. IF those two things could be developed, talked about, and worked out our kids would be able to thrive in this new, flattening world--not survive.