Through my association with Child S.H.A.R.E. Indiana I have recently started researching the possibility of developing a charter school. Indianapolis is an exciting place for those who believe in charters, in that our Mayor can charter five schools a year.

It has been exciting for me to see the positive developments in education that are showing up, not just in charter schools, but in public schools around the country.  Schools around the world are actually starting to teach in ways that make sense to me, and seem to be exciting for children.  More importantly, there are schools that seem to really work.

This is a significant development for me because I never liked school very much while I was in it.  Much of my time was spent being bored out of my mind, even though I was exposed to some excellent human beings who were my teachers.

In spite of that, I went to college, received a teacher's degree, learned some really fun ways to teach, and then did my student teaching.  At that point, it became clear that none of those fun ways to teach would be accepted in the actual schools in the city.  That led to a career of teaching, coaching and consulting in other forums.

Many of the "new" methods being touted and implemented aren't really that new, but the fact that the current focus is on facilitating learning rather than teaching is exciting.  Singapore even has the model of "Teach Less, Learn More" to signify that it is learning not teaching that is important.  

We still have many issues to address.  For example, there are so many hours in a week, and children need to spend time with families.  This means that we can't just keep expanding content as the world produces more information.  We have to start doing like other countries who are outperforming us.  We have to help students learn a few subjects deeply and thoroughly, while helping them learn how to be capable, independent learners who can learn anything they need to learn.  

Education is important, and so is family time, play time, and other needs of child development.  As I explore these issues, I hope I remember to be a youth advocate first and educator second.  It is already showing itself to be quite a challenge.