Michael Hynes is a visionary superintendent in the Patchogue-Medford public schools on Long Island in New York. He has written and spoken frequently about the importance of a healthy environment for children to learn and grow.
He writes here about the toxic environment caused by federal and state mandates and the mental health crisis in K-12.
Arne Duncan would say, in response, do we have the “courage” to test them more and close their schools.
Those who really put children first, decry testing and privatization, disruption and destabilization.
Now that we are fully aware of the failure of. O Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, it’s time to listen to the voices of wisdom and experience, not to those who think that life is a race, and the devil take the hindmost.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I do applaud Michael Hynes’ willingness to stand up for recess and free play, but there is nothing particularly “visionary” about it. It used to be commonly understood that children need a great deal of time to play, something completely non-controversial. Alfie Kohn and many others have been sounding the alarm and standing up against the onslaught of testing, homework, standardization, over-structure and lack of free play a lot longer than Hynes has.
In fact, “visionaries” are people we should avoid and generally exclude as often as possible. They are, by definition, people with a “vision” of something radically different, people who think they can single-handedly change the world in their own image. Gates, for instance, is a “visionary”.
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Dienne,
For a superintendent to fight the test score-high stakes regime in New York is indeed “visionary.” I applaud Michael Haynes and so should you, instead of nit-picking.
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Sigh. Diane, why do you not read what I write and instead argue with something I didn’t say? Let me repeat: “I do applaud Michael Hynes’ willingness to stand up for recess and free play.”
So, see, I did applaud Michael Hynes. My objection is not to Hynes, but to the word “visionary”. No, there’s nothing “visionary” about allowing children to play. It’s what humans have done since the beginning of our species. In any case, we don’t want “visionaries”. Again, let me repeat, visionaries are people who think they have a unique vision of the world that they alone are singularly qualified to carry out. To his credit, that is not Michael Hynes.
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In a time of despair, Hynes is a visionary.
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Let’s just say that Michael Hynes appears to have a vision of what good schooling looks like and that he is willing to go against the tide to uphold what he believes. We need more people in leadership positions on the local level who are willing (and/or able) to do the same.
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Very timely post for me. I am trying to find out what the costs of standardized testing is to my local school district. Unsurprisingly, my school board and superintendent couldn’t care less. They are more interested checking off boxes to adhere to state and national policies. One of the unanswered questions I have is what are we losing by following a flawed testing ideology. One obvious one is that we are losing recess and physical education.
They will point to the success of sports teams and the high levels of participation. But what they don’t understand is that it’s just as important, if not more, to develop good habits of physical well-being for students who do not participate in sports. Not just for those individuals, but for our society.
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“Unsurprisingly, my school board and superintendent couldn’t care less. They are more interested checking off boxes to adhere to state and national policies.”
Yep, typical adminimal behavior being exhibited, even by school board members, eh!
If I may quote a wise man who lived before our time, but whose words ring true today:
“The mass of men [and women] serves the state [education powers that be] thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailors, constables, posse comitatus, [administrators and teachers], etc. In most cases there is NO FREE EXERCISE WHATEVER OF THE JUDGEMENT OR OF THE MORAL SENSE; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. SUCH COMMAND NO MORE RESPECT THAN MEN OF STRAW OR A LUMP OF DIRT.”- Henry David Thoreau [1817-1862], American author and philosopher [my additions and emphasis]
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Hialeah Education Academic. Inc facing a law sued falow by the Miami Dade Public schooll sistem if the Principal and the Chairman of the Charter schooll stay as of nothing happened.
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The toxic policies are, in the main, the product of choices we the people have made in electing federal and state legislators who think that school accountability MUST rest on the scores of students on standardized tests along with a few other indicators such as graduation rates. There has also been a whole lot of influence-peddling from billionaires who have funded toxic projects and are now hawking the virtues of cultivating self-management skills for tots, social and emotional intelligence, and computer delivered instruction misleadingly called “personalized.” The studied use of stereotypes to demean public schools and discredit professional expertise in education is not entirely new but few school leaders are both willing and able to challenge the purveyors of malpractice in education.
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I agree with Hynes desire for more free time for children (and not only in school). And I agree with Dienne that such a thought shouldn’t be considered “visionary”. The fact that it is being labeled as such is a very strong (negative) statement of our times.
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It seems odd to me that we are having discussions about semantics, not ideas. You get it right in your last sentence. In times of darkness, doing or advocating for the decent thing to do can be truly visionary, brave and exhibit leadership. The fact that it would not be considered so in normal times does not lessen its importance or effect.
