[with accompanying schematic drawing]

An Adventure in Excellence:	E. Todd
A Community Portrait	1997

Rationale for Care Statements: . . . . .

"If we are to become a civilized political community we must be committed to the use of purposeful anger as the catalyst for democratic political activities. The responsibilities of political participation in a political community belong to everyone whose lives are affected by the public schools."

(Todd, 1995)

Definitions: "Politics . . . ." "Political participation . . . ." "A political community . . . ." "An angry community . . . ."

"A civilized community . . . ." "A democratic community . . . ."

Politics is the process of influencing and being influenced within an interacting communication network of human beings and the translation of compromises into acceptable changes by a majority of individuals being changed." (Todd, 1969, 1985).

"My argument rests on a fundamental and, I think, unassailable assumption about education: namely, that all educational practices are profoundly political in the sense that they are designed to produce one sort of human being rather than another--which is to say, an educational system always proceeds from some model of what a human being ought to be like. In the broadest sense, a political ideology is a conglomerate of systems for promoting certain modes of thinking and behavioe. And there is no system I can think of that more directly tries to do this than the schools. There is not one thing that is done to, for, with, or against a student in school that is not rooted in a political bias, ideology, or notion. This includes everything from the arrangement of seats in a classroom, to the rituals practiced in the auditorium, to the textbooks used in lessons, to the dress required of both teachers and students, to the tests given, to the subjects that are taught, and, most emphatically, to the intellectual skills that are promoted." (Postman, 1970).

Consequences: If the human beings whose lives are affected by the public school accept these definitions the following consequences will occur at _______________________________:

(1.) . . . .

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The Assumptions/Implications section can be substituted for the Beliefs/Actions section of a community portrait.

The following assumptions are the basis for the development of public schools as political communities:

1. A central belief of the American people has been the notion that education is the avenue for success in the adult world.

2. Public schools cannot be removed from the political arena because there are various groups of human beings whose lives are affected by public schools.

3. Parental aspirations for their children ultimately come to fruition or abandonment in the public schools.

4. As a result of the United States being an open society, there is increased attention being given by the media to the problems and successes of elementary and secondary schools.

5. As political communities the public schools are no longer islands unto themselves because of the continuing pressures of internal and external forces. The public schools have become national battlegrounds for resolving pressing societal issues.

6. The United States is a pluralistic society with inclusion and diversity serving as unifying and dividing strands of a human fabric of unfilled and fulfilled dreams of human beings whose lives are affected by societal institutions.

7. There is conflict between and within different groups of human beings whose lives are affected by public schools about the answers to educational questions which affect the public schools.

8. The decision-making process at the building level is becoming more mandated, conflict-laden, and time consuming.

9. . . . .

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Each major assumption has one or more curriculum implications for the public schools.

These curriculum implications are as follows:

1. . . . .

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A public school has the potential for becoming a civilized political community when the following conditions exist:

1. The system of educational ideas evolves from (1) care statements, (2) definitions and consequences, and (3) beliefs and actions of civilized human beings.

2. Professional and support personnel are employed not only for their professional competence but also for their potential for . . . .

3. Members of the political community support the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.

4. The curriculum . . . .

5. School board members . . . .

6. . . . .

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Each community portrait will contain a description of a political dimension as follows:

1. The political dimension of a democratic community can be described as . . . . (See Appendix ________).

2. The political dimension of a civilized community can be described as . . . . (See Appendix _________).

3. The political dimension of an angry community can be described as . . . . (See Appendix ________).

4. . . . .

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"The curriculum can be defined as the planned educational experiences offered by a school which can take place anywhere at any time in the multiple context of the school, e.g. public schools as caring communities, as political communities . . . . (Todd, 1965, 1992).

"The physical boundaries of political classrooms exist only in the minds of those human beings whose lives are affected by the public schools." (Todd, 1956, 1995). "Teaching and learning can take place anywhere at any time (Todd, 1963).

"The world is the classroom." (Todd, 1969). "The universe is the classroom." (Todd, 1981, 1995).

"Before we can care for each other we must care about each other. Before we can become a caring community we must be individuals who not only care for human beings but also care for ideas, places, things, animals, etc." (Todd, 1987)

"Political activists must be committed to the development of the multiple community portraits of the public schools. The activation of the multiple community portraits can facilitate successful political behavior in the public schools of democratic school systems." Todd, 1995.

Since we can only speculate about the unlimited possibilities for educational experiences which could facilitate . . . in the third millennium we believe that future classrooms can be described as follows:

" . . . . . . ."

". . . . . . . "

". . . . . . ."