Quote-A-Day: Day 147

You can't #win (or #lose) what you don't #fight for. #QuoteADay #Day147 #edchat #edu #edreform

It's no shocker that education is under attack these days.  Some bemoan what they consider an ineffective schooling structure.  Others feel that our education system is like a leaky faucet, spending money left and right without seeing appropriate gains in student learning.  Still others believe that our nation is miles behind that of other nations, based on international testing scores.

There's nothing wrong with being critical of education, or one's profession, for that matter.  In fact, that critical lens is a necessity as we continue to contemplate how to make things better.

However, if we cry foul on an education system that we have done nothing to improve, then our comments fall on deaf ears (or they should anyway).

If we aren't willing to fight for something, then we can't win or lose in any battle for or against it.  So, if we don't do anything to attempt to better our education realm, then we can't truly have a stake in what happens, and as such, our comments are worthless.

One of the biggest challenges to our "everyone has an opinion" culture is that too much commentary makes it harder to separate fact from fiction.

This is separate from everyone having the right to speak freely.  The difference here is that when we do speak freely, we should at least know what we're talking about.

Those who speak out against education, and the troubles we face as educators, would be best served having a stake in the reform taking place.  Regardless of whether you agree with steps and actions taken, at least if people are doing something, they're making it clear that they are taking a stand.  If nothing else, it's tough to say these folks are not committed to a cause and are not fighting for what they believe in.

The big picture?

If we're going to put a stake in the ground around education reform, let's at least fight for what we believe in.  Talk is more than cheap, and it means even less when there is no action to back it up.