We live right next to the bike path that runs around
Spring Lake. The other day I witnessed the following scene that gave me a laugh. A parent and child were riding on a tandem bike (that I have since learned is sometimes called a
tag-along). The funny part was that the parent was exerting a great deal of effort to keep the bike moving while the child had his head on the handlebars and his feet off the pedals. I did not have my camera handy, so I took a mental picture and later drew the following:
Of course, like any snapshot, it is difficult to tell what happened before that led to the scene or what happened after. But as almost always happens, it got me to thinking about education. I saw the picture as a metaphor for what seems to happen this time of year in a lot of classrooms. Before I go on, I wonder if you see what I see.
What a great metaphor for many of the classrooms we see in schools today! Love it!
ReplyDeleteWould love to see a reworked image of the student in the front seat with the teacher as the guide on the side, so to speak.
I see two immediate interpretations of this picture: the students have checked out and are waiting for the ride to be over while the teachers have their eyes planted firmly on the end goal. Or, the student are so weary by the end of the year that they collapse in exhaustion and the teachers work twice as hard to get them where they're going. Either way, time passes and we all get to the 'finish'- whatever that is.
ReplyDelete=) How did I do?
To expand on Erin's idea, I think that a particularly unnerving thing about this image is the idea that the teacher isn't looking back to see what's going on with the student.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's worth noting, too, that the student is the one in the passive role, literally tagging along and having no say in what direction the bike goes.