a mojo-filled plea

from my days as a non-profiteer in india...a unpublished letter to the editor that helped me sort through my thoughts in the heavy smog of idealism. (edits to the letter have been made since)

(MLA - (elected) Member of Legislative Assembly. An MLA is to state legislatures what an MP is to National Parliament.)

Dear Editor,

I am writing to you regarding the debate surrounding the process of selecting School Development and Monitoring Committee (SDMC) members. SDMCs consist of representatives of communities who seek to improve the quality of their school’s facilities and learning environments by holding themselves as well as other stakeholders accountable for the educational progress of their children. For the past three years participation in these newly devised structures has transpired through a community process.

Despite the initiative that many communities have taken in engendering changes in their schools, recent political dialogue and actions suggest that MLAs might single-handedly select SDMC members for their respective constituencies. If this approach of selecting SDMC members materializes in the form of a government issued circular, it will most likely counter the very purpose and potential of SDMCs.

Shifting the responsibility of selecting SDMC members on to MLAs fundamentally disempowers communities from taking an active role in the development of their schools, and thus the academic and personal growth of their children. Having said this, MLAs do have a pivotal role to play in bringing the debates and decisions of SDMC members to the forefront of public discussion.

As an elementary school teacher, I have learned that cultivating a sense of ownership means actively involving learners in educational activities. Through trial and error during my first months of teaching I have discovered that teacher- as-dictator pales starkly in comparison relative to teacher-as-facilitator. Dictatorial teachers are inclined to override students as participants in their own learning leading to mass stifling of innovation and creativity. Teachers as facilitators striving to create awareness around decisions related to learning processes inspire young people to proactively participate in their learning experiences.

(My classroom in New York City was far from the norm in terms of teaching practices and learning experiences. There were lapses in formal instructional time where I learned about the thoughts and experiences of learners, and this allowed me to tailor my lesson plans to the specific interests of learners.)

Drawing from this notion of 'learning as a means,' when stakeholders evolve as participants in the process of developing schools to meet their children's needs, their ability to contribute to the quality of dialogue around school improvement would be transformative. In bypassing SDMCs and making MLAS the decision-makers, the notion that the primary stakeholders in government schools — parents and young people — should be afforded the right to create, implement, and revise their visions for education in partnership with political and educational representatives is entirely rejected.

climbing the ladder

as i looked ahead, i wasn’t sure that i could make it. neither was the end in sight, nor did those around have any insight that they could offer to make my travels easier. and so i climbed and climbed with little respite from the ladder’s endless curves, fluctuating inclines, and delicate bars that only the most refined and dedicated climbers could conquer.

my parents climbed with me at the very beginning. i guess i was one of the lucky ones. i even had a couple brothers nudging me along. they seemed to be in it for the long haul, but soon i learned there is no such thing as a Warranty of Infinite Support. sadly enough, it's not included with the purchase of the ladder.

there didn’t seem to be many obstacles from the get-go though. it all seemed fair and equitable, didn’t appear to be a race. there were letters and numbers flying all over the place though-coming at me from all different directions. i really wasn’t sure whether to precariously dodge them (i was on a ladder, afterall!) or beginning collecting them as my new, favorite pastime.

and then one sunny day, a big M and D hits me on the head, and i though hmmm, maybe i'll get an M.D., somehow-almost a coincidental accident-i slipped on the ladder only to regain my balance as a magic carpet with M.Ed. engraved in it saved me from continuing on a longer, more dangerous ladder that didn’t match my skill sets.

thinking back to the ladder’s origins, i met teachers, classmates, best-friends-forevers, tutors, mentors, peers, friends, acquaintances, and even enemies. i've always wondered about those letters and numbers floating around though. particularly the ones that look like Ss with one and sometimes two vertical lines that splice the letter down its center. why were those so different from the rest, and did they really need to be floating around, anyways?

i believe...

i believe in relationships, the kinds that have history, that make you smile when you're alone in a crowd, that are songs that are being written at this very moment

i believe in libraries where you're sure to find public restrooms, free internet access, and most importantly rows and rows of shelves and shelves of books (some better than others, of course)

i believe in seasons, change is natural - and sometimes we need to be reminded of that

i believe in rain, snow, tears, sweat, hunger, pain, satisfying meals, and masala bhangra dance workouts

i believe in swings - pushing, lifting myself into the air, the wind blowing in my hair, the views of the dry, muddy ground-the clouds-the grass-the sky-my shoes-the infinite

i believe in believing.

lines

so as i mentioned in one of the first few posts, i have some 'pieces' that i've been working on, and every now and then i'll muster up enough courage to post one up here for folks to see. this one is kinda 'spoken-word-ish-y.' i wrote it a while ago...

sometimes i trace
lines-inches from my face
i must pace
myself-they are tricky
life lines, love lines, the how-many-times-i'll-marry-lines
ancestral lines, scar lines, the
i'll-make-your-palms-look-fine lines
up-and-down lines, side-to-side lines, the
i'm-make-your-mind-real-dizzy-lines
straight, definitive lines fall into
curvy, hidden lines fall into
almost-fading-but-still-there lines fall into
the brownness of my skin