Open, My Ass

I was a victim of the Open School Movement. Beginning in the 7th grade and initially at the behest of a "groovy nun" my schooling was obliterated, through to the tenth grade, by then at the hands of groovy priests and brothers. 

Classroom teaching--dismissed as retrograde, authoritarian and ineffective--was abandoned entirely. It was usually replaced with nothing though sometimes with a modish alternative, such as "Visual Concepts" instead of English. 

It was a kind of speed reading. Freshman Algebra was turned into a study hall. There was no regular instruction, tests or grading. We were issued evaluations, mine noting that I liked to "play" in class. I'll stipulate to that. I was fifteen.

These schools had previously been highly structured and strict--uniforms and dress codes and marching around double-file and so on. I was the worst served by these changes of anyone I knew and it was nothing but bad luck. 

We had blocks of free time, unaccountable to anyone, as in college. It was thought we would use these productively. The result was a mix of chaos and sloth. Some students did okay but I bet they would have done well no matter what.

The little shits. I mean--I envied them. To be independently composed, stable, responsible and productive at that age was beyond my understanding and ability. I learned from this not to mistrust innovation but zealotry and certitude. 

That arrogance is a sign of ignorance and immaturity and I think it's nearly always compensatory and anchored in insecurity. So, my political allegiance immediately went left with the rise of arrogantly self-righteous conservatism. 

Junior year I changed schools, by the way, horrified at my experience. The new school had more structure but it was still a mess. By then I was doomed. I didn't begin to recover until college and in some respects I never did.