Wounded By School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing Up to Old School CultureAuthor: Kristen OlsonGenre: Education Publisher: Teachers College Press Released: April 4, 2009 |
A Review by Kim Lumpkin
07/10/2009
Beginning with "Charlotte," a high school student in an affluent town who was labeled with a reading disorder in second grade that haunted her throughout the rest of her school years, Olson presents a series of case studies of current and former students who have been psychically and emotionally "wounded" by schools that focused on their weaknesses rather than their strengths, making what should have been a time of growth and discovery one of shame and blame instead.
The format of the book is very straightforward and reader friendly. Besides the anecdotal examples, Olson provides checklists of the kinds of wounds schools and well-meaning teachers inflict on kids, how the school perpetuates the damage, and, most importantly, how schools, teachers, parents, and the students themselves can identify their own wounding or wounded behavior and what they can do to overcome it. Far from portraying students as helpless victims, Olson's approach is one of empowerment. Despite advances in technology and a wealth of information about different learning styles, schools have been operating basically the same way for many years, and changing them is a big, slow, and complex process that requires the involvement of everyone. There is encouraging evidence that this has been going on (one example of an experimental Midwestern school founded by the Bill Gates Foundation is particularly intriguing), but considering the rapid rate at which the world is changing, we need to pick up the pace.
There was a time when I would have felt Olson was being very over dramatic in describing how schools wound kids, and that she must have chosen some especially sensitive ones to make her point. But as a high school reading specialist, I have seen over and over how kids will pretty much resort to anything to protect their fragile egos, acting like they don't care about school or their grades, when in reality they do very much. While not everyone may agree with Olson's ideas, there is no doubting her commitment to education and her belief that all kids can learn. If you know a parent, teacher, or child who doesn't share that belief, suggest they read this book…they're the ones who need it the most.
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