mano a mano

President Obama plans to put new emphasis on education reform, according to this article on the Huffington Post: Obama Putting Education At Front Of His Agenda, But Trouble Lurks.  According to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan,

"No one I'm talking to is defending the status quo. Everyone I talk to really shares my sense of urgency that we have to do better for our children. We're fighting for our country here."

You can tell when someone is serious when they are willing to go hand to hand and I don't see that in what he and others say. Most politicians, out of cowardice, are busy TALKING and taking pot shots at education.

When will people start to understand that guns and violence show no courage but are the antithesis of real bravery and should be scorned? Inability to resolve problems through reason and compassion should be burdened with shame. Need a gun to walk to the mall? Is that the world we want for ourselves or for our children? One Republican congressman thinks he should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon to Congress! What kind of cowardice is that? He should be called out for being such an ignorant, pathetic wuss, and should be ashamed of himself, but our gun loving, courage deprived culture applauds him for his foolishness. The congressman says he wants to protect others. Please forgive the sarcasm, but I can hear the song, Macho, Macho, Man playing in my head. In Arizona, one gun-wielding bystander rushed in ready to fire, only to realize at the very last second that he was prepared to shoot and kill the man who had wrestled the gun away from the shooter bare handed. What would our trigger happy gunman say to explain himself? Oops? Heroics. Aren't we proud? (Again, please excuse the sarcasm.) All too often the wrong people are killed through gun violence, and some conservative politicians have said that the problem with Arizona is that there were not enough guns. Can you see why I might be in a crappy mood today? I am tired of seeing such idiocy running loose and being given voice.

Courageous men and women fight mano a mano, hand to hand and it is a tragedy that so few understand the transforming capacity of our human hands. When the hands are engaged, love of learning follows. When the hands are purposefully engaged in learning, intelligence and character arise within each child. We all know that we learn best when we learn hands-on but we still refuse to offer hands-on learning to our children in our schools. As a nation, we simply refuse to give the eduction we know is most effective and best.

Arne Duncan mentioned "fighting for our country" and I would love to arm wrestle with him about this mano a mano. He may be young and scrawny, but my ideas are stout. He's got the weight of his official position. But the millions+ years of hand/brain system evolution is on my side. I'm not afraid of hand to hand. If any of my readers know the man, please extend my invitation.

Most would like some new handy, dandy fresh out of the box gizmos to fix American education. There actually is a relatively simple and effective working formula for educational renewal and reform. Make, fix, create, and love of learning follows.