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=A Race to Nowhere?=

Goal
The goal of this wiki is to encourage thoughtful discussion of issues raised by the movie A Race to Nowhere. While the movie certainly gets everyone who sees it to recognize aspect of the world we live in, it raises so many issues, so quickly, that it does not go deeply into any of them. And of course, it aims to describe a situation at the national level, rather than what is happening in our local community. Finally, it tries to get people concerned, and discussing the problem, so it appeals to the emotions and focuses on perhaps atypical students.

In this wiki, I invite members of our community to comment on the issues with the aid of some technologies that seem to me helpful in channeling the discussion. By use of discussion forums, I hope to focus comments by topic, so we can deepen the consideration of each issue, rather than getting lost in a confused tangle of issues. By use of wiki technology, I hope to encourage participants in the discussion to post relevant documents for others to read and see. By use of online surveying technology, I will try to capture our community's sense of the degree to which the claims made in A Race to Nowhere apply to our school community.

Privacy and security issues
To make this site accessible and appealing for potential participants, I have NOT made it viewable by members only. This means that anyone who has the URL can read any of the comments! I strongly suggest that you do not use your full name as a user name if you make a comment. You may even want to avoid using your first name and last name initial, as even that may be traced by someone; use a nickname or made-up name instead. Also, avoid writing the names of our school, community or other specifics that could be used by someone to infringe on someone else's privacy. Note that this kind of anonymity may lower the obstacles to being frank and honest about these sometimes difficult issues, which is probably good. However, naturally you should be serious and respectful in all your contributions. Do note that all activity on this site is automatically archived, and inappropriate comments and users will be removed.

What You Can Do On This Website
The website is organized by topic, and the topics are listed below. By clicking on a topic on this list, you will be taken to another webpage dedicated to that particular topic. You can contribute to the discussion by posting material (for example, a digital copy of a magazine article) on that wiki webpage--but this is not the place to contribute a comment! To view and contribute to the online discussion about that topic, click on the "Discussion" tab while on the webpage of the topic that interests you. This will take you to the Discussion.

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Everyone can view the wiki webpages and contribute to the Discussion forums, but only members of this wiki can edit pages–which includes adding suggested reading material to the topic webpages. If you want to become a member, you will need to contact me and identify yourself. Click on "Join this wiki" above, and send me an email if the username you are using does not adequately identify you to me.=====

When you think you have read and reflected sufficiently about the issues, take the online survey. Click [|here] if you're faculty, and [|here] if you're a student.

You can also watch videos made of TOK classes discussing many of these issues, at the Vimeo album, [|here]. The password is "wfs".

Topics
I have summarized what seemed to me the main claims made in the movie, and assembled them under some general categories. Click on the topic to contribute: You may want to provide evidence from your own experience, point out ways that our community differs, or express a different standpoint than the film's. Don't feel obliged to agree or disagree; question and analyze the claims!

Causes of the problem

 * 1) The "system" (school and parental rules) pressures all kids to achieve an unrealistic standard of success.
 * 2) Parents are afraid that their children will not be as successful as they were.
 * 3) There is enormous pressure to grow up to make a lot of money and have a big house.
 * 4) During the school years, we define success in terms of high grades, test scores and trophies.
 * 5) We are teaching the majority of kids as if they were the top 2%; every kid is expected to be supersmart and go on to great colleges.
 * 6) The pressure begins very early and never lets up, stage by stage, with no end in sight.
 * 7) There is pressure to perform across multiple areas: academics, sports, arts, extracurriculars, service, self-knowledge, social popularity. Schools say "you're dedicating your life to your grades", and sports says "no, you're dedicating your whole life to us!".
 * 8) It's important for kids to have unstructured time. Play is a critical part of life that is increasingly being lost.
 * 9) There is great social pressure to pretend everything is good. Social media are teaching kids how they have to look, how they have to think.
 * 10) Kids learn not to show how they are really doing, and many of them are unhappy and unsuccessful.

Major effects of the problem

 * 1) The current system of "perform and produce" leaves out the learning. Curriculum goals are set up in such a way that is "component-skills"-based. This leads to teaching that is fragmented and on a check-off list for testing, which doesn't get kids interested in long-term learning.
 * 2) The primary way we now teach kids is to prepare them for the test, especially in math and science.
 * 3) Teachers are forced to prepare kids for "the test", because that is how their jobs are defined, and how their bonuses are based.
 * 4) There is an overemphasis on homework, driven by multiple factors: the content standards, pressure from parents ("you're not doing your job as a teacher unless you're giving my kid homework"), the standards-driven approach championed by No Child Left Behind.
 * 5) Many students are "doing school": cramming and doing well on tests but not really learning.
 * 6) Young people need a lot of sleep but under these pressures, they are getting much less than they need.
 * 7) Many kids are dropping out of the system in various ways; boys tend to "act out" and girls tend to become depressed.
 * 8) Activities that actually get kids to think and care are excluded from school.
 * 9) Tutoring teaches kids that there are formulas, that they are not able to think by themselves.
 * 10) Most, or almost all, kids cheat.
 * 11) Kids cheat because they have too much work and the pressure is too great. Others consider that the teacher doesn't care, it's just busy work.
 * 12) High school is preparation not for college but for college admissions.
 * 13) If a student doesn't get into her dream school, it is perceived as major failure.
 * 14) The only unstructured time kids have is on their computer.
 * 15) Kids are not getting the time to discover what they really love.