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By semantics I assume you are talking about meaning. So let’s check it out, eh. Semantics: “Semantics is the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning, in language, programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics. It is concerned with the relationship between signifiers—like words, phrases, signs, and symbols—and what they stand for, their denotation.” (from wiki)
Visionary: Defined broadly, a visionary is one who can envision the future. For some groups this can involve the supernatural.
The visionary state is achieved via meditation, drugs, lucid dreams, daydreams, or art. One example is Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century artist and Catholic saint.[1] Other visionaries in religion are St Bernadette and Joseph Smith, said to have had visions of and communed with the Blessed Virgin and the Angel Moroni, respectively.
Extended meanings
A vision can be political, religious, environmental, social, or technological in nature. By extension, a visionary can also be a person with a clear, distinctive, and specific (in some details) vision of the future, usually connected with advances in technology or social/political arrangements. For example, Ted Nelson is referred to as a visionary in connection with the Internet. Other visionaries simply imagine what does not yet exist but might some day, as some forms of “visioning” (or gazing) provide a glimpse into the possible future. Therefore, visioning can mean seeing in a utopian way what does not yet exist on earth—but might exist in another realm—such as the ideal or perfect realm as imagined or thought. Examples are Buckminster Fuller in architecture and design, Malcolm Bricklin in the automobile industry and Ada Lovelace in computing. Some people use mathematics to make visionary discoveries in the nature of the universe. In that sense, a visionary may also function as a secular prophet. Some visionaries emphasize communication, and some assume a figurehead role in organizing a social group. In other words, a visionary means that a person can see what something could be long before it actually happens. (from wiki)
So if we take the last sentence of “. . that a person can see what could be long before it actually happens”, I guess in this instance of claiming Hynes to be a visionary is a textbook case of “back to the future”, eh!
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Glad I could help you get that off your chest!
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Thank you, GregB
Commonsense and decency go a long way
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GregB, you didn’t help me get anything off my chest. Those who seek to distort the meanings of language are no different in kind than the tRump or for that matter, any other petty (or great) tyrant throughout history who has used language in a distorted fashion to further their own ends.
I know that Diane means well in using such terminology but as the same way that I have objected to her usage of “hero” (and if my mind serves me correctly she has used that word, wrongly in my mind, to describe Hynes before) I object to this usage of visionary.
And it should go without saying that damn near everyone has good intentions in/behind all of their actions. And I’m not against novel usages of words to imply a special meaning. In my thinking, in this case, anything less than refusal to participate in the educational malpractices that are the standardized testing regime isn’t visionary, it’s just more of the same adminimal behavior that preserves one’s own ass and to hell with the students harmed.
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I would like to tell all here that I enjoy a lively conversation about semantics. I love the music of Hildegard Von Bingen. And I love it when clarification becomes the focus of a discussion. Few wars are started over the issue of clarification.
To add to the conversation, I would say that one has to have a pretty clear picture of the future (albeit not one that literally includes a vision) to have the pugnacious attitude of any of the folks who have engaged themselves in this discussion.
It strikes me that the argument about the word visionary above stems from those whose language is rooted in metaphor as opposed to those whose language is rooted in literal usage as the user understands. I tend toward the side of metaphor with my usage, which has gotten me into trouble a few times when i was taken literally. So maybe I should learn a lesson or two.
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Roy,
There ya go sending me on a search for someone I’ve never heard of. Thanks for the reference. Interesting!
Do you have any links to her compositions being played?
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Duane, two pieces of friendly advice. Start using “the Google” and the search engine on YouTube. 😉 You’ll be amazed by how many answers you’ll get to your questions. Here’s a sample:
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I don’t think Hynes is visionary at all. That’s a word that is used poorly this instance.
But he he is absolutely brave and has more integrity than most policy makers, given the climate we’re steeped in.
Hynes is no visionary, but he is to be supported and commended. I wish policy makers would listen to him.
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We all get to use words that seem right. To me, and not just because of this one article, Mike Hynes is a visionary. Google his TED talk about PEAS.
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I have heard Hynes’s TED talks and read his articles.
What he describes is no different than the childhood education I had when growing up. What comes around goes around, what’s old is what’s “new” again and visionary.
I think we are getting fixated on semantics, and by all means, I encourage anyone to use the word “visionary” in this context. It’s just not a word that I as a writer or thinker would use, but I’d use other words to see to it that Hynes gets nothing but support. He’s in our camp.
