The following are excerpts from journal entries written
during the 2000-01 School year while serving as a Public Achievement Coach
at Dakota Meadows Middle School, North Mankato, Minnesota.
JOURNAL ENTRY FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 19, 2000
EXPERIENCES
This week we read the Barber handout on citizenship in a democracy, reviewed Chapter Six on the role of the coach, had a lively debate on the structure for our Thursday presentation to the students at Dakota Meadows Middle School, and then had the opportunity to talk about Public Achievement to the students during their homeroom/study hall period.
REFLECTIONS
I was mixed on the Barber article in that I thought what he was
saying made some sense but he also made some leaps with respect to a leadership
vacuum that I did not feel were logical. The need for involvement
in our democracy by the citizens of this country is appalling and many
of the attitudes of apathy that exist towards government and politics stem
from this need. The fact that so few registered voters actually spend
the time, which is very little, to go out and vote reflects this.
I say spend some time in a country where you do not have a say in the elections
of officials and people would perhaps realize the valuable right that they
ignore. But I digress. I think Barber’s models and suggestions
would work well on the local level and if you reach back and try to envision
what our founding fathers were thinking when they created this form of
democracy I believe they had in mind a more involved citizenry on the local
level taking care of their own needs rather than a big overreaching federal
government doing it for them. The point made that if the government
on the local level was run along Barber’s suggestions then eventually the
ideas and actions would work themselves upwards through the state and national
levels was a good one and in the end this is probably what Barber was getting
at. Where I strongly disagree with Barber is that he felt at times
we have a strong president and when he suddenly is gone the country sort
of wanders about aimlessly for lack of leadership. One of the concepts
that makes our country strong is the very fact that we do not rely on any
one single leader to guide us. We elect a new president every four
or eight years. The bureaucracy of our institutions will not let
things go undone and allow us to “wander.” We may skip a beat in
the event of a tragic loss (JFK) but we endure and in some cases (FDR)
we progress a mite bit better.
JOURNAL ENTRY FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 21, 2000
REFLECTIONS
What I picked up on the most from the readings was the assertion that normal and everyday work is now separated from public work, there is no connection between the two as workers become more and more isolated from each other. We now give perhaps as much or even more to charities and volunteerism but the method and focus has changed. In the past these things were done through community based programs such as churches and local organizations and people had a direct connection to it. Also, work was more people orientated and connections and associations were much stronger on a personal level. Now, in our corporate, technical, and informational age, charity and volunteerism has shifted to be a function of the corporate world; people give money and time through their work place but it is seen more as a duty and not a personal connection.
In my own experience, I give money to the United Way for their annual fund drive but it is taken directly out of my paycheck and I do not ever see the people who work for the United Way nor do I see the people who are affected by the United Way. I do not work for some super huge corporation but a Park and Recreation department and my situation is probably the same for most of the people who work for the city as I do. There is no connection other than the paycheck deduction.
Another aspect of the readings is the shift from government of
and by the people to government for the people. We now seem to view
government as a resource that does things for the citizenry. As a
result we no longer see ourselves as a part of the government and thus
not a part of public work. Public work has become a function of the
government for most people. Boyte and Kari seem to be calling for
people to regain their sense of government and public work and become involved
again.
JOURNAL ENTRY FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 20, 2001
EXPERIENCES
This weeks events included chapters four and five in Gastil, covering the Mifflin Coop and small group democracy in action and our Public Achievement group’s first visit to a local radio station. We did not meet at Dakota Meadows this week as we met at the KXLP station to record our first announcement.
REFLECTIONS
The readings for this week centered on the Mifflin Coop Grocery Store and their experience in small group democracy. One point that I think is important is that the Coop has survived for so long adhering to the principles of small group democracy. In my opinion this is the right size of group, perhaps a bit larger, where democracy in a pure sense can actually operate. When you start getting larger groups it becomes difficult to truly give everyone the proper opportunities to speak and you then move into factions and political parties to voice opinions and even then most members only agree to some and rarely all of the faction/party positions on issues. That is why our own constitution is such a wonderful document since the framers were very suspicious of “democracy” in a pure sense - they saw it as only a breath away from anarchy.
