Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see - Neil Postman
Well I had some fun at the bookstore today. On the shelves of the Current Affairs section I found Marc Cooper's: The Last Honest Place in America. It was not such a coincidence as I have recently discovered Cooper in the political bloggersphere, and am interested in his "take" on things. As I opened the first page it was extremely exciting to see that he dedicated the book:
To the memory of Neil Postman - for his ability to see through the glare and hear beyond the clatter
Reading those words stirred up some emotion as I stood in the bookstore and thought back to 18 years ago.
I heard Postman speak at a conference about technology and early childhood in 1987 in Israel. I had been working as a preschool/kindergarten teacher with the Ministry of Education for ten years, and on June 30 that year was embarking on a well-earned sabbatical. I had plans! The next day I gathered up towels and swim suits, fresh croissants and a big bunch of grapes, and went down to the sea. I came home at sundown, brown as a berry, with hair as wild as ever, tired out from romping in salty water and building sand castles with a friend's children.
The telephone rang. It was my supervisor. I was surprised to hear her voice. It was summer vacation and the beginning of my sabbatical (in Israel all teachers receive sabbatical leaves). She told me that the next day there was a conference. She was supposed to host a visiting professor from America and was unable to do it. Being from Argentina, she spoke no English - only Spanish and Hebrew. She asked if I would help her out.
I sighed a deep sigh. I really did not want to do this. It was going to take up the next five days of my precious summer. I had never been to a conference before and was not interested. However, there was no way I was able to refuse her. I jumped in the shower, donned a summer dress and raced out the door to drive with Zehava to meet Dr. Spodek. I had no idea at the time that he was one of our early childhood giants. What a scholar! Zehava introduced me to him and I became his host. While I was transporting Spodek to and from the conference, we talked about child development, curriculum and early childhood environments. He seemed to be listening to what I had to say with great respect. I could not believe it. After all, I was just a lowly practitioner and he was an academic - an intellectual - and yet he seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.
On the second day of the conference, Neil Postman gave his keynote speech. The conference was in his honor. Our head supervisor, had read his book and wanted teachers to understand the importance of what he had to say. I was inspired by Postman. He talked about so many things that were relevant to early childhood educators. His critique of technology was enlightening. I learned that when Gilad watched television I must sit and talk to him about what he was seeing to encourage a questioning and analytical mind. I remembered Postman's passionate concern that the American people voted for a President based on how he presented himself on television! Recently I heard Robert Redford talking about remaking The Candidate and how it is based on that same premise today, 18 years later. I did not want Postman to stop talking. I could have listened to him for three hours. I was starving for education!
A few days later while I was filling in for my supervisor at a reception of the conference I met a former student of Spodek who invited me to the University at Buffalo to study for my PhD.
By June 1988, I had emigrated to America with Gilad to embark on a new life!
Imagine if I had refused to accompany Zehava that evening in July when I returned from the beach?
Comments