Crayons, pencils (endless supply), notebooks (spiral, perforated, wide rule, single subject, five subject…the variations are endless as well as the want of each individual teacher), ink pens, tissues, etc. This is the supply list that many parents are familiar with and when you add on to that school clothes, shoes, socks and other school necessities, even with good back to school shopping deals, somehow you still seem to be out the same amount of money if not more than last year.
Going back to school is fraught with anticipation and anxiety alike for both parents and students. We want our children to excel and in most cases children want to excel also, but can quickly succumb to learning handicaps from which they may never recover.
As we pack lunches and ensure that every labeled item is in that spanking new backpack, parents and students alike harbor an unspoken hope for the year: that students will enjoy learning. This not only means the ability to place your child in an environment that is safe and conducive to learning, it also means arming your child with the knowledge of why he or she is learning. A learner’s bill of rights, if you will.
Curious as to whether someone was inspired to create such a bill of right’s for learners, I came across two that speak to the nature of learning and also why school choice is important. If children are to exercise these rights, the ability is often found in a parent’s ability to choose the best school that fits the individual needs of their child.
John Harris Loflin who is with the Democratic Education Consortium in Indiana has creatively combined a learner’s bill of rights with the music “Get Up, Stand Up” on YouTube. He describes the ideal school as a place where children want to be and he believes that these rights are inalienable and fundamental human rights.
Very similar in nature to Loflin’s but more succinct and tangible are the bill of rights penned by Kirsten Olson in her newest book Wounded by School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing Up to Old School Culture. Olson states:
1. Every learner has the right to know why they are learning something, why it is important now, or may be important to them someday.
2. Every learner has the right to engage in questioning or interrogating the idea of “importance” above.
3. Every learner has the right to be confused and to express his confusion openly, honestly, and without shame.
4. Every learner has the right to multiple paths to understanding a concept, an idea, a set of facts, or a series of constructs.
5. Every learner has the right to understand his or her own mind, brain, wiring, and intellectual inclinations as completely as possible.
6. Every learner has the right to interrogate and question the means through which his or her learning is assessed.
7. Every learner is entitled to some privacy in their imagination and thoughts.
8. Every learner has the right to take their own imagination and thinking seriously.
So, let us add on to our list of back to school supplies a learner’s bill of rights. After all, all the supplies in the world are just meaningless instruments if children do not understand what they are learning and why they are learning.
— Tisha Brady
