Color me dumbfounded

I must confess that now I have two conundrums.

My first one had to do with the "business" of education vs the business of "education".

My second one is "education" vs "teaching".

I know there is a distinct difference between the two units of each set. I just can't figure them out.

To set out the first one:

Are only teachers responsible for running the "divisions" of education, including Administration, Business (interesting that a division has that name), Curriculum and Instruction, Facilities, Human Resources, Information and Technology and Student Services and Federal Programs?

Would those be considered the "business" of education?

Could business people run one of these divisions responsibly without being a teacher?

Is what teachers do within the classroom or any specific "arena" within a school setting be considered the business of "education"?

There would be an end result of what the teachers do, taking in to consideration all of the variables inherent within a "teaching" setting. Understandably there are many of these variables that are uncontrolled by the teacher, however in the system that we now know, would the outcomes (what the students learned) be considered what is the business of "education"?



Now to the second set.

Education: the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life


Teacher: a person who teaches or instructs, esp. as a profession; instructor.

Educator: a person or thing that educates, esp. a teacher, principal, or other person involved in planning or directing education



Does an "other person involved in planning or directing education" have to be a teacher? Or said in another way, if you are not a teacher, you cannot be involved in planning or directing education?

Can only teachers educate?

Are there teachers who do not educate?

Is this a true statement: No one who is not a teacher can educate?

Is this a true statement: Every person involved in planning or directing education is a teacher?

Since a "thing" by definition can be an educator, does that challenge the concept that only teachers can be educators?

Who, by definition, could fit the defintion of "other person"? Logically, this would mean that educators can be something other than teachers.

Who decides who these others are?

If teachers only had to teach and educators were only involved in planning or directing education and they both stayed out of each other's space, would that be the optimum educational setting?

Education Institution a Catch All Institution?

Regarding the "Sound Off and Be Heard" post asking for input on thoughts about "Teen Birth Rates on the Rise".

Someone posted a link to this article regarding school counselors asking that teens get maternity leave from school after giving birth.

Several points can be made using this article. I will start from the top, first with a quote from the article and then my comments and questions (C&Q).

"Pregnant students in a Denver high school are asking for at least four weeks of maternity leave so they can heal, bond with their newborns and not be penalized with unexcused absences"

C&Q: Absent from class is absent from class. What other circumstances are excused?
Would the School District provide home schooling during this time?
Would the father, if a student, be afforded time to bond with his newborn?
Would the School District be compelled to compel the father to bond with his newborn?
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"The request is unusual in Colorado's public schools, where districts tend to deal with pregnant students or new moms with specialized programs or individualized education plans."

C&Q: As used in this context, what student should not get an individualized education plan as each student is unique. This terminology should not be confused with Special Education Law that defines an individualized education plan. True educators know the many ingredients needed to make an IEP. Too many "educators" have a misconception of what an IEP is. My best advice is to read the definition yourself and not depend on homespun definitions of money saving convenience.

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"It's critical that these young women have a chance to bond with their babies," Moss said. "Maybe we do need a policy. Clearly, as a district, we have to look at what is going on with our young women. We've got to look at the birth-control issues and teen pregnancy and how we best help them deal with it and still graduate."

C&Q: A policy. Focused on pregnant women. It takes two to have a kid. Perhaps the school system is perpetuating a significant cause of pregnancy by excluding the male partner in birth-control issues and teen pregnancy and rearing responsibilities. If the school system isn't going to develop policies for student fathers, why not?

Or, does any one ask if these teens just simply want to get pregnant? They may be saying no to please others, but what if they really want to get pregnant for what could be many reasons beyond sexual gratification. If so, will the school district be able to address that issue?

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"Denver has one of the highest teen-pregnancy rates in the state."

C&Q: This is interesting. Does anyone know why this is? If the school district assumes it can change this statistic, do they know they are not a reason for it?

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"The district has a school for pregnant teens and new moms, Florence Crittenton School, but it has a waiting list. Plus, many students want to remain at the school where they started, said Head, the counselor at East.

Cherry Creek, Adams 12, Jefferson County and Douglas County school districts have policies in which students work with counselors and principals to devise plans that will keep them in school.

Several districts have special schools with child-care services for new moms. Others have programs that allow students to receive high-school credit.

"When a girl tells us she is pregnant, we advise her to work one on one with her counselor and go from there to see what they can work out," said Michelle Ancell, spokeswoman for Cherry Creek Schools.

"The counselor plays middleman between the principal and the student," said Melissa Reeves of Jefferson County Schools, who added that the district has started a computer-based credit-recovery program that students can use during evening hours.

