What, Re:Course, do I really have?!" RATS!

"Make good choices!"  Early and often -- as in early in life, early and throughout the day, from the adults in our lives, those looking after us...which grew to include teachers, coaches, and, for some of us, trainers. Collectively, forming a team, a syndicated, synchronized (more common word, in contrast to 'asynch' coursework over the past few pandemic, school-from-home years) approach to educating us, whipping us into shape, from home to school, to home again, or stopping at the gym before arriving home as we aged. All the while being reminded, we "have a choice" REALLY ?! 

"It's not up for debate" A refrain we started hearing shortly after from adults again, sometimes from the very same ones who had told us we had choices to make...the earliest glimpses of, lessons in, hypocrisy (?) Or just a simple mixed message, which became too numerous to count, even after we learned to count past 100, then count by 10's...of 1000's...started in small steps, then leaps and bounds, experiencing in full measures what a "core curriculum" meant to US -- Perplexing😖😢, to say the least...

"Do I, did I, really have a choice in the matter?" Our responses as children, aspiring students, to whether we feel, felt "compelled" to go...."ready-or-not" as in entering school for the first time, some gleefully others had to be pried out of bed by their parents, in order to comply with the demands of the day, as in "compulsory education" for today's purpose, this post...continuing the debate...as to just how much choice, how much say we should have as individuals, as families, as school districts in deciding when, how much school is indicted, as well as what course work is called for in order to make us into educated adults, productive, tax paying citizens, an "informed public" even...

Surveys of Courses, Course Surveys: Which started out as a casual, spontaneous reply to an inquiry from a parent, "So, how do you like your new teacher and what to do you think of the curriculum they have planned for you?" (can you imagine such a dialogue?)....then came to include "rate your professor" which, for me, was preceded by questions from my students the first day of class, after handing out the "course syllabus": "Professor, what kind of tests do you give?"😕...or, in the case of a different venue, after you've experienced a different body of work, "tell us how your workout, your trainer, visit to the gym was today on our website"..."honey, how was your workout; was your trainer tough on you today; did you follow all the rules, clean up after yourself..."??? And, even in the case of professionals, as in "Likes, dislikes of NFL players about training camps: loved the team building activities...hated the conditioning...unavoidable, but still don't have to like it...😠😓😉" Well, at least you have some, something to say in the matter, which may in turn shape the way those in the future are whipped into shape, in any case...

Before and after, ready-or-not: Whether once again, you are a kindergartner (which was most of us "Boomers" started off on our formal ed years) or now a pre-pre-pre-schooler (seems to get earlier every gen), or a student who has exited their in-formative years (which many developmental psychologists have referenced as 0-8...whereas newer research suggests the brain may be capable of "new learning" until...open for debate), the years of "formal education" (here usually associated with "Twelfth grade", elsewhere as "Grade Twelve"), could not even begin until you hit some "readiness" marks 😟, after which most finally exited high school...after which some will elect to return at least annually, whereas others after (literally) swore they "once I finally get a choice in the matter" actually agree to pay an additional sum, more likely that of their parents, not even a thought given to whether "all (student loans) will be forgiven" -- to further their education at the "college of their choice" or, in the those few among us who have actually achieved the highest grades, get to go to a "choice college....Ivy League😁!". But, wait, even then, "free choice" as in "choosing your courses, course work" for the next semester, "elective courses", is still a long way off, before which we all encountered "Pre-requisites, general education requirements prior to transferring, entering..."😖😢😞Yep, true "freedom of choice" still a long way off...Even for me, when I had the option of selecting a topic, focus of study for my "doctoral dissertation" (never dreamed of as a lad, high school student, even "under-grad") I was met with, upon presenting the initial idea, design to my "Committee" (chosen in part by me): "You need to go back and make revisions and bring it back to us before you are formally allowed to begin..."😞!!! Or, in the case of hours, days, weeks, and months of sweating it out in the gym, under the watchful eye of a trainer who is making sure we are following "correct form"😓😓😓 in order to achieve the "form" we wished for...😊 Only well after which, given sufficient time and distance, may "all add up" to a morsel of wisdom, we may see at least a glimpse of the "method of their madness" which so often gave rise to ours...that "There's always (limited) choices to be made..." 

(Are You) "Up for debate"? Yes, even in the case of debating about how a school district has chosen a "core curriculum" for you which has presumably been based on a historical survey of surveys, assiduous studies of "Pedagogy" on your behalf...like if you are prepping for a debate on who are actually the true consumers of the core curriculum or whether, on the other hand, it (the CC) has managed to consume us, kids (unsuspecting, well before we could give "informed consent")...Depending on the format, as in "Public Forum" (where opposing teams are assigned positions, perhaps after a coin toss) or "Town hall" (where students are assigned a role)...Yup, even then... 

"After all is said and done, all things considered..." Even after the argument is "far from settled"...Something we can all agree on, in the presence of limited options, restrained choice, after we were "(mis)led to believe..." chased the elusive prize through a maze, jumped through hoops, met the minimum requirements..."RATS!" 

Footnote: imagine, instead, through all these years we had been trained to exclaim "MICES!" Just wouldn't have been the same...🤣 "That's my story and I'm sticking with it".

Coming: the PTO, Parent-Teacher conferences, P before, without T (?)...