Showing Grace Toward Institutions
Education Rethink 2013-07-03
The corporate reform movement claims that schools are broken. They are. But so are people, companies, neighborhoods and families.
In the past, I have been quick to use the words "broken" or "obsolete" to describe things like schools, churches, unions and government and Google (perhaps more powerful than the previously listed institutions).
photo credit: sierraromeo [sarah-ji] via photopin ccI left the union when they supported Obama. I felt like they were supporting the lesser of the two evils and I didn't want them to choose evil at all. I wanted them to take a stand and support local elections and say, "We support neither candidate. None of them are supporting public schools."
So, I left.
However, someone challenged me on this. "John, you have ripped churches and failed to see that the relationships you have are due, in large part, to church. You rip public schools for being broken, but you are a part of that system. You bust on the unions and fail to recognize all the benefits they have given you."
It left me with a lingering question. Am I more forgiving toward people than toward institutions? Do I expect people to be broken, hypocritical and confused and then expect institutions to be perfect, pure and efficient?
I wonder how much of it is a generational thing. I'm on the cusp of the Millennials. I am oversimplifying here, but we tend to show people more grace than we show institutions. We tend to get more frustrated by stubborn institutions than by stubborn people. We watched the explosion of technology and the death of the Cold War and the promise that technocracy would lead to systemic perfection. I tend to think that institutions should run like iPhones. And I forget that they are run by people - broken, beautiful people who are often doing their best, despite their fear and pride and tendency to get distracted.