Bird Droppings April 3, 2026
Should we sharpen the machete or bring a really big shovel?

I have been reflecting on the concept of critical pedagogy, and in that reflection, I recall an incident nearly 55 years ago that calls to mind my interpretation and understanding of what we, as teachers, are all about. I purchased a book in 1972 or so about a teaching method that, for me, was what teaching was all about. The book was Foxfire 2, a collection of mountain lore and life. The editor was a man who went into North Georgia to teach English and ended up creating a teaching method, or I should say edited a teaching concept, in that much of what he developed was previously suggested and implemented with John Dewey.

Elliott Wigginton started teaching in 1966 with a method that incorporated the students into the learning process. I am sitting at my computer writing, and in a few days I will be headed back up to North Georgia, only miles from where this idea for teaching began.

“When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.” Anthony J. D’Angelo

In movies set in the jungle, the leader has a machete and hacks through the undergrowth, clearing the way for the group following. D’Angelo is an author of sorts, an author who, as a senior at West Chester State University in Pennsylvania, wrote a paper, “Wellness Works”, which would become the basis for his ideas. While writing primarily about college life, he also offered bits of wit to help folks make it through the day. He is the Author of The College Blue Book and the inspirational series; we are creating a new kind of “school” for a new kind of world. It just so happens that my college career started at West Chester State as well. Although in my feeble attempt at education, I was asked not to return and ended up facing a physical military draft, only to find that I was physically unfit for military service.

“After all, the world as we know it is less than 15 years old. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down, and in 1995, the World Wide Web went up. It is a completely new world for us all. With this new world comes new challenges. With these new challenges come new ways of educating people for the future, and it is our every intention to be at the forefront of this educational revolution. The 20th Century was about Content, but the 21st Century is about Context.” Anthony J. D’Angelo

As I read through the website about empowerment, I encountered many interesting ideas and thoughts. That last line hit me like a ton of bricks. John Dewey said the same thing nearly a hundred years ago. Context is the critical component, not content.

“Most College Students Get a Degree, But Not an Education.” Anthony J. D’Angelo

The basis and rationale of his thoughts centered on the fact that nearly one-third of college students drop out. His writings and training (coaching) are meant to change that. Going back nearly 100 years, another educational revolutionary had similar thoughts. John Dewey offered a very similar constraint to Content versus Context with his take on constructivism.

“Learners who can adapt quickly by learning in a complex world are more likely to adapt to changing conditions and survive as an individual.” Martin Dougiamas, A Journey into Constructivism

It has been quite a few days, possibly years, since I walked in my yard to show some friends from the South Georgia coast my ever-growing herb garden. I was pulling a few leaves here and there, comparing different types of thyme and mint, but it was still a matter of dodging raindrops and our dog running between my legs, trying to get back in the house. My friends had been at the amusement park all day and were worn out, but hamburgers and hot dogs off the Bird Nest grill, a few minutes catching up, and we were into old stories and somehow reptiles. It seems my oldest and my good friend, who had come by, are both amateur herpetologists, and snake talk can go on for hours. As I stood thinking just before going to bed that night, it was so quiet other than the dripping of the rain on the house and from trees and shrubs. It was an ethereal undertaking, walking out into the remnants of that evening’s rain.

“Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore, learning must start with the issues around which students are actively trying to construct meaning.” On Purpose Associates

Looking at the surroundings yesterday morning as I walked through the house checking to see if the dog needed to go out for her morning constitutional, I saw the light, or I should say my senses saw light. I can accept that thought, and or pursue why and how I saw a light. Perhaps the batteries are low, and it is only a glimmer of light. When I was teaching high school, I started a daily log for each of my students, recording events that happened in my various classrooms. While focusing on education, I would also note any important events or happenings involving that student. I thought daily life would be a little different after reading D’Angelo’s thoughts. At the same time, he focused on college students; the application could be made to a lesser degree to my students who are at high risk of not graduating from high school. By pushing that envelope further, we have people at risk of losing their lives.