Douglas County has had a program for 19 years called WINGS, or Winning in New Growth Situations, that offers support and instruction for the girls once a week, allowing them to earn elective credits in nutrition and parenting. The program has 20 students, said coordinator Susan Anderson.

The district has a school that begins at 4:30 p.m. for new parents that is attached to Highlands Ranch High School. Students also are able to stay in their schools, but that is not easy for many new moms...."

C&Q: All of these services. Some for 19 years. Might give some credence to the previous question.

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And last but not least, the question arises:

"If there are young mothers asking for maternity leave, the board should listen to them," said Lori Casillas, executive director of the Colorado Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting, and Prevention. "If they think it is a barrier to graduation, the board should look at that."

Her organization advocates that schools provide child-care services for new moms. Too many girls drop out after giving birth, and schools must do something to keep them, Casillas said.

Students at one high school in southern Colorado wanted to set up a child-care center, but the principal forbade it, saying it would encourage teen pregnancy, she said.

"There is no evidence that has ever happened," Casillas said. "I don't think schools have been proactive at creating policies that encourage young mothers to remain in school. Schools need to say, 'What if you do come back, then what?'

"Schools need to say, 'This is what we do to support your learning.' That's not happening."

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C&Q: Which side of this issue is the principal who thinks setting up a child-care center would encourage teen pregnancy come down on? Could this be the same argument used by those who say that teaching birth control encourages sexual activity which leads to pregnancy? Is teen pregnancy related to moral upbringing and other factors that public education systems shy away from? Or does any of these issues have any effect on the real reason that teen pregnancy is increasing?

Whats that young Spears girl's name? You know, the one that has a TV show and has the famous sister that can't afford underwear.

Sex - Can the Classroom overcome off campus Influences?

I am all for education. I am sure we have all heard the different myths that different cultures have about how girls get pregnant, home spun beliefs that certain positions and actions will prevent pregnancy and the same mis-guided beliefs to keep from getting STD's. Educated people recognize these false premises and think that proper education of these uneducated groups of people will have a significant effect on their sexual behavior.

I am all for education. But, from my understanding of history and when I continue to hear about current human sexual behavior that continues to occur even with strong outside influence to curb it, I must ask why.


I read this today: China Communists sacked for having too many children: state media

See article below.

While this article does not directly speak to the level of education of the people effected, one would think that in a group that contained "seven national and local lawmakers or political advisors" and "More party members, celebrities and well-off people", there would be a cursory level of sex knowledge.


But it does speak to a 30 year plus, "harsh punishments and brutal methods to enforce it", policy that for some reason "has been routinely ignored in recent years in rural areas, while increasing numbers of China's urban new rich have been able to afford the requisite fines for violating the rules."

When one looks at sexual behavior of groups of people, cultural, social and economic factors may have more influence than sex education.

Are we to believe that if these people that violated the government policy had more sex education, they would not have had more than one child?

Is one to believe that these parents were not educated in the policy? And, since education didn't work, harsher consequences and polices will follow.

Understanding true influences on sexual behavior may be a key on how to effectively address changing it.



Article in full:
"Authorities in a central China province have expelled hundreds of people from the Communist Party or their government posts for having more than one child, state media said Monday.
At least 93,084 people in Hubei province last year had more children than they were allowed under the policy of one per family, Xinhua news agency said quoting the provincial family planning commission.

They included 1,678 officials or party members, it added, saying about 500 had been expelled from the party and 395 stripped of their official posts.

Previous reports said the officials had also been fined.

The violators included seven national and local lawmakers or political advisors, Xinhua added.

"More party members, celebrities and well-off people are violating the policies... which has undermined social equality," commission director Yang Youwang was quoted as saying.

No information was given as to the punishments meted out to the more than 90,000 other people in Hubei who violated the "one-child" policy last year.

China's family planning policy began in the late 1970s as a way to control the world's largest population, now at 1.3 billion people.

Generally, urban families can have one child and rural families can have two if the first is a girl. About 400 million births have been averted thanks to the policy, the government has said.

But in recent years the policy has been routinely ignored in rural areas, while increasing numbers of China's urban new rich have been able to afford the requisite fines for violating the rules.

Chinese parents have traditionally favoured large families -- and sons, in particular -- to support them in their old age.

The policy has been notorious from the start for the harsh punishments and brutal methods used to enforce it, such as forced late-term abortions and the sterilisation of women.

Several areas of the poor southern province of Guangxi erupted in riots last year after officials launched a harsh crackdown to enforce the policy, with residents saying forced abortions were among the methods used by authorities.