From my perspective, the reformers fancy themeless as “visionary” because the took long established paradigms, many of which were based on justice, reason and research, and interrupted them, flipping them on their backs in the name of “civil rights”.
To introduce AND implant such radical change was indeed visionary, in my opinion, but it was visionary for the ruling elite and Washington, and not at all for children, their families, and educators.
But after parsing out meaning and definition from this single term, I’m compelled to say that it leaves us all in the same camp when it comes to Michael Hynes’s values.
How could anyone sane and just not support him?!
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Correction:
” . . . fancy themselves . . . . “
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Correction:
” . . . to introduce and implement . . . . “
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Thanks for the link GregB! Interesting music, eh!
Actually I did a brief look at wiki to get an idea of who she was, but I posted my request before I had read far enough down (it was a good article) to see that they had references to music.
And when it comes to asking for citations, I usually do so if I have no clue as to what is being referred (in this case) or when someone makes an outrageous claim that needs substantiation.
Contrary to what you may think about my troglodytic ways with technology, I am quite familiar with using the godbox. And as it is I use a different search engine than google.
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Duane, glad you realized I was joshing you. Here’s another collection of art songs I hope you will enjoy as much as I do. Baritone Thomas Hampson sings Abraham Lincoln’s words to music composed by Michael Daugherty (who is, in my view, along with John Adams, one of the preeminent composers of our time). This link will play the 7 songs followed by two pieces by Webern:
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Duane: I am not sure what you mean by sending you on a search for somebody. You were the one who brought up Hildegard in your first response. I only referee to the music.
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When times are rotten, those who risk their career to speak truth are visionaries.
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Then I guess I was a visionary throughout my teaching career. . . .
. . . NOT!
I was just a teacher fighting against malpractices that are proven to harm children. Common sense tells us that those harms are very real. One doesn’t even need Wilson’s argument (even though it’s the best I’ve ever read) against standardized testing to realize those harms. And when innocents are being harmed to not fight against those harms is to give tacit approval to said malpractices, certainly not heroic or visionary.
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I dunno ’bout that. Seems to me I have to have two three things to teach well nowadays: compassion for my students instead of for software companies, bravery to refuse to give standardized interim tests and to allow screen time to take over my students’ academic lives, and vision to know that the corporate slogans like “college-career ready” are just slogans.
Today, I am planning lessons for the start of school next week. Should I have my students read one chapter of a novel in isolation, four or five times, without context, from a website, with standardized, Common Bore-style multiple choice questions, with a structured writing method out of a can, and rubrics? Or should I make copies of a good Chekhov short story or Blake poem and provide historical background information, time for discussion, freedom to write responses creatively, and an entertaining project to wrap it up with a memorable package? I think the choice I make for the latter takes vision.
I haven’t forgotten the stories you told me about using food to teach Spanish, and having connections with students that last a lifetime. (I am so proud, I just got a letter from a young man who was my student eleven years ago. (He wants to interview me about education for the major news network for which he now writes.)) It’s not just semantics. Teaching is inspiring and inspired. It’s visionary to be a great teacher like you were, and like I am.
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Also, I had to argue with my principal for years to get just five minutes added back to nutrition time this year. It was a bit of a struggle at times. I had to have the vision to see it was worth it and keep fighting. Now I want the ten minutes that was shaved off lunch time put back.
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I want to add one more thing from an article I just read about Netroots:
“Ocasio-Cortez, who has raised ire in some circles by promoting primary challenges against a number of veteran Democratic elected officials, appealed for unity.
‘Discourse is not discord,’ insisted the Democratic nominee for Congress in a New York district. “Family can argue and that’s alright because we come out healthier on the other end.”
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LeftCoastTeacher,
Nutrition time??
Please tell me that you are being facetious with that term. Your school doesn’t really use that do they?
And if you’re referring to lunch time, my students had 22 minutes and we were about as far from the cafeteria as anyone. 22 minutes to get there, get through the line (always crowded), eat and then get back. Many times students were finishing up their lunch when they walked back into class.
And then they wanted us to cover our lunch period in the cafeteria one day a week. What was that about “control” mentioned in another comment today?
I gave the principal a lunch schedule that would have increased the lunch time to 30 minutes without affecting class time, etc. . . . Was it implemented? Of course not!
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LCT, love the second paragraph of the first comment you made above. Please follow your professional instincts.