“The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her meaning, not just memorize the ‘right’ answers and regurgitate someone else’s meaning. Since education is inherently interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure learning is to make the assessment part of the learning process, ensuring it provides students with information on the quality of their learning.” On Purpose Associates

As a teacher, I often found myself saying This is my classroom”, and you will do as I say. I have even gone so far as to declare back in the day, when I had a trailer, my room was an independent kingdom, and I issued money, Mr. Bird bucks. I still have the crown, although it currently resides on a rather large stuffed antelope head (an eland) on my classroom wall. However, in the process of declaring an independent kingdom from the rest of the school, we as a group signed a declaration of independence. While I said my classroom, in effect, the room had become the students’ classroom.

“I believe that all education proceeds by the participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race. This process begins unconsciously almost at birth and continually shapes the individual’s powers, saturating his consciousness, forming his habits, training his ideas, and arousing his feelings and emotions. Through this unconscious education, the individual gradually comes to share in the intellectual and moral resources that humanity has succeeded in gathering. He becomes an inheritor of the funded capital of civilization. The most formal and technical education in the world cannot safely depart from this general process. It can only organize it or differentiate it in some particular direction.” John Dewey

Do I want to accept the light from the night or pursue finding out more? I recall that, just before school was out, I spent the better part of my planning period on the phone with a parent. This student has been a problem for all his teachers; numerous physiological reasons can quickly be brought to our attention, and various unnecessary medications have been prescribed over the years. In high school, with four different teachers and different outlooks of perception, we have a student being daily assessed by four people and four world views. On a particular bad day, I jotted down behaviors that were issues. At some point, his medications came up, and the student commented that he felt they were the issue, not his behavior. You might say, “The medicine made him do it”. He has often found excuses for his behavior, as we all do.

“When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.” Anthony J. D’Angelo

I find myself a renegade in high school, unwilling to accept the viewpoints of four other good teachers without investigating. I always dig deeper into the issues of the student’s behavior. Upon referring to a handy Physician’s Desk Reference, PDR, eight of the behavior issues were side effects of his medications, and all of the medications were recommended for adults. Indicated in bold lettering, there are warnings that this medication may cause drowsiness and that you should not operate equipment while taking this medication. The problem this student was being referred for every day was sleeping in class. We gave this student ISS for sleeping and for making comments about not being able to think straight. All day long, we hack at leaves; I tell friends in the north about kudzu. It is so hard to describe a plant that hacking at the leaves only infuriates it; it seems to grow faster. Add to it a couple of tropical storms and hurricanes’ worth of water dumped on it, and it helps as well. But whether in education or in family, we need to look beyond traditional means. It is about Context versus Content, borrowing from D’Angelo and, of course, John Dewey.

I was speaking with my son many years ago about teenage issues as we rode home from a band practice. It is so easy to say one thing, hack off leaves, and never really get to the roots. He asked me why our county has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates. I often lack education or show indifference to responsibility, and I focus on the moment we have so ingrained in our kids and lifestyles. A year or two later, I am dealing with the issue personally with my son. Maybe I should have offered Context and less Content discussing pregnancy. So, I walked out today, wondering why it is so bright outside. We also need to look at Context. We also need to review why we keep sharpening the machete instead of looking for a shovel, and as I finish today, ‘harm’ is an elusive word.

A child raised in an environment where tomorrow is questionable, is that harm? Students who say whatever and quit school, do they harm? Young men and women fighting in various wars around the world are they harming themselves as well as those around them? Refugees in Sudan are tying shelters together with sticks, thread, and leaves. Is that harm? I wonder if we even care at times, more worried about the trivial pieces of life, what shirt or shoes to wear? So today, please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts, and be sure to give thanks, namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,
Mitakuye Oyasin
(We are all related)
docbird