Educators without Borders

Have you ever read the charter for Doctor’s without Borders?  Neither had I until I came across it today.  It was the perfect piece of writing to focus some of my frustrations with the current issues facing readiness for college. It goes on to say that staff of the organization “provides assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict. They do so irrespective of race, religion, creed or political convictions.”  So I thought, some of the most educationally disadvantaged populations in our society are in distress, dealing with man-made disasters of the mind, and face conflict, at times with very tragic consequences.

One of the sources of my frustration came from reading about a high school teacher’s concern with how unprepared students are for college.  Bernstein retired and was compelled to share with college professors that students making their way to college were not ready.   He shares, “I would like to believe that I prepared them to think more critically and to present cogent arguments, but I could not simultaneously prepare them to do well on that portion of the test and teach them to write in a fashion that would properly serve them at higher levels of education.”  They are victims, taught to process, do piece work and become skilled at test-taking.  One could suggest they are now programmed robots.  What to do?

In reading Seth Godin’s recent blog post on “those people,” again I was also reminded that there are some leaders in higher education who believe they know it all.  A community college administrator shares that many seeking an accessible community college education, or "those people," will only end up with blue collar jobs, mopping floors, flipping burgers and asking “can I take your order?”  In essence, they won’t make it in college. Really?  Seth was right on in addressing her directly.  You never know when one of those individuals, when given an educational opportunity, will discover the cure for cancer, revolutionize how we interact or better yet, just aid a fellow human in need.  We all have biases, but we need to be aware of them and work through them.  As Educators without Borders, we should connect with future college students regardless of race, religion, creed, political conviction or perceived skill level. 

We have a responsibility to help students discover who they are, identify their talents and strengths and encourage them to use their minds in ways that will improve society.  Much of this preparatory work can be done during secondary education but education policy does not currently offer the environment for doing so.  We can get more technical regarding training and development for faculty and staff, but at its core, we just need to believe in the potential all students have for achievement through a college education.  We must prepare them for the challenges of critical academic and developmental experiences.  Let’s think outside the box and get students doing the same.  Educators without Borders will inevitably create Students without Borders, and a Society without Borders!