Based upon first reports, the Principal, initially reviewed the practice of the long-standing A Christmas Carol tradition due to a number of complaints associated with Tiny Tim’s closing statement, “God bless us one and all”. However, district spokesperson Shannon Zimmerman, stated within that “It’s not a part of the written curriculum of fifth grade, but students and teachers were required to participate in it and we can’t allow that to continue.” Once again, the Common Core, and a highly prescriptive curriculum toward test-driven instruction, is presented as the reason for this decision:
“We are aware of rumors circulating in the community about the fifth grade play at Centerville Elementary School. Additionally, we understand that some parents are upset that the play was cancelled, but we have heard from families on both ends of the spectrum, including those who expressed appreciation that the play, as it had traditionally been prepared and delivered, was cancelled.
We want to clarify that the decision to cancel the play was a building decision, based upon interactions between myself and the fifth grade teaching team. This decision was made based primarily on instructional opportunities for students. Producing and performing a play is not part of the written curriculum for fifth grade.
Over the years, preparations had evolved to take 15 to 20 hours of instructional (educational) time to produce this play. Given changes in state standards in recent years, we could not defend the commitment of this kind of instructional time to something not part of the fifth grade curriculum. The teachers agreed that they did not want our students to be put at a disadvantage relative to their peers from other schools in preparation for 6th grade; therefore, the play was cancelled. In addition to focusing on high quality instruction, our decision is rooted in the desire to be respectful of the many cultural and religious backgrounds represented by the students attending Centerville Elementary.
One rumor we’ve been addressing is that one or two families influenced this decision. That’s just not true. The instructional time issue was our primary concern. Alternative solutions were explored for offering the play differently, including the use of non-core instructional time, but it was decided by the building team to not go down this path. We also looked at having rehearsals after school hours, but, at this time, parents nor staff members have stepped forward to take advantage of this possibility.
This information was shared in a letter home to fifth grade parents and at a recent PTO meeting. Parents are encouraged to share their questions or concerns directly with me.”
Thank you –
Tom Kramer
I remember back in the late 1990’s, as a Principal myself, I was faced with similar situations including Halloween and Christmas performances. As far as Halloween, I fought hard to maintain traditional activities surrounding costumes for I knew that these type of experiences were fun for the students. At the time, I felt push-back from the teachers which appeared to be founded upon the principles of inclusion and cultural sensitivity. However, it was more evident within our conversations that Halloween presented a hassle in preparation and most notably, the students were described as “out of control” when participating in these type of activities. So I proposed the idea of using Halloween as an opportunity to celebrate fictional characters found within literature and reading programs. This was well-received by the parents and students but was reluctantly agreed upon by the teaching staff. Following my tenure as principal, this traditional activity was immediately dropped by the staff once I left. And it was described as a “curriculum and instruction decision”. Looking back upon Christmas through the years, the whole notion of a religious reference and traditional cultural activities has been wiped clean and replaced by “Winter Break”and “Winter Holiday” under the context of inclusion and diversity. As I said earlier, as a former principal, I never saw the principle of inclusion work in the opposite direction for I never experienced nor observed sensitivity toward curriculum practices which addressed Christian beliefs including the study of evolution, sex education, or historical / literary references to the bible. From the 1980’s onward, inclusion appears to be a one-sided proposition. However, this is not really what the Hempfield School District is resting their case on; it’s really about instructional minutes, curriculum, adhering to the Common Core, and test scores.
Certainly, I imagine Tom Kramer felt similar pressure from his instructional team. However, twenty years later, the pressure teachers feel related to curriculum standards, high-stakes test assessments, and overall student performance, is much higher today than ever before. As a result, our schools are dropping supplemental activities such as plays, arts-related activities, and creative outlets of expression. In addition, at the Elementary level, we are seeing curriculum such as science and social studies, which traditionally provided students and teachers opportunity to experience fun within the context of learning, has shifted to an integrated approach found within the reading text books. So instead of hands-on activities such as labs, cooperative learning activities, and simulations, many of our elementary classrooms feature reading and writing as “common core” to instruction within science and social studies. This is due to the pressures our administrators and teachers experience toward an exclusive “english literacy” approach to learning.
So how does this relate to our friends in Whoville, I mean, Hempfield? It’s really about watching our educational system get lost and misguided down a path which features a text-book prescribed curriculum, test-driven decision making, and the loss of creativity and artistic expression within the learning process. It’s as if we’re taking the fun out of the fundamentals in teaching. No matter how we mask this, whether it be within the context of political correctness, instructional minutes, or competing with other schools related to advantages and disadvantages, our educational system is on a spiral-path toward nowhere as a meaningless enterprise with no heart or soul within it’s grasp. It’s time for us to do something about it.
Here’s another throwback from my principal years: When I was faced with parent complaints and concerns, I tended to see it as follows:
1 parent = a nut
2 parents = two pees in a pod; both nuts
3 parents = a bunch of fruit cakes; but something to consider
4 parents = the beginning of a movement
5 parents = my job may be at risk!
6 or more parents = it’s time to look for a new job.
So within the context of political correctness, there are situations or incidences which tend to escalate the response pattern from district and school officials. As described above, the initial complaint of a few parents may have created greater concern on behalf of the principal beyond the typical. However, when addressing concerns with your school administrator, especially addressing program ideas, the more parents you have working toward a common goal, this will likely present a powerful tool on your side. So I am recommending that parents, especially those who see things as you do, seek established paths leading to program changes: PTA groups, Site Leadership Teams, or other parent / staff partnerships. And I recommend doing so at the site level for there tends to be more flexibility and freedom within the school. Whether it be accessing more arts within the school day, establishing more hands-on approaches within science or social studies, or presenting other ideas supporting the joy of learning for your kids within their learning experience, your best shot at creating change is through a grass-roots approach with numbers of others working together. Keep in mind, when principals and district administration hear the message through parent involvement and engagement, this speaks louder than you can imagine. More so then test scores alone! For a successful school is one which takes pride in parent involvement and acknowledges this as a strength.
So I encourage you to get involved and seek out others with like-minded thinking. If you don’t, the pressures within the system, whether it be from a politically-driven agenda, frustrated teachers, or through a very loud minority within the community, will continue to increase and cause more changes potentially taking the fun out of the education fundamentals. And we all know that when our kids are inspired by school, lifted up by the love of learning, we see a whole different child.
May our children feel loved, and in doing so, may they experience the gift within. God bless us one and all.
For more information, please join us @ specialeducationadvocacy.org
Larry