In talking about small group democracy, I think the most important ingredients that Gastil outlined are the relationships between members and speaking opportunities. I think that if the members genuinely care about each other as well as the common goal they will be able to come to consensus without getting bogged down over personal issues. Speaking opportunities are also important in that if everyone has the chance to speak their mind, or choose to not, then the rest (equal power, equal decision-making) will follow.
In addressing small group problems, I believe that communication problems have the best chance of being corrected while personal problems are probably the toughest to resolve. Communication skills can be learned and as such can be improved to the point where all can be understood and their opinions heard. Personal conflicts, while they can be sorted out, often tend to be fixed by temporary solutions that do not really address the real problem. In the real world not everyone does get along and that is just a fact of life; personal conflicts just seem to stay no matter what you do.
Our first trip to the radio station was a success as we recorded
a public service announcement. We did not start off too well as only
one member was there on time - a problem anticipated since Dakota Meadows
did not have school on either Friday or Monday before hand. Three
of the four members made it and as they arrived they read their parts.
Once we got started though it all fell into place and we only needed to
do a retake on two of the three parts. It is amazing what they can
do with the computerized technology these days. Mr. Harder showed
the kids how the software worked and played around with the three tracks
to show us what it could all do. The experience was very fun and
the kids seem excited to do it again.
JOURNAL ENTRY FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 27, 2001
EXPERIENCES
This week’s events included discussing the Bowling Alone article by Robert Putnam in class on Tuesday, recording our third public service announcement Thursday morning, and placing new stickers on the Yellow Ribbon pamphlets while discussing the core concepts at our Public Achievement meeting.
REFLECTIONS
I thought Mr. Putnam was right on the money in trying to put a finger on what has gone wrong with our society. The bowling alone analogy is really relevant because we have become more of an isolated community as opposed to what we once were. People just do not do things for each other let alone with each other now a days. A good example of this is it takes a national block party week for people to learn just who the people are who live three houses down the street. Instead of front porches and evening talks with a neighbor, people put decks on the back of their homes and put up solid barrier fences to keep the neighbors out.
From my own experiences I can also see a difference. Growing up, a family (who were distant cousins) lost their father. Instead of the mom raising the family by herself the two youngest were practically part of our family also. They went on trips, to events, ate, and even were punished as if they were part of the family. With the mobility of today, people are not as close to family and as a result when situations like this arise they have very little support systems in place to help them out. Added to this is the lack of social trust that Putnam pointed out - people do not trust each other enough to let others help out.
An observation that I made while reading this article relates to kids and competition. As a youth coach and now working on being an educator, I have heard much rhetoric about how we need to build self esteem and not place kids in competitive situations. That is seen as part of the solution to our declining society. Well, look what we have now; kids who have been brought up without the slightest idea of how to cope with disappointment or adversity because they have never had to deal with losing. In their world “everybody is a winner” but in the real world this is just not so. You have to take your lumps now and then but it is the process of coming back that makes you a better person (I am not an advocate for total competition, I just think a little competition is good otherwise they would not keep score). What Putnam was getting at that set off a light bulb in my head is that it is the social structures are what has changed and the support systems for families that no longer exist. In eliminating competition we are just treating a symptom and not the disease.
At the radio station we rattled off another public service announcement.
We are getting pretty good at it now and it was good to include the last
member who had not participated in the recording yet. The discussion
about the core concepts also went over rather well. It was good to
have them busy with their hands in that it actually kept them a bit more
focused and we did not seem to wander off on a tangent as much. The
group seemed to be able to relate most of the concepts (power, accountability,
diversity, public work, interests) to what they are doing with the public
service announcements. It was a good change of pace for the kids
and they seemed to enjoy the different routine.