It Takes a Whole Village to Raise a Superman

by Brian Hildebrand


"Get off this/get on with it/if you wanna change the world/
shut your mouth and start to spin it."

These words were the first thing that came to mind when John Mayer's insufferable "Waiting on the World to Change" became inescapable. Now we find ourselves in the context of "Waiting For Superman," and I have to wonder whether its merely a furthering of this same passive attitude towards the future that John Mayer exemplifies as a human being.

Last night's screening of "Waiting for Superman" provided a powerful context for a lot of passionate dialogue. We heard from former teachers, human rights activists, and more whose names I failed to acquire, including a woman whose son is currently enrolled in Vashon High School's StudentLink program.

We've entered an interesting transition in the educational system. One point that was brought up, and my experience with students over the last 10 years has borne this out, is that some of the best and brightest hearts and minds are no longer attending school in the classroom, instead taking their core classes thru online programs like South Kitsap's Explorer Academy or various online facets of Running Start. It was remarked upon, and I couldn't agree more, what a shame this is, to lose the collaborative learning experience that comes out of a healthy classroom environment. From my younger friends on Facebook I can attest that they are just as bored and restless with things like American history as they ever were. There is a fundamental lack of engagement with certain subjects, and I believe it is a failure of context.

The upside to this situation is that these young adults have much more control of their time, which is something that needs to be considered in how we structure our modern educational construct. The woman whose son was enrolled in StudentLink told us of her son's struggles with math and science while doing just fine with humanities and such, and how removing himself from a context that didn't resonate and putting the responsibility for the shape of his curriculum into his own hands has been an incredibly empowering experience.

The question I have to ask, particularly in these budget tough days for schools, is how can the community step up to provide a space for these self-directed learners to have an alternative to the standard classroom experience? I'm not just talking about the StudentLink building, I'm talking about a cross-generational exchange of energy and information, and a space in the heart of Vashon's dynamism to host such things, way The Crux was for teenagers when I was one, but more open to all ages and dynamics. I believe, as this report, It Takes a Whole Village to Raise a Child, attests to, that a true community would open its doors to such energy, be they private residences, public restaurants, parks and rec et al. This is not a sacrifice to make, it is ultimately a win-win all around.

I'm thru with waiting on Superman, I'm sick of playing the lottery, and I sure as hell am sick of John Mayer waiting on the world to change his diaper. Answers are not going to come thru top down corporately influenced systems, they're not gonna swoop in and save the day. If we can't work together as a community to produce a healthy engagement with learning, and if our schools can't open up their context to include the community at large, then there is a fundamental imbalance between these two spheres; it's time to tear down that wall, stop sending our kids away from us to learn, and start honoring the occupation of teaching the way we honor our sports heroes now. Can you imagine if we had as many cafes and other businesses with a focus on cooperative learning and social engagement as we did sports bars?

It's time to start to spin this world in the direction we want, and perhaps the ticket is to get together and begin that dialog. Last night's event was a great first step in that regard, I wonder how it can continue to evolve and reach into the wider context of our community? I'll be wandering around on the lower side of the economic spectrum trying to stir this pot; maybe we can scrounge up enough change to sit down with a cup of coffee sometime and continue the discussion.