Motivate or manipulate
Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at 06:33AM 
A good deal of attention has been given to the opening school address of 10 year old fifth grade student Dalton Sherman to teachers and parents in Dallas last month. "Do You Believe in Me?" was well-received by his audience judging by the reaction and by a number of educational bloggers.
But I was unmoved.
Dalton is obviously an extremely talented young man. He has a bright future as a preacher, politician, actor, timeshare salesman or school superintendent. The message itself was one worth hearing - we all need to believe that all children can learn and succeed. (He was delivering a script written by school board members.) So what's the problem?
- Maybe it was just too smooth.
- Maybe it was rhetoric without substance.
- Maybe it was a message we've all heard so many times that it's become meaningless.
I wasn't motivated; I felt manipulated. But then I am a self-admitted cynic that needs a little substance with his speeches.
And I hope Dallas ISD paid the young man well for his work.
Sorry. Just needed to get that out of my system. I feel better now.
Reader Comments (10)
THANK YOU! I'm glad I'm not the only one. This is like when I read that Fuse #8 post about her 3 most hated picture book: Rainbow Fish, I Love You Forever, and The Giving