Responsibility…
Words mean something, that is a concept that we
learn early in life. A chair is a chair,
that person over there is "mom".
Defining people, places and things with words is an important part of
learning to communicate with others.
Being able to share our ideas clearly and concisely is a skill that we
spend our lives developing in formal settings like school, and in informal
communication with friends and family.
As an elementary educator, a significant portion of my work day is spent
trying to help students improve their abilities to communicate in spoken and
written formats.
I'm sure you noticed that I mentioned defining
people, places and things and immediately thought "nouns". My students are very adept at answering the
question, "What is a noun?" with this litany. However, when you add the last part of the
definition, that not only is a noun a person, place or thing, but also an idea,
my students are less comfortable. After
all, most of them experience a noun as something that you can recognize with
one of your senses. Words like freedom,
justice and responsibility are nouns too, but much more difficult to define and
recognize.
Merriam-Webster
defines 'responsibility' as :
1) the quality or state of being
responsible as
a : moral, legal, or mental accountability
b : reliability, trustworthiness
2)
something for which one is responsible : burden
The
sentences used as examples for responsibility are interesting and tend to be
negative in connotation. They mention
terrorists taking responsibility for an attack, chores and obligations. Synonyms
listed for responsibility include: Blame, fault, and liability. Overall, responsibility is portrayed as
something that isn't to be sought out.
No wonder my students cringe when I talk about responsibility and how
they, as 4th and 5th graders, are getting older and ready to take on more
responsibilities. Using these
definitions of responsibility I don't blame them for wanting to stay young and
free of the cares of being a mature, responsible person.
There is another side to
responsibility. By standing up for what
is right and taking on issues that we know need addressing, we can not only
improve the world around us, but also improve our own sense of well being and
self esteem. We can all recognize that
feeling we get when we know that we rose to the occasion and accomplished
something valuable. The positive
feelings are intensified when we recognize that we've gone above and beyond
basic expectations and truly taken responsibility for the situation we were
involved in.
When we look at the world
around us we see many places where people are not accepting responsibility for
themselves or fulfilling their obligations and duties to those around
them. We see that the world would be a
better place if each person truly was accountable to themselves and to society
as a whole. People narrowly define their
responsibilities and look out only for themselves or their immediate, short
term interests. We also have conflicts
over just what accepting responsibility and being accountable looks like in
specific circumstances.
It is a difficult
balancing act that we must engage in as we navigate between our personal
responsibilities and our accountability to our fellow citizens, the environment
and to society as a whole. These
conflicting forces have been a topic for political, ethical and religious
discussions throughout recorded history.
Just where do our ultimate responsibilities lie and how do we guide our
actions to behave in a responsible manner?
Is responsibility a burden, an obligation, or something that we embrace
as a vital part of living in a civilized society? Is it possible for a diverse society with
many different ways of defining what is valued to define abstract terms in ways
that are useful and meaningful?
I would argue that, while
the specific definitions are often impacted by an individual's personal belief
system, we, as a society can, agree on ways to share our ideas about abstract
terms like responsibility. By discussing,
demonstrating and sharing our values we can find commonalities that will move
our society towards a more unified future.
In order for this to happen we must be willing to accept that our
definitions may not be the only way to characterize a trait or a concept. However, there are underlying similarities
that most cultures, religions and societies share.
It is somewhat naïve to
think that we can limit our responsibilities to our those in our immediate,
personal circles. Each of us has an impact
that extends to the communities we live in and even further. The products I buy, the vote I cast, even my
simple communications with others can have an influence that I may not even
know about. As an educator I have come
to realize that it is often the smallest detail that I find out later has
impacted a student's life. Many have
heard of the "Butterfly Effect", where a small event eventually
triggers something larger. It is
important that we remember that our small actions do have an impact, one we may
not even know about.
Yet, at the same time we
often feel powerless to exercise any influence over the things that we see
happening around us. We make our best
effort and things still don't go as we would like them to. Supporters of public education can certainly
sympathize with this, as we watch something we value highly, attacked and
decimated in so many ways.
