Out of Africa and Into the Classroom - school system - Brief Article

School Administrator, April, 2000 by Paul D. Houston

Have you noticed how many of our school reform efforts are built on Darwinian principles? Vouchers, retention and high-stakes exams are all manifestations of a survival-of-the-fittest mentality. We are creating an educational landscape where only the strong will survive.

On my recent trip to Africa, I thought a lot about Charles Darwin. Every African city is replete with comfortable homes protected by wire-topped walls. Of course, we see the same thing in gated communities all across America, but it has been my experience that the gulf between "have" and "have not" is even greater in Third World countries. I expect that is because, in part, they have so much less to start. While I often am concerned with the gap between rich and poor in this country, the gap between this country and the rest of the world is immense. Even America's poorest tend to have an advantage over other countries' poorest.

In African cities you can witness the extreme misery of squatter towns, where thousands live in extreme squalor in homes built from castaway materials. Often these are near neighborhoods of lovely, well-kept homes that are armed fortresses against the possible danger of the poor who might break in and steal.

A Destructive Practice

At the end of the trip, we abandoned the cities to go on safari. While I watched the animals, I gained perspective on the human species. What I saw in the African wilds was a very different take on Darwinism than I have come to understand in our more civilized environment. We see the lessons of evolution as "eat or be eaten" and "only the strong survive." The focus is on winning at all costs.

The critics suggest that public schools will improve only through competition that weeds out the weak and failing and rewards the successful. Our classroom reward system praises the best and loses the rest. Our current effort at establishing world-class standards and high-stakes assessment is built on this Darwinian model.

I have trouble with what this all means. I have visited schools on every continent but Antarctica and I have yet to witness a school system as good as ours. Certainly there is much we should do better, but I fail to see how creating a destructive system of competition is the answer. That will only ensure that many of our children lose, for losing is as much a part of competition as is winning. In fact, competition means one winner and many losers. Look at how much we celebrate a losing Super Bowl team. The American motto is no longer "E Pluribus Unum." It is "We're No. 1!"

This thinking has led us astray in school reform. Sadly, our attempts to provide targets so that all our children succeed through a set of common standards have been hijacked by elitists who want to set that bar so high that only a portion of those already advantaged can jump it.

In the animal kingdom, I saw peace and collaboration, Sure, the other animals feared the lions--but only when the lions were hungry. For that reason you do not want to be the slowest wildebeest in the herd. However, most of the wildebeests survive and thrive, as do the other animals. None think for a second that they can be lions. Nor do they want to be. Our view of Darwinism has been distorted to the point that we think that everyone has to try to be a lion. That view manifests itself in how we measure success.

Teach By Example

The animal kingdom is rich and successful because not every animal is a carnivore. It is peaceful because even the carnivores take only what they need to survive. They do not kill every wildebeest in the herd--only the one they need to be fed. People take more than they need and that is what has led us to the divisions and dangers we now face.

On the savanna you can see warthogs, zebras and wildebeest all grazing together. That is because one animal has better hearing, another better sight and another a better sense of smell. They use their strengths to offset each other's weaknesses. This is collaborative, complementary behavior. It shows the strength of diversity. We could learn from this.

A religious teaching tells us we should store our treasures not on this earth but in a higher place. Also, it tells us we should remember that where our treasures are is also where our hearts are. We must be very careful what we value, for that is what we will teach, If we give our children a world that is built upon intense competition that only allows a few winners and where collaborative behavior is discouraged, we are creating a world for them that ensures walls and fences. That is not a peaceable kingdom.

Paul Houston is AASA executive director.