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Only 22 minutes for lunch! That’s inhumane. Thirty minutes is too. …Nutrition is what we secondary schools in Los Angeles call recess. It happens between periods two and three. It’s a time to relax, play, socialize. There used to be nutritional food served. Since my school district stopped serving food during ‘nutrition’ to save money, we call it “break” now. That’s the fiscal austerity that marks this time period. I don’t know what to call it anymore.
Words. I often say, “One doesn’t change a situation by changing the words used to describe it,” which is ironic in this discussion. I just wish we would go back to the way it was before 2008 and the Recession. But then, that’s impossible because visionaries are in short supply. Ironic indeed.
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Thank you, Greg. Count on it.
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During my studies for a master’s degree, I read several articles about the need for physical movement. Aside from the physical needs for all of us to move for health and wellness. It was noted that periods of excersize increased the brain’s ability to retain new learning by pushing new ideas through the amyglia into long term storage. It also increases the ability to assimilate new ideas with other presently known knowledge. One author stated that continuos sitting equaled to no new knowledge. Another that physical activity was needed about every 45 minutes for this effect to work. Brain breaks are not sufficient to create this effect. The body needs much more time than 2-3 minutes.
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“…people who believe they are in charge of their own destiny are less likely to become anxious or depressed than those who believe they are victims of situations out of their control.”
I think this is right on, & would add that the de-formed school is a regular petrie dish for the spread of anxiety/ depression (2 sides of same coin). Top-down govtl mandates defining success/ failure by student test scores, pursued w/micromgt of classroom content/ teaching technique, means everyone from supt down the chain has the same sense of chasing impossible goals which they have no hand in defining. It breeds a desperate obsession with trying to control others’ behavior (an impossibility), as opposed to enabling others to control and direct their own behavior in the service of beneficial community goals.
To bring it down to the everday level, I was pondering this exact equation the other night while irrationally descending into dread & anxiety over my youngest’s [not so young!] long drive to join our vacation spot. I found relief by repeating the mantra “stay in your own body”!
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“It breeds a desperate obsession with trying to control others’ behavior (an impossibility), as opposed to enabling others to control and direct their own behavior in the service of beneficial community goals.”
Excellent thought!
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I was about to write this piece, Btre5, but you beat me to the words. There was some guy at inservice last week saying that most stress comes from a feeling of not being in control. A truer word was never spoken. Unfortunately, anyone can see that this is true, so behavior to the contrary is mostly for the administrative purpose of covering for yourself so that your upper management does not get upset.
For a kid, the few minutes a day when you are in control (free play) is a big thing. It marks the time when you are in control.
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Agree! This article from a few weeks ago supports the idea:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/17/why-dutch-bring-up-worlds-happiest-teenagers
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Hieleah Education Academic. Inc should not ignore this letter because the Miami Dade Superintendent Carlos Carbajo could face a federal complaint because this Chatter schooll could loss a lot of money or could be the another Charter schooll IN the State of Florida closing and hundreds of students in this city will be enrolled in public schooll.
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I can think of plenty of educational “visionaries” who were anything but. And there are plenty of people who went into public education with a “visionary” purpose, but lots of them got their visions beaten out of them by the so-called “visionaries.”
We should be concerned about the mental health and well-being of our children and our students. But a healthy psychological learning environment doesn’t ONLY apply to kids, it applies to teachers as well.
And we’d damn well better be concerned about that too.
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I grew up in NYC during the forties and fifties. We played outdoors in the streets and playgrounds, and got to know our community, as well as learning to socialize with other kids.
The social learnings that young children get from play and interacting with others, is being lost. But, there are other ways for kids to learn how to cooperate and accomplish something. In a play, children learn not only to speak their lines, but to follow the actions of others, and to cooperate to produce a finished project. and when it is fun…
Here is the Austin theater group “Improved Shakespeare – Shakespeare for kids.”
This theater began as a HOME-SCHOOL project in literacy for the Austin Coop which My grandkids joined. Andee, a filmmaker and actress created this from scratch.
Go to the youtube page and be amazed!
and here is the latest —watch this ‘rehearsal’ for the production The Tempest: https://youtu.be/jFL44D4PG1s https://youtu.be/jFL44D4PG1s oh… the girl in the black lipstick is my granddaughter Zia, Andee Kinzy’s daughter,; here she is int he male role of Petrucchio in Taming of the shrew (2 years ago) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFlzz-ZXi3c
BTW… you should hear any of the kids speak , after performing in Improved Shakespeare productions FOR YEARS. Talk about how skills are acquired
Also go to https://www.facebook.com/ImprovEdShakespeare/
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