That post about superintendent transparency, I mean. I’m not gonna delete it. But to be honest, it felt forced. And the thinking felt thin.
I shouldn’t have put it up.
And then I saw Stephen’s pointer to this. Deadly transparency? Not good.
At some points, this all gets too complex for my feeble brain. What exactly are we to make of all of this? I know how powerful it’s been for me, in my own life. But at every turn, what I hear are mountains of reasons why it’s not gonna work. Why we can’t. Why we shouldn’t.
Ultimately, this isn’t about blogging and Web 2.0 as much as it is about a culture, an anger, a fear that these tools make writ large. That’s the thing. It should be about learning. Instead it’s about the disruption.
What do we do with that?
Since I saw your link in the comments I have been following all the threads of this story…..wow…..is all I have to say. Frightening, disheartening, scary, a real chilling affect certainly….
I still think you, we are on the right path but this makes you revaluate for sure….
Well… we are talking about public institutions. A school district should be transparent in many ways. They already are in many cases. That’s why we have public school board meetings, public records laws, etc. There is considerable space for blogging by superintendents that, quite frankly, doesn’t amount to much more than taking things they’d be saying in meeting rooms and putting it on the web, which would still be helpful and easy to implement.
Will,
I don’t think you need to take it back. That’s what is great about what we do here. We discuss, mull over, search and postulate. I agree that what is happening to particular people is wrong and we need to work on correcting this. However, it doesn’t mean that we stop. It means that, as we progress along the path, we educate and discuss. We learn, even from the bad, so that the future is better. We’re going in a way that is new and, ultimately scary. I never know who will read my posts, who will take exception, what might happen. But, I feel that to do it any other way would not be me. It’s not for everyone which is what makes me keep looking and reading and evolving. As I said earlier, it’s a double-edged sword. Let’s work with that to make this medium more condusive to transparency without backlash. Just don’t expect that to happen quickly.
No need to take it back. These issues are not simple (and no number of bloggers can make them so).
Will,
I suddenly have been made aware of the mean-spiritness, nastiness, and cruelty of some adults who claim to be professionals. I have seen this in the schools and in the posts (I read the Dangerously Irrelevant blog). I think this is just more evidence that we need to work on developing community and tolerance based on understanding one another and others’ cultures. We now have wonderful tools to break down barriers and open up avenues for communication for our kids. I think our best shot is with our younger people. Yes, it will be challenging and difficult, but what are the options? See you in a few weeks in class!
It’s crazy. I read about the Kathy Sierra situation about 2 hours after doing a “what web 2.0 means to my personal learning” piece at a conference. I love explaining web 2.0 in the context of The Cluetrain Manifesto. To hear/learn/read that one of the co-authors is among those mentioned (I can’t stress that enough…there’s so much that’s not yet understood about this situation) made me very sad.
Will
Today on Air America’s Thom Hartmen show (starts 1pm) he will have a guest on to discuss the benifits and perils of transparency in goverment. Might be of interest to you as you struggle with this issue. Not sure at what point in the 3 hour program this will appear.
I thought this attitude only prevails in South Africa! It is “comforting” to note that it seems to be a universal problem.
Will,
Regardless of how disheartened you may feel about this particular subject or your post, let’s look at something else: You have drummed up some very thought-provoking questions and some great dialog.
That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Heck no, we don’t have the answers right now, and we are seeing definite sticking points, but as you continue to gather and increase the size of this group of us that are scratching our heads, someone will eventually have a “light bulb momentâ€. We’re bound to make improvements over time.
I brought this subject up to the administrative team in my district to get their thoughts and it was the first time they’ve ever discussed blogging with me.
Opening doors and eyes…
Thanks!