Promising Futures

The Maine Commission on Secondary Education’s Promising Futures shows and discusses improvements that Maine Education programs need to make, based on a fourteen-month examination the board made. Maine students are to often memorizing information, following a routine, and functioning in isolation in their classrooms. Promising Futures breaks down what educators can do to maximize the learning potential of Maine secondary students. The Maine commission first recognized eight core principles that form when students are successful in education. These principles promote high standards for academics, social and personal skills, and knowledge. The commission developed fifteen core practices that if used by schools, students will have the ability to meet all the standards of the Maine Learning Results, and will graduate high school prepared for a productive future. The first eight principles focus more on learning and teaching practices that should be used throughout education; the last seven are practices that are essential for the faculty to do to help the success of the first eight. After breaking down and discussing each principle, the Commission than gives recommendations of ways to change schools environments and inserting the practices and principles into everyday education in Maine. It includes “phase outs, (things you should not do)” and things that need to be done outside school walls to assure that a comprehensive school education is being put in place. At the very end the Commission breaks down eight observations it made on Maine schools throughout the study, and discusses how a comprehensive school education can improve them.
While reading, I was really trying to look for something that I would disagree with or could debate against, but I could not find anything. Education can be very controversial, and when a document like this is written, there is often something that you may not agree with. After I finished reading, I thought about all the people out there who might not agree with any of their suggestions, and realized how lucky I was to basically have my educational philosophies and practices molded in the past four years around strategies that education specialist are trying to implement in schools today.
There are three core practices that stick out to me more than the others, and lately I feel as if I have been developing a good chunk of my philosophy around these three. The first is core practice 1. I thought the line where they said “adults must guide and trust, push and accommodate, and challenge and humor teenagers,” is a perfect explanation of what a teacher should be. I am starting to look at myself more as a guide, than an actual teacher, where the majority of my work will be outside the classroom finding ways for the students to understand the material in their own way using my resources. I feel this builds a respect between the students and adults, as well as gives them both a value for each other and the environment. The next two practices are 5 and 6. I feel these two build off of practice 1, by letting the students create their own environment for their success. Students need to succeed and fail to learn, and school is the best place for this. Students will have people in school and guardians at home who will help guide them to find themselves, but for the most part, students will learn on their own. Allowing the students to make a good portion of their decisions also better prepares them for life on their own. They will be the one making the decisions for America as they get older, and what better way to help them get ready than have smaller version in their school. I really love the idea of portfolios for graduation. Allowing the students to show in their own way how they meet all the Maine Learning Results would defiantly prove the students success and knowledge they have obtained throughout school.
(1998). Promising Futures: A Call to Improve Learning for Maine's Secondary Schools. Augusta, Maine: Maine Commission on Secondary Education.