So, how do we demonstrate
traits like responsibility in today's world?
We stand up for what we feel is right and express our thinking in
positive ways. We don't allow others to
lead us in directions that we feel are harmful to what we value. We engage in discussion and use our existing
social and political structures to mediate conflicts. We listen to others and consider their viewpoints. All of us have a responsibility to ourselves,
those close to us, and to society as a whole to exercise our rights and accept
our responsibilities as citizens of the world we live in. No one else can do this for us, it is up to
each of us to be accountable for ourselves and act accordingly.
If we believe the quote,
"In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve," then it
is easy to see how we do have a responsibility to act to insure that those who
represent us in any elected capacity truly do embody the values we share. In the same way, we must act to influence any
aspect of our lives or organization we belong to in order to make sure that our
ideals are present and accounted for.
So, whether it's a democratic institution, or an organization like a
school district that is governed by appointed or hired administrators it is up
to us to make it be something that we are proud to be a part of.
February
19- Primary Day…
Election season is upon us
again. Wisconsinites are bracing for
another round of elections that probably will continue our recent trend in
being contentious and divisive at the state level. Voters have an opportunity to cast a vote in
the primary election this Tuesday. It is
always important to exercise your right to vote, but in off-year primaries
every voters power is magnified because of the low turnouts. The GAB is projecting that less than 10% of
the eligible voters will participate in Tuesday's election, so make your voice
heard and get out to vote.
Wisconsin Supreme
Court
This primary features
three candidates and will narrow the field to two for the April 2
election. Pat Roggensack is the
incumbent and is challenged by Vince Megna and Ed Fallone.
The importance of this
race can't be underestimated as the current court has a 4-3 conservative
majority and our justices have been extremely partisan in recent years. The fact that so many important decisions
regarding collective bargaining and other issues will likely appear before the
court makes this a vital office for progressives in Wisconsin to win.
Report:
Club for Growth buys $111,000 in TV ads supporting Pat Roggensack in Supreme
Court race - JS
Madison School
Board Seat #5
Of no less importance for
supporters of Madison
Public Schools is the
primary for Seat #5 between TJ Mertz, Sarah Manski and Ananda Mirilli. The candidate I support in this race is Mertz. He has been a presence at school board meetings for a long time, and has been a tireless advocate for public schools through his writing and actions.
Defending
Education…
If we truly value public education then we must act
to protect and preserve it as a part of our society. Whatever your role in public education
whether as a parent, educator or concerned community member, we all have a
responsibility to make sure that our public schools have advocates who are
willing to speak out on issues that affect our schools. The list of problems and "reforms"
is long and the discussion has been shaped by those who want to make our
schools more "businesslike", "productive" and even
"profitable".
Stop Special Needs Vouchers: Stop Special Needs Vouchers at the
Capitol in Madison, Monday 2/18, 2:3
The
reality is that many of our potential advocates for public education are
leaving the field for "greener pastures" that are less stressful and
more widely supported. Just like
manufacturing and other industries we are seeing "downsizing"
occurring. Low pay, high stress,
increased responsibility with limited support all contribute to the exodus of
educators from the profession. A small
number of well connected groups and individuals stand to profit from these
trends, while the rest of society loses a valuable resource.
An
example of how current trends are moving away from educating and looking only
at the bottom line. The MacKenzie Center has been an important place for
my family and schools that I've been involved in. For years my wife took her 5th grade classes
for overnight field trips, and both of my sons have done overnights while in
middle school. Changing the focus of the
Center could mean that many students would lose the opportunity to spend time
in a beautiful outdoor setting.
Focus of MacKenzie Center to change drastically; DNR wants to
use it for recruitment, retention of h
Labor
News…
Organized
labor continues to look for ways to increase our influence, even in these
difficult times. Alliances and making
connections is an important part of the current struggle. Labor needs to find ways to compete with the
big money that corporations are able to utilize.
