Grace & College Graduation

Yesterday, May 5th, 2011, I had the pleasure of graduating from Salt Lake Community College with an Associate of Science degree.  It took me 14 years, but I did it.  However, as sweet as it was, there were two highlights to that experience that touched me.

The first: my mother was able to attend.  She is in the advanced stages of emphysema which has wrecked her body.  My wife, my sister, and I worked all week to make sure she would be in a condition good enough to attend.  My mother was determined, no matter how much pain she was in or how short of breath she was, to attend.  For my mother the three hours it took from the time she left her house until she saw me walk was excruciating but it wouldn't prevent her from seeing her son graduate.  Even as an adult, it is so nice to bask in the pride of an approving parent.

I do know that I could not have accomplished what did had I not had someone like my mother who believed in me or like my beautiful wife Lisa who not only believed in me but gave me all the support a spouse could possibly muster.   I had a cheering section in the audience in my sister Shelly, my father-in-law William Green, and my 5 children.  If felt so good to model what I had been preaching for the last 24 years.   

The second was probably the most surprising when you consider my former career.  I had a 10:00 am biology class.  The first day of class this short wiry 30 something man sat next to me.  He had a longer beard, smelled of cigarette smoke, and opened his thermos to pour his coffee.  My law enforcement instincts told me that he was 'from the other side of the tracks'.  It came up in conversation that I was a retired parole officer.  He immediately said, "Oh.  Do you know Scott Richards?"  I told him I did and that I had just left a job where Scott and I were on the same unit.  He then said, "He was my probation officer 12 years ago. If you talk to him tell him Jordan says hi."  I knew it!

If that is where the conversation ended the story would be relatively uninteresting but typical for law enforcement/felon interaction.  Jordan and I continued to talk through semester.  He decided he would walk for graduation.  At first, he didn't think it would be a big deal.  It is after all just an associates degree.  I had a similar opinion.  He though it would be beneficial for his kids to see what he had accomplished.  I could see his point.

Jordan's study habits were excellent.  He got one of the two 100% tests during the semester.  I had the other one.  He was a peer note taker and took notes for the guy I mentioned in my article What We Do Not Teach.  He also volunteered at the Decker Lake Facility for juveniles as a mentor.  During the semester I started to really like Jordan.  I liked his focus and his humility.  He gave back to the community and had a drive for excellence.  When he picked up his cap and gown they gave him his honor cords for his 3.8+ GPA.

I looked for Jordan while we were lining up for graduation.  He also looked for me.  He was the only person  I knew out of the 1,000 or so graduates.  We stood in line and discussed what was next.  I was off to the University of Utah for the summer semester.  Jordan would start at the U in the fall.  My major: fine arts.  Jordan's major: forensic anthropology.  We celebrated our mutual "A's" in biology.  I was impressed by Jordan.  I was proud of what he accomplished and was humbled to graduate with him as his peer.  Jordan represented, I think, the concept of grace.

Your child's desire to learn is the key to a good education... with innovation!

A Facebook friend (Staci Baker Centini) posted this TED talk by Sugata Mitra.  Sugata stated one obvious fact in that he asserts the best teachers do not want to teach where they are need most.  However it was the exploration of the third world (or inner city if your in America) child's natural curiosity that led to the discovery that children want to learn and if you spark the interest the teacher and their credentials are irrelevant.

I have seen the result this experiment in my own children.  I was commenting to my lovely wife that our kids are not afraid of technology.  They migrate to it and understand it.  When computers were first introduced into my working environment I had to attend hours of classes to figure them out.  My wife says she avoids some technology because she is afraid she will break it.  My kids on the other hand quickly figured out how to make them work and how to find information.  I was having a discussion about the "talk" with my oldest not to long ago.  He is 23.  He told me that his own curiosity on the subject made the "talk" irrelevant.  Books from the dictionary, to biology and a Google search gave him the information he needed.

The above example however illustrates why the teacher is still critical to the learning process.  "Using the method of the grandmother" children can learn to sort out what information is accurate and appropriate to the topic and to their age.

The hypothesis he comes to at the end of the talk is very provocative:

Education is a self organising system where learning is an emergent phenomenon..... 

The question is:  Is Sugata Mitra's hypothesis worth funding and is the innovation worth the risk?

I think it might be....