[MUSIC] I remember dropping my daughter off to school for the first time, wishing her well, a kiss on her forehead, years of love at home, so special. [MUSIC] And now this public place of strangers. Would she be happy? Would her unique spirit be nurtured, a progressive spirit? [MUSIC] [SOUND] >> Okay, okay, Mike. Enough with the syrupy, memory lane stuff. Sure, the school should meet your child's needs, but what about the rest of us? We have an interest too, that she grows into a solid, productive citizen. We have to live with her too. What about our collective spirit? >> But shouldn't the school meet my, her needs above all else? I'm the parent after all, the client. >> Sure. A client with my tax dollars, I also need to have some say as to what she studies, where, and how. We need all our citizens well-prepared and saluting the same flag. >> Who's getting emotional now? Look, we raised our daughter in Spanish. Can the school maintain that? Will the school respect our religious values? How much do we have to melt in this melting pot? >> Melting schmelting. More like an orchestra anyway. But let's share some sheet music, okay? We don't want your kid playing some odd, expensive instrument off-key while the rest are plugging away at the Star Spangled Banner with used trumpets. >> But we need to get her ready for the globalized world, across multiple languages and cultures, multiple nations, norms, and values. How else can we compete? >> But not at the expense of our norms, our values, our community. Good to see you. >> Good to see you, long time. [MUSIC] >> Hello, I'm John Puckett. >> And I'm Mike Johanek. >> Nowadays when we hear about charter schools, vouchers, accountability, equity, and academic standards issues that fill newspaper headlines, talk shows and political debates, we do well to recall that each has deep roots in the past. >> In this course, we dig into struggles that, over the course of several hundred years, have shaped today's schools in the US. >> Powerful economic, social, and demographic forces were in play. >> Forcing tough trade-offs, battles over visions, struggles over competing interests. >> So how do we build one nation, indivisible that respects and celebrates our great cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity? >> Or tap the free market's energy, to stimulate innovation, serve diverse private interests in customized ways, while also preserving the public's interests in fairness, access, shared democratic development. >> Or avert central government tyranny. Building our own local communities, while avoiding the tyranny of local prejudice, the inequities of local resources. >> Each historic struggle pivots around such tensions, as do our present debates, whether in the US, or any other country. Though rooted in US struggles, this course will give our global audience a set of powerful lenses for understanding the dynamics of educational change in their own countries. >> Mike and I hope you will join our conversation. [MUSIC]
