July 25, 2013
After 2 days of camping and tent swimming in Townsend, MA
(see the last blog for the soggy details), we hit every back road in central
and western Mass to get to Lenox, home of UMass and Laura and Tom Roeper.
Laura is a part-time faculty member at U. Mass., artist and writes a column for Preview Massachusettes Magazine while Tom
teaches Linguistics at the university and is a world-renown expert on a whole
lotta’ things that I don’t understand. Hindstrum suggests you look up information on recursion.
We had some last minute cancellations of Roeperians who
couldn’t attend so only Tom, Laura, Ruth Weizenbaum, Linda and I attended but
that meant more delicious food for us.
Sweet corn almost straight off the stalk, a beautiful salad from Laura
and the best and most unusual pizza from Antonio’s (not to be missed if you get
within 100 miles of Amherst).
Thanks to the Roepers for their hospitality including Tom
taking us on a long bike ride around the sights of Amherst.
Ruth taught at Roeper in the early 1950’s before moving to
California with her husband Joe Weizenbaum who became a famous pioneer in
artificial intelligence and professor emeritus at MIT. Ruth is an amazing, amazing lady who has
discovered the Fountain of Youth in keeping busy with political and environmental
causes.
Our conversation started as usual with me asking what kind
of people, values, beliefs, and skills does our society need and how does and
should Roeper help these folks and attitudes develop.
Ruth started off strongly by stating that we need people to
believe in and practice democracy. The
school needs to constantly be based on democratic principles. Having to always refer back to the idea that
everybody in the community needs to be involved in making the decisions
necessary to running the school helps students learn how to think and act
democratically.
I mentioned that at Tom’s grandparents’ school in Germany,
Marienau, all students and teachers had an equal vote in the major decisions of
the school. A lot of time and energy were
needed but think of the lessons taught.
Tom followed by saying that the students need involvement in
working on real political, economic and social issues. He recounted how the U.S. Supreme Court once ruled
that corporal punishment was legal.
Roeper students held discussions on the issue, got a petition together,
and sent it to the Supreme Court.
Ruth agreed and said that students need a combination and
interplay of theory and practice. The
classroom mostly teaches theory (although it can be conducted democratically)
and then extracurricular activities such as political clubs, internships, guest
speakers and field trips can be “lab” activities to flesh out the theory.
Tom recalled how his parents never acted towards people who
had different beliefs with malice or anger.
By a pragmatic, emphasis on gradual conversion they managed to bring the
community along as Roeper took some radical (for the time) steps. George and Annemarie never hid their
political views and never pretended that the Roeper should be some sort of
neutral body. From opposing the Vietnam
War openly to integrating the school to instituting the open classroom they
were bold but never strident. Their
long-term, “eyes-on the-prize” approach accomplished a lot.
Tom thought that
people had faith in his parents and through dialogue people were able to grow
enough to push beyond their comfort levels.
Both Tom and Ruth suggested that ethical discussions need to
be a strong part of the curriculum. Not
preaching but posing challenging and thought-provoking ethical questions would
help develop people better equipped to deal with ethical dilemmas in
real-life. All of us agreed that we need
everybody in the Roeper community to reflect on and discuss our basic values
through consideration of real problems and issues.
I mentioned to Tom that I have been in contact with his daughter
Maria who is still in association with an organization that works, mostly on
the college level, against sweatshop-produced apparel if it is made under
unfair, unsafe and environmentally damaging conditions. Maria thinks Roeper would be a good pioneer
high school to get involved with this movement.
And, it would be what the experts call a “bad thing” to have Roeper,
with our history and values, support sweatshops.
We moved on to how Roeper does teach its values so
well. Ruth thought that one key is that
our humanistic, democratic values are manifested starting with our youngest
children. After years of living in a
Roeper way, people are changed for life.
Tom said his mom always said that the young were the heart
of the school.
Ruth ventured that it was important that parents were a
strong and involved part of the community.
In this way, parents absorbed the Roeper Philosophy and could work
hand-in-hand with the staff to help the kids learn its lessons. She also said that a strong sense of
community creates a sense of safety and support so students could take risks
and grow.
Tom spoke of how adults made themselves available to the
students personally. George used to do
lunch room duty so the teachers could have lunch together. Not only could the staff develop as community
of learners in this way, George and the kids had time to get to know each
other.
Tom mentioned that learning can always occur outside the
classroom. We used to have buses
transport kids all over the metro area and on those buses, the older kids help
the younger by virtue of official authority but also via informal moral
authority.
This got Tom talking about how the Roeper experience helped
the adults grow. This ancillary impact
was best illustrated by the story of how in the late 1960’s, Pontiac had
conflict over the busing of students for integration. The community was torn by violence and bitter
arguments. Roeper had five white lady
bus drivers who spoke out in their community for peace, reconciliation and a
chance for integration to work. They had
seen black and white kids get along on their buses and at school and they knew it
could work.
I asked what Roeper did to further integration. Tom and Ruth agreed it was the moral
leadership of George and Annemarie. They
tried to get as many staff members as possible who were people of color and
they always strove to break down barriers.
Tom recounted how people who at other schools would be marginalized
(bus drivers, custodians, clerical help, etc.) had close relationships with
kids and were involved with responsibilities and activities that gave them
importance and status in the community.
