Relationships, Policy-Making and Thanksgiving
Dear Readers,
Thank you for taking the time to consider what Holly and I have had to say on educational issues during these last weeks. In particular, the response to my posts on Todd Clark’s brave comments has been gratifying and humbling.
I was once told by a legislative staffer that policy-making is “all about relationships.” I think that is a tragic comment. There must be room in policy-making for ideas and even some common sense. Despite the lack of progress on the issues of science education in Florida that I’ve been documenting here, we can continue to hope that our government’s leaders will eventually see how important the learning of science – all fields of science – is to the future of our state and its children.
But Thanksgiving is “all about relationships,” and I hope you will have an opportunity this week to renew or build your relationships with those closest to you. This is particularly important for those who invest their hearts in their K-12 classrooms and the children who inhabit them. The stresses of the teaching profession can easily spill over into the lives of the teachers’ families.
I may not have much to say here next week because I will be buried in FSU’s Presidential Search, which is on fast forward (I am a member of the advisory committee for the search).
I’ll be back after that.
I’ll close with a request to you. My mother always told me I talk too much, and I should spend more time listening. That is certainly true here at this blog. To fix that, I would like to ask you to send me your ideas on how to make the teaching and learning of science in Florida better. Attach your comments to this post, or send them to me at cottle@phy.fsu.edu. If you send an e-mail, please say something like “Ideas on science teaching in Florida” on the subject line. If I mention your idea here or to others, I will make sure I give you credit for the idea unless you’d prefer that I don’t.
Have a great holiday.
Paul
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