The Academy. And Such.

So today starts the first of my posts on FREE THINGS TO DO IN SF.... glory be!

If a gal's gonna be unemployed she can't spend all her time thinking about her predicament and what's next on the whirligig o' life. She's gotta get out and bust a move - seek inspiration - LIVE!

For those of you who have not been to the much hyped California Academy of Sciences, I say "what is you waiting for?!"

I do start with a warning though - for those of you who would rather do many an unspeakable thing before being crowded into a public space with lots of tourists and small children I say this place is not for you. However, for those of you who can, with Zen-like mindfulness, wade through the mass of screaming youngsters and exhausted mommies and shuffling Sheboyganites without a care, the Academy of Sciences is truly a wonder to behold.

One part aquarium, one part terrarium, one part planetarium and all parts a big phat sustainability project, the Academy delights. Where else in the world can you see an albino alligator accompanied by the eloquent reaction, "DUDE! THAT IS HELLA WEIRD!!".

Hella weird indeed. The collection of species in the Academy is impressive. Overwhelming even. In a country where fewer than 25% of us hold passports, here is a place where we can, without the airfare and currency exchange, experience some sense of the vastness of the world outside our safely constructed cities and suburbs. The sheer number, beauty and variety of the collection here is remarkable.

As I was marveling at this beautiful public works project, I began to think about education. Here was a place trying mightily to educate people (mostly children it seems) on the huge scope of the world around them. I also began to think about how education, by and large, is failing us on so many levels. I have recently become intensely focused on and interested in education reform. The problems with education today are significant - rather than enumerate them here I've included a clip of a great Ted talk by the president of my alma mater, Bennington College, at the bottom of the page detailing the current state of liberal arts education today.

So, as I strolled through the exhibits today, I started to reflect on my own education and how I ended up at Bennington and I realized that part of the journey included, interestingly enough, the absolute indoctrination of me by my parents as a savvy consumer. So when I went to look at colleges I really approached the task as a fairly sophisticated "buyer". The advantage, of course, was that I devised a process for myself that ensured that I would find as close to the right fit for my educational (and I use that term broadly) goals as I could.

As I was sliding past the Stonefish and the I- Don't-Remember-Its-Name Scary Pretty Eel,

I extrapolated that idea out to one of the possible root causes (and potential solutions) around how we have ended up in such a state of affairs in higher education. While we live largely in a market-based educational system we certainly don't encourage a lot of sophistication on the part of the buyer (namely young people graduating from high school) as they jump into the market. Therefore the education market can be shaped, unevenly it seems, by the demands of business for a particular set of skills, the pressure of not-terribly-self-aware parents or by the sometimes fickle interests of academia. There seems to be very little "upward" pressure from the actual consumer to demand a particular type of education that truly produces the kind of critically-minded engaged citizens required of a functioning democracy.

So, it seems that part of creating long lasting education reform at the undergraduate level is to start creating at a young age the ability for students to be discerning about what they expect from their "suppliers". (For those of you skeptical about young people's ability to articulate qualitative distinction just ask a couple of twelve year olds to debate the differences between an XBox and a PS3 and be ready for a crtitical analysis worthy of dissertation). Yes, the market- based system is unlikely to go away very soon and actually it is that same system that could be one of education reforms most powerful allies. The awakening of the young en masse to the fact that education is more than discreet skill building - that it is, in fact, a gateway to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness at its most fundamental and most rich level is an awakening that can bring about more change than any top-down strategy could ever hope to achieve.

What does this have to do with my visit to the museum today? Not much probably. But I'm happy to find inspiration wherever I can get it. If while in the company of a "hella weird" white alligator, even the better.

The California Academy of Sciences

(third Wednesday of each month free)

55 Music Concourse Drive

Golden Gate Park

San Francisco, CA 94118

415-379-8000

info@calacademy.org