It is important that you view this video to better understand the nuances of doing the right thing and to better understand the reasons for bad judgment that often accompany leadership as discussed in the Trend 9 section of our text. "...Sandel begins his lecture with a scenario regarding ethical decision-making. Throughout his lecture he presents four scenarios where you asked to consider saving 5 people versus 1 person. Through voting, you discover that for two of four scenarios, students voted to take action necessary to save the 5 people at risk for death. In the remaining two of four, students voted to save the 1 person, instead of saving the 5 people at risk. Ultimately you discover that when making ethical decisions we use two types of reasoning, Consequential and Categorical. Our reasoning decision would produce two different outcomes."

Trend 6 explains that the world is in a the midst of exponential change, driven by people with mixtures of knowledge, talents, skills, interest, abilities, and behaviors.  In this trend, Marx explains that educators can encourage a constant process of preparing students for a future that is beyond our imagination.  As you will see in the video, East Kentwood high school is doing just that.  

Five years ago, the state of Michigan identified East Kentwood high school (the most diverse school in the state) as a failing school (bottom 5%).  With this designation, East Kentwood set out to be a showcase model for how public schools can best serve diverse communities.  They moved forward with a very clear, intentional focus to best serve every individual in their diverse student body.  In 4 years, they went from the 4^th percentile to the 49^th percentile in the state, jumping past over 1500 other schools.  

Mr. Wilcox explains that in education, we use a factory model in the hope we have a standardized, ready for college “robot.”  This model does not work for students.  We do not recognize their differences and have the hopes to be able to teach them efficiently and assesses them consistently.  

Individual students have their own unique interests and experiences.  These differences are what make teaching exciting.  If we can acknowledge and celebrate these differences, we can make our work more effective.  Students need their own unique environment to thrive.  With craft education, we can create a unique process and environment for each student.  Students need to be engaged in learning that is interesting and relevant to them.  We need to use a variety of different instructional methods in order to connect with the variety of different learners we have in our schools.  

We want to send our students out into the world with a diversity of skills and a diversity of thinking.  We are in a world that demands this.  Providing a high quality education for all students are going to require some new ways of thinking.  We need to cultivate this in our classrooms right now.  

The thing that is hard as I read trend 13 and watch the Ted Talk, is that in education, it is consuming, and it does take hours before and after the school bells ring to get the full work done. So how do we balance that? What can we do to make it a little easier? Or what can the employer do? Gary Marx (2006) mentions the increasing trends of wellness programs in jobs and community as a way to promote physical and emotional health as well. There are ways to create a balanced work- life and the trends are speaking to the increasing numbers of those who believe more personal meaning is worth it even if it means less money.   
 
When we think about our day to day lives, what do you want it to look like? How can you change it to accomplish that and what will you do to maintain a balanced life?

Trend 5 (Pages 119-140 of Gary Marx text) “The future is already here. The Millennial Generation will insist on solutions to accumulated problems and injustices, while an emerging Generation E will call for equilibrium.” 

It is imperative that we listen to the voices of the millennial youth from around the country. They have a futuristic voice that ought to be heard. From Charlotte, North Carolina to Parkland, Florida, and even students in our own community are standing up for what they believe is right and just, but in their own precious way. Youth are taking an impressive lead on making change happen in their communities and beyond. 

In the following TEDxCharoltte Youth video, the student speaking is sharing with adults, the youth perspective and what they need to engage in social justice issues, and be the change they want to be to make life better for humanity. What adults may perceive as youth disengagement or apathy by teenagers is not apathy, but rather a very different communication style and engagement approach. It will NOT look like what older generations have done in the past. So just move over and let them engage in social issues in the way they understand the world.  

1. On youth engagement: TEDxCharlotte Youth on TEDxCharlotte. 
What to watch: (1:00-5:39) See video at bottom of this post.

After the most recent school shooting at Dorothy Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, it is important to witness an impressive movement, #neveragain, led by millennials, the high school students from that school. Their movement is spreading so fast throughout the country. It is astounding that students like Emma Gonzalez and others, are so passionate, articulate, and “woke”. The students understand that they have a strong and impressionable voice in this country, even though they don’t have political voting power to change policy and put into place those government official to represent them. These millennial students are not going to let the issue about gun control go unresolved.  

2. Florida school shooting survivors rally for action on gun control. What to watch: (0:00- 5:15) Open in new window.

 

3. Students push for #neveragain national gun control movement. What to watch: (0:00-2:36, and 3:59-4:20, and 5:40-6:30)
Open in new window.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beuvViuwpsE

 

4.  CNN town hall in the wake of Florida school shooting. What to watch: (0:00-1:23) Open in new window.

 

EXTRA:  If you have time. This student is so moving.

5.  Florida student to NRA and Trump: 'We call BS'. School shooting victim Emma Gonzalez’s speech. What to watch: (0:00-11:40) Open in new window.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxD3o-9H1lY

Video 1.

Achievement gaps are directly related to poverty.  Poverty affects many but it disproportionately affects students of color the most.  Thirteen percent of white students live in poverty while twenty seven percent of Hispanic children and thirty percent of African American children live in poverty.  High poverty correlates directly with less education, lower paying jobs, and various other life issues like health and well-being.  More opportunity exists for those who are not in poverty.

Public education is supposed to be the great equalizer, the institution that gives everyone the opportunity to succeed.  As Kandace Sumner explains in her Tedx video, How America’s public schools keep kids in poverty, this is not the case at all.   She compares the education her students get to the one she received in a suburban, primarily white school.  She explains that students in poor schools know that the education they are getting is not equal to the education others get, and this impacts how they look at the world and their prospects for living in that world.

If you have time, I would recommend another video, Classism and Poverty in America’s Schools, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSgrN-XYkVI.   It too, shows the huge disparity between poor and rich schools and talks about the impact this has.

Sustained and chronic poverty is not a singular issues that affects only the person(s) living in poverty. Instead, it impacts whole communities.  The necessity to end global poverty should not rise just out of duty or compassion, but also because poverty is expensive . . . for everyone.  A 2016 article articulates just how devastating poverty is for all people. “Poverty is Expensive: Everyone is better-off when no one lives in poverty, says a new report.” https://news.vice.com/en_ca/article/j5dwkx/poverty-is-expensive. According to the authors, “People who are actually living in poverty are more likely to be unemployed, have higher healthcare costs, and are more prone to run-ins with the law,” says Metcalf Innovation Fellow and co-author of the report, John Stapleton.

Additionally, civil rights lawyer, Gary Haugen (6:30-13:30), speaks about the cause of global poverty and the need to act to end it. He argues that despite anti-poverty laws, global poverty is kept alive by the chronic violence that surrounds poor communities.  According to Haugen, around the world, poor women and girls suffer from chronic issues of violence and, despite anti-poverty efforts around the work, about 35 million people in slavery today. For people living in poverty, their greatest fear is not being poor . . . it is the violence that accompanies it. 

Poverty is also expensive to school districts. Students who are raised in households suffering from poverty receive more academic and social services than their counterparts, and drop out at a higher rate. This perpetuates the cycle of poverty.