A Conversation with Richard Dreyfuss
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-01-24/conversation-richard-dreyfuss
When he was twelve years old, Richard Dreyfuss had four ambitions – to be an actor, to become a movie star, to go into politics and to become a history teacher. For the past fifty years, he’s been acting in theater and films. His credits include,"Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Mr. Holland’s Opus," and "The Goodbye Girl," for which he won an Oscar. Now he’s closing in on the rest of his goals. He’s launched an initiative to encourage a civics curriculum in public schools. And, he’s just made his debut at the Kennedy Center, narrating a piece written for the National Symphony Orchestra to mark the fiftieth anniversary of JFK's inauguration.
Guests
Richard Dreyfuss
actor and activist
Comments
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polarmama, I share your passion. As Mr. Opus said, our best is not good enough.
Though, I suggest a flaw in your reason. The education system cannot grant the right to good writing skills. It can only provide the lessons, opportunity to practice, and constructive feedback cycle. Good writing is a skill. Like all skills motivation and opportunity are required to become proficient.
My thesis describes a system with an opportunity. I don't claim to be a good writer. I'm willing to try. I'm willing to receive constructive feedback. I'm willing to iteratively improve my message to acquire articulance.
Here is one of many essays attempting to explain the idea.
The Humanity of Problem Solving
Riotous, and Darcy,
Henry Ford had a learning disability which could not be addressed via school. He was a genius, however and mostly home-schooled- as was Edison, whose behavior problems didn't help him cope with school either.Higher education can mean...beyond your formal schooling, or just reaching higher on your own.They did that.
But questioning how R. Dreyfuss managed to teach history.... will be interesting to research.
I think...the important thing here is the substance of R. Dreyfuss' speaking and the opportunity to join an already formed movement, lead by someone we already know, or can easily come to know - not his use of an undefined word, nor his schooling, but how correct he is about the importance and needs of the issues he is raising and addressing, and... will you get on board to help!?. We can't afford to wait for the perfect pitch leader to help lead us out of these major problems...we will never fix anything by waiting for that.I agree with the now 3 people very public figures, who have inspired me to do something, that learning from history and civic studies is crucial to our survival now, though long, long overdue.
I love Diane too, and her tremendous contributions. And I agree that lately I have found her to be non-questioning, non challenging to some key guests- very surprisingly, where I was sure she should and would and I wanted her to, but perhaps she had a higher reason. So let's tell her.
Let's remember, not to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Here are a couple of interesting website posts written by actual teachers of civics who had a similar reaction to mine, listening to Dreyfuss today.
http://cwmemory.com/2009/06/04/do-you-want-richard-dreyfuss-teaching-you...
"From the beginning Dreyfuss had difficulty staying on message and he alienated much of his audience when he asked for a volunteer to cite the Bill of Rights. That seemed to be sufficient reason to pound home his broader theme which is that the United States is doomed. There was actually very little talk of civics; rather he touched on what he sees as a lack of civil discourse. Well, who would disagree with that? However, if you are going to offer such a critique you must be the one to set the example. Again, he fell short. Student questions were not addressed in any substantive manner. "
http://publiceducationdefender.blogspot.com/2006/12/richard-dreyfus-to-r...
"If Dreyfuss wants to go on a campaign to convince kids that civics does matter, we would love to have his help. But to begin that campaign by simply repeating cliches that the subject isn't being taught well can only infuriate people like me who actually have to try to do the job."
I have no problem with supporting teaching all sorts of things in all sorts of schools better than they are taught currently, but Richard Dreyfuss will never be the spokesman for this movement because he will never gain the respect of the education community, because both his complaints and his solutions are vague and only marginally coherent.
Silence,
I understand you. But you misunderstood my meaning and misrepresented my words(paraphrasing, substituting your own words for mine). Addressing your argument: schools indeed are obligated to meet a students right to real education, and help them achieve at least basic communication skills, not just provide the lesson but, with the opportunity, inspire motivation to meet the students desires of learning, and their potential up to that age. AS a special needs teacher, I understand all the exceptions. From my cultural heritage of Appalachia...'a good writer' means... good enough to communicate through writing, to enjoy it, to be understood clearly. I did not say great, proficient or eloquent or worthy of authorship. With 8 whole hours daily, many have failed to help students write just basically well enough to do that. Students should graduate feeling empowered and able to continue managing their own learning further. Let's not quibble here. We need to help people like Mr D get on with it. Good luck. Done here.
I was so grateful for the discussion today with Richard Dreyfus. I wanted to comment that in addition to the political/philosophical and religious vocabularies, both of which address what it means to be human - how we get our identities and how we chose to express them in terms of community and individual, there is also the language or vocabulary of and the approach to the world through psychology, which is the domain of the micro communities of family and the self every much as it is of the macro communities of the urban, the regional, the national and the global.
Interestingly, The segment that is scheduled for tomorrow, the 25th Jan. with Aminata Forna, on the survival of trauma and the recovery of love is connected to this discussion, to the loss of civility, the need for history, and the expansion of compassion for the Other that allows us to bear witness to trauma and to turn it into something else, into something good, into art.
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Mr. Dreyfuss spoke about the need to be tolerant. It sounds good in theory, but I think we all would agree there are some things we should NOT be tolerant of: slavery, persecution of Jewish people, persecution of any people for that matter and yet for those of us who say we should also not tolerant abortion, pornography, to name a few we are called "intolerant." I hope people's eyes are beginning to open as to the slippery slope to immorality that is happening in this country. I pray some day instead of condemning us as extremists they will be thanking us for having the courage to speak up.