Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 18:08:08 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Random Thought: Idol Smashing

We of the Jewish faith have just begun an eight day period of observance called the Days of Awe. For a little over a week, beginning with our New Year--Rosh Hashonah--and ending with the Day of Atonement--Yom Kippur--we are asked to look deep into our hearts and acknowledge how they energize, direct, and hold sway over our heads; how--to be technologically current--the hardware of thoughts and deeds are driven my the software of the spirit.

So I guess--in spite of myself--I feel myself getting especially preoccupied with inward self-reflection and self-examination. In synagogue this weekend, my rabbi talked about Abraham's decision to strike out on his own into the unknown far from the safety and security of his father's lucrative idol-making business, to strike out on his own into the unknown of new thoughts and ways far from the safety and security of old thoughts and ways.

As he spoke, my mind began to drift to the University a few blocks down the street where we are preparing for the conversion from the quarter to the semester system and are reviewing all our programs. I wondered if we in education don't have our idols whom we worship and from whom we derive comfort and security, a sense of place, a sense of value and purpose. What would happened, I thought, if we at the university, like Abraham, had the courage to smash those instutional idols and struck out from the safety and security of established thoughts and ways for the unknowns of new thoughts and ways. I began to wonder what would happen if we at the university had the courage to seize the opportunity and risk striking out far beyond mere curriculum changes into the vast unknown of a new spirit. What would we find, what new choices would unfold before us, what new perceptions would appear, what new questions would we ask, how would we act, what would we do, what would we think about ourselves, what would be conclude wereas the relevance, meaning, goals, and purposes of what we do, how we would react to and interact with others, what would we discover was really worth knowing, and what would we construct? I wondered what would we do if some of the cherished words and phrases our adoring incantations and canons were expunged from our educational liturgy and erased from our memories. Words and phrases like:

			honors student
			syllabus
			standardized tests
			semester
			I.Q. 
			GPA 
			bright 
			instruction-centered
			dumb 
			gifted 
			incapable of
			accelerated 
			programs
			performance
			special needs 
			classroom
			quarter
			tracked
			department
			x hour course
			test score 
			"bad" student 
			fundamentals 
			grade
			session
			SAT or ACT 
			skill level
			major 
			assessment
			human nature 
			examination 
			finals
			cover the material
			good student
			average 
			average student
			As, Bs, Cs, Ds, Fs
			teach the subject
			incompletes
			pass/fail 
			enhancement 
			college prep 
			college material 
			vocational track
			college level
			mastery of the subject 
			objectivity
			objective knowledge			
			professional 
			make more money 
			probation
			prerequisite 
			accelerated
			achievement
			makeup 
			failure
			success
			better paying job
			bell curve
			slow learner
			success
			attendance record
			dress code
			irrelevant question 
			lesson plan
			suspension
			course of study
 			"B" (or any letter grade) student 
			administrator 
			objective quiz
			can't do it
			professor 
			requirement
			elective
			not comfortable with
			credit hours
			don't belong 
			don't want them

It won't happen, but I still wonder.