Leonard Madrid is not a small man. He stands at six feet and four inches. On the stage at West Mesa High School's performing arts center he is even taller. Though, he instructs class in a calm and steady voice, the words don't really make sense.
" You can zip a zap, but you can't boing a zap. You also can't boing a boing.", he sounds almost Seussian, but for the lack of a striped top hat. These are the words of wisdom spoken by the man selected as Teacher of the Year.
"Mr. Madrid teaches class in an interesting manner. His diverse background in theatre leads him to teach everything as hands-on.", states Amy Eveleth, Vice Principal at West Mesa.
"He doesn't just treat us like students. He treats us like young professionals" says Felicia Fellange who is the current Thespian President. "We don't just talk about making theatre, we actually make it."
Madrid is no stranger to national awards, he has received the Kennedy Center's Award for Latino Playwrights three times. This is, however, his first award for teaching.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Culture Club...
In class my group ended up discussing the other part of education. We all agree, I think, that education is greatly concerned with the three R's. It is concerned with a few other letters that are harder to group into clever phrases. However, it is also about learning to be a member of society. By society, I don't just mean how to use cash or how to salute the flag, I also mean how to deal with people.
Perhaps it is better to say 'culture'. For many children school is the first time they leave the culture of the family and step into a different culture. The new culture, that of the school, is no longer defined by the rules and beliefs of the few ( Ma, Pa, and Granny), it is defined by far more people ( superintendent, senator, teachers, other people's parents, the mean girls who don't really eat anything but still go to the cafeteria). Like Lisa Bonet said, it is a different world.
I don't want to talk about the culture of the United States or the culture of status quo. I grew up a poor, brown kid with a high voice, a big ass, and a swishy way of walking. I know the downside to 'learning culture'. I want to talk about interpersonal communication and dealing with different people. Simply put, what is acceptable in your house is not always acceptable outside of your house. Oh, and though your parents are supercool and great at pinochle, they don't know everything.
I recall working with two youngsters who had never been to school. They were not related and did not know each other before working with me, but their parents had decided (for different reasons) that their children should not be educated outside of the home. One of the youths was timid, afraid to talk, and you would sometime forget he was in the room. The other was loud, rude, and talked about inappropriate things at the worst possible times ever since ever was invented. They were both from opposite sides of the spectrum, but it occurred to me (after plenty of investigation) that neither of them had really been exposed to any culture outside of their own family culture.
Despite their differences, they had a few things in common. Neither of them could carry on a conversation very well, neither of them responded to non-verbal cues very well, and neither of them got my jokes. I think all of those things are peculiar. I think one of those things is just plain wrong. I am funny. My funny is like a ham sandwich, it has layers. These two were not catching any of the layers of funny sandwich I was flinging their way.
I worked with them for several years. In that time, they loosened up. They learned to make conversation, and they learned to joke around. They had learned the culture of that specific workplace. They still work there.
I feel that the two of them had only received part of an education. I could ask them the capitols of states, and they would be able to tell me. They knew math very well. They knew the facts of education, which was great, but they didn't know how to deal with people.
I am not saying that all of the culture education a student gets in school is good. Many of the 'between the lines' education can be downright bad. I will skip the obvious bad behavior that students learn from each other, and step right into something that bothers me.
Before teaching high school, I taught as an adjunct instructor at UNM and CNM. Much of what I teach in college is creative stuff. What that means is, sometimes a question can have a kabillion answers, and all of the answers can be correct. I have found that students going through the current education system (most from New Mexico, but not all), are used to the idea that there is only one answer to every question. Therefore, there is no need for deductive reasoning. There is no reason for creative thought. There is no room for opinion. Well, there is room for one opinion...mine, and I think it's stanky.
I have been told that there is a reason for this kind of behavior, and it has to do with a specific style of teaching that must always connect to an answer on a test. I am not sure. All I can say is that there is something in the 'culture' of the education system that is causing students to lose these ways of thinking. That too is not directly being taught, but is is being learned.
Perhaps it is better to say 'culture'. For many children school is the first time they leave the culture of the family and step into a different culture. The new culture, that of the school, is no longer defined by the rules and beliefs of the few ( Ma, Pa, and Granny), it is defined by far more people ( superintendent, senator, teachers, other people's parents, the mean girls who don't really eat anything but still go to the cafeteria). Like Lisa Bonet said, it is a different world.
I don't want to talk about the culture of the United States or the culture of status quo. I grew up a poor, brown kid with a high voice, a big ass, and a swishy way of walking. I know the downside to 'learning culture'. I want to talk about interpersonal communication and dealing with different people. Simply put, what is acceptable in your house is not always acceptable outside of your house. Oh, and though your parents are supercool and great at pinochle, they don't know everything.
I recall working with two youngsters who had never been to school. They were not related and did not know each other before working with me, but their parents had decided (for different reasons) that their children should not be educated outside of the home. One of the youths was timid, afraid to talk, and you would sometime forget he was in the room. The other was loud, rude, and talked about inappropriate things at the worst possible times ever since ever was invented. They were both from opposite sides of the spectrum, but it occurred to me (after plenty of investigation) that neither of them had really been exposed to any culture outside of their own family culture.
Despite their differences, they had a few things in common. Neither of them could carry on a conversation very well, neither of them responded to non-verbal cues very well, and neither of them got my jokes. I think all of those things are peculiar. I think one of those things is just plain wrong. I am funny. My funny is like a ham sandwich, it has layers. These two were not catching any of the layers of funny sandwich I was flinging their way.
I worked with them for several years. In that time, they loosened up. They learned to make conversation, and they learned to joke around. They had learned the culture of that specific workplace. They still work there.
I feel that the two of them had only received part of an education. I could ask them the capitols of states, and they would be able to tell me. They knew math very well. They knew the facts of education, which was great, but they didn't know how to deal with people.
I am not saying that all of the culture education a student gets in school is good. Many of the 'between the lines' education can be downright bad. I will skip the obvious bad behavior that students learn from each other, and step right into something that bothers me.
Before teaching high school, I taught as an adjunct instructor at UNM and CNM. Much of what I teach in college is creative stuff. What that means is, sometimes a question can have a kabillion answers, and all of the answers can be correct. I have found that students going through the current education system (most from New Mexico, but not all), are used to the idea that there is only one answer to every question. Therefore, there is no need for deductive reasoning. There is no reason for creative thought. There is no room for opinion. Well, there is room for one opinion...mine, and I think it's stanky.
I have been told that there is a reason for this kind of behavior, and it has to do with a specific style of teaching that must always connect to an answer on a test. I am not sure. All I can say is that there is something in the 'culture' of the education system that is causing students to lose these ways of thinking. That too is not directly being taught, but is is being learned.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Starbuck's and education
I am not going to kid myself. I am conflicted about my viewpoint on centralization and decentralization of education. I think I have a grip on both of the concepts and I see positives and negatives to each side.
I used to work at an independent bookstore. I loved it. To me it was the essence of what a business should be. It invited in strangers who had like minds. All of the people who shopped there (except for the folks who just lived nearby) shopped there because it was part of the community. The owners lived there, the buyers for the store had an office in the back. If an author had recently had her book of cowboy poetry published by Podunk Press, she could probably get a signing and always have a copy of her book on the shelves.
Taking it back to theatre (as I will do), I prefer theatre to film, because film must appeal to such a huge mass of audiences that it usually waters down the product in order to appeal to more. Theatre can speak to subject matter that appeals to the region of the company. Theatre can speak to matters that might just appeal to a few people.
So, I have a preset idea when it comes to centralizing anything. To me this is synonymous with homogenization ( and thought I am ok with the concept for Milk, I deplore the idea for culture). It speaks of a person or small group of people making decisions for a large group of people they don't know or understand. When were all sitting in an office in New York or Washington DC, who is thinking of Albuquerque, New Mexico? Pretty much no one. To me this is treating education like Starbuck's or worse Applebee's. It assumes that everyone wants bacon on everything (Seriously, Applebee's, what is with all the pork?).
BUT (yes, this blog has a big but)
I also come from a very, very....very small town. The folks there understand the culture of the people in the community and the students. They understand the lingo...they know my dad. Everyone knows my dad. I should also mention that the mom and pop restaurants there use plenty of pork (Seriously, Wagon Wheel, what is with all the pork?) I would not be cool with leaving these people in charge of education either.
Why? Because they have a very limited world view. They are full of biases, misconceptions, and have incredibly closed minds. If left to their own devices, school might become solely about Louisa May Alcott and welding. I say that with love...I type that with love.
So where does that leave me? In a big ole hybrid of the centralized and de-centralized, I suppose. Of course, we need national standards. We need to know that everyone leaving the school system has had a chance to learn many of the same things, but we also need to leave plenty of leeway for curating the educational system for potential regional and cultural differences. Is that kind of what we have now? Is that something we are slowly stumbling toward? I haven't a clue.
But, hey, that dress looks nice on you.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Connecting two worlds....in my brain.
Those who know me (no one really in class, but I assure you that there are people out there who know me) know that I am a theatre person. I have spent the last twenty-one years of my life acting, writing, designing, and dramatrug-ing (That's not really a word, but it is something I have done...so I have made a gerund out of it). I also teach theatre at many different institutions. I have always thought of myself as a theatre person who teaches.
Recently, I have been hired as a drama teacher at a high school. I have not set foot in a high school in over fifteen years (except for once and that was to sneak my nephew to pizza and a movie). I am now in charge of five classes, many of them filled with students who don't want to be there or don't want me to be there. For the first time I have to view myself as a teacher who also does theatre.
Last week's class helped me realize that there really isn't that much of a gap between the two. A philosophy of education isn't too far different from the mission statement of my theatre company (by the way, Rag and Bone opens in two weeks).
For a theatre company to become such, all of the members have to decide why they do theatre, what they want to get from it, and what kind of theatre they want to do. They then work together to decide how much of each person's viewpoint they want to knead into the dough of the company ( did I mention I was also a baker for ten years?). Most of the time people work together because they have similar ways of doing things or similar ways of thinking about things, but when you form a company you realize that sometimes your reasons for doing them are completely different. A company makes them all jive and puts them together in a mission statement. The mission statement becomes the constitution of the company, it defines every action that the company takes from then on. Sometimes, a company will change the mission statement, if they feel that the needs or aesthetic of the company has changed.
I am not sure why this never occurred to me before. I suppose, because I have never had to. I can't go around wondering how everything is similar to theatre.
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