Ruth remembered that one time she heard a speaker make a
point that may seem obvious but for some reason, it really resonated with her
and has become a strong principle in her life:
One person cannot live by him or herself. People are social beings. We all are dependent and we all are part of a
community.
I added that many people today give no credit for what
others individually and communally have done for them.
Ruth suggested that we need more discussion about family,
society and community.
I said that even when we talk about people working to
improve the world we focus on individual responsibility and action. People not only need to recycle they need to
organize, work for legislation and educate others regarding recycling.
HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY HELP US CARRY OUT THE ROEPER PHILOSOPHY?
Ruth started us off discussing this question by stating her
fundamental belief that you need to support kids in their pursuit of their
passions. If tech can help with this, we
should use it. She mentioned that MIT
has all of its courses online available for anybody to learn.
She continued with stating that people can share via
technology what they have learned. If people can teach others they feel a sense
of validation and empowerment. Also, tech
has a great ability to draw people out.
We temporarily moved out of talking about tech as Tom
mentioned he has his students do a one-minute essay at the end of each
class to summarize what they had learned that day. Ruth mentioned the advantages of
peer-to-peer editing and small group work.
Linda mentioned how each of this year’s 7th grade science
students had to design a creature to match a certain environment and explain
how that hypothetical animal was adapted to survive in that environment. Then they worked with our high school
Comparative Anatomy students to analyze their work.
We got back into technology when Tom opined that however
valuable online or Skyped relationships are, we should remember that
face-to-face human relationships are stronger. He also suggested no matter if we are talking about online or “real,” we need to have as much
respect, equality, and “walls broken-down” as possible.
Tom thought that technology might help bring out quieter,
shy kids who don’t usually speak out in the traditional classroom. He thought that reticent students might not
be as big a problem at Roeper with its small classes and an atmosphere of
safety and respect.
Ruth added that students can easily pursue an interest via
chat rooms and blogs.Tom told us that at his university, you can tell who is
online at a particular time and thus can easily reach someone if they are.
I mentioned that someone at the Boston gathering told of
studies that suggested that student engagement with new forms of technological
instruction trails off as the novelty wears off.
Ruth suggested that the motivation to learn and succeed is
the most important in any kind of education.
Tom agreed and said those who are already motivated with
take advantage of the new tech learning opportunities.
Linda said that already her students instantly look things up
but what they need is practice in evaluating the validity of the huge amount of
information so readily accessible.
Tom stated that critical thinking needs to be directed at
the internet.
Ruth added that some young people she knows are not very
critical of information found online.
This information is believed as fact way too easily.
I closed by talking about what others at previous GTE
gatherings had recommended. That any
adoption of new educational technology practices involve students with the
planning, implementation and evaluation of those practices.
ONTO LENOX: Thursday
morning found us eating more delicious food.
Laura made us buckwheat/blueberry pancakes before we had to drive an
hour to have “Second Breakfast” with Bonnie and Leonard Schemm who are
vacationing in Lenox, MA.
Bonnie is Roeper's current Publication Master & Development Office Associate. They are alumni parents of Jeremy and Nick
Schemm. Readers of this blog may notice something unusual about the photo below. Linda who usually avoided getting her photo taken by always being the photographer was thwarted by a helpful passer-by.
They thought we were just getting together for a simple
meal. Although the breakfast at The
Haven was amazingly good (thanks to Marcia Ruff for the recommendation), that
wasn’t our focus. Our secret plan was
to have another discussion so I could write even more for this blog.
In response to what our society needs, they volunteered that
collaboration is essential. Right now,
it seems like people are not working with each other because they don’t hear
each other or are not willing to compromise.
They suggested more practice in critical thinking is
needed. But then they really got going
when they talked about how students need to learn how to learn. People need to identify problems, pose
relevant questions and devise and implement strategies to find out.
Students need to be able to recognize and use the resources
around them. This includes the human
resources. If one looks among others not
as threats but as learning resources, one values and supports t others.
If people can do what
Bonnie and Leonard recommended in the last two paragraphs, they will be
able to go beyond what is already known.
They can be confident enough and skilled enough to transcend what they
already have been taught. They will
become life-long learners.
Leonard compared his experience in public school (he was a
band and music director) to Roeper. At
Roeper people are not judged so much by age or other superficial measures but
by who they really are, know or can do. Leonard also emphasized the intrinsic value for all students of learning to make, follow through on and evaluate choices. The development of this skill for his boys starting with free choice and becoming increasingly more long term and diverse as they grew threw school was key to their success and independence.
We ran out of time as Bonnie and Leonard were going down New
Sharon for an afternoon matinee of a play and we had to travel for a while
before stopping to write this blog.
Left - View from the front.
Below - View from the back of the building. Hindstrum loved the beautiful grounds of what is now the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and listening to the young musicians playing. He wondered if he could get a scholarship based on his ability to whistle through acorn caps.
As we left Windsor Mountain we journeyed to spend quiet moments at the cemetery where George is buried and Annemarie’s
ashes will be interned next year. The
stone on the left is for Annemarie’s parents, Gertrude and Max Bondy and the
middle one for a cousin.
Annemarie will
rest with George on the right.
Right now, I’m sitting in a Glen Falls, NY, Starbucks before we head for two days of
camping on Cranberry Lake in the heart of the Adirondacks.
We will celebrate Linda’s father 91st birthday on
Sunday in Buffalo.
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