Helping Kids to Help Education (TED Talk #6)

Based off of the TED talk by Dave Eggers: Once Upon a School

After watching the TED talk by Dave Eggers I was taken aback by how one man saw a problem and came up with a creative solution that did more than merely solve it, but changed the world. Dave Eggers had many friends whom were teachers, and he had heard them talk about how they were having trouble getting inner city kids to read, write, and do their homework. They wanted to be able to have one-on-one time with each student, but with classes of 30-50 people that was impossible. He realized then that, being a writer, how many of his friends and co-workers had flexible schedules, and therefore ‘free time’ to spare. He created an office space where kids could come in and receive free one-on-one tutoring from hundreds of volunteers. As his business grew he tackled problems along the way, and his idea eventually became such a success that other people started to copy him around the world. Today his business is still growing, and a website has been created to help inspire people to come out and help kids in need of education.

What really strikes me about this whole thing is how Dave Eggers was able to take a problem with no apparent solution and come up with such an obvious, easy answer. The problem was that kids did not get enough one-on-one time, and then the solution was to just have people volunteer their time to help tutor kids. It sounds so simple, yet if he had done it any other way I doubt that it would have been just as successful. One of the main reasons this works is because it is volunteers that are doing the tutoring because they want to. This ties back to Dan Pink and internal motivation: if Dave Eggers had found people and paid them to tutor children for free it would have not been as successful because the adults would be less motivated to help the kids. The volunteers want to help the kids, and in return they get back something even more special, which is hard to put into words. The adults get the satisfaction of helping out someone in need, and in return also learn from the kids. This reminds me of what Adora Svitak believes in her TED talk, which is that adults and kids need to be involved in a mutual relationship. In this instance, they are. What is so great about this system is that the volunteers do not need a master degree or have to be a teacher; they can just be regular people wanting to help. They also do not have to have a commitment. All that matters here is that an adult is volunteering some of their time.

Why the kids like this set-up and are participating in it I think has to do with the fact that they are not walking into a place labeled ‘Center for Kids Who Need More Help’. When they walk into a store, they feel normal. People do not want to be labeled as someone who is struggling, they like to think of themselves as smart, and they like other people to think that they are smart. When you walk into a tutoring place, it is almost as if you are admitting that you are not smart. With this system though, the kids walk into a pirate supply store. They are not being taught by teachers, they are just getting help from other adults, almost like they are getting help from their parents.

What Dave Eggers believes is extraordinary, and if other people could participate in what he is trying to start, the world of not only education but of parenting could be altered (in a good way). He thinks that all kids have potential, and that all kids are smart. All it takes is a teacher who will guide them in the right direction. Think about how many kids are given up on because they do not seem smart enough at first glance, which makes sense. Adults put most of their effort into the children who they think will succeed and become someone great. If everyone got the same amount of attention as those select few, think of how great everyone could become. When a teacher assigns a class of 40 a paper, students will be less inclined to work hard on it, because it feels impersonal and they think the teacher won’t care as much since she has 39 other students she assigned this project to. But when a student has someone who is giving their writing a close look, and is helping them every step of the way, suddenly the paper starts to feel personal, and the students feel accountable towards the adults and want to do them proud. What is also interesting is that students will work harder on writing than they ever have if it is going to be published (like in a book). Once they know it will be permanent and no one will be able to change or deny what they said, their writing improves greatly. So I wonder how we can make kids work this hard on their writing and turn up good results all of the time instead of just when their work will be published?

It was hard not to miss the immense creativity involved in this idea. A pirate supply store-the idea is funny, original, unique, and it will attract people to buy the products. This is what Dan Pink is talking about when he says the future will belong to right-brainers. People who can creatively solve-problems will make the world a better place (maybe this is what schools should start focusing on). I also couldn’t miss how Arapahoe has something much like tutoring-writing lab! Writing lab is open to all students, and they can take any schoolwork and receive one-on-one help with another language arts teacher. Having been to writing lab several times, I know how helpful it is to have a teacher only focus on you and your writing. However, in order to reach more students writing lab should be offered every day, instead of just Tuesdays and Thursdays.

While Dave Eggers speech was inspiring, it could have been better if he had not said so many ums, ya knows, and uhs. It was sometimes hard to follow his speech because of all of the pauses and stuttering. He did use real photos on a slideshow to have the audience visualize what he was saying. The photos helped because instead of the audience just hearing about his points, they actually got to connect a place with a name. He elaborated on the funny parts of his story (the pirate and superhero store), which made his TED talk overall more enjoyable. I also noticed that he calls himself out on his flaws, saying how he is not speaking the English language very well and how he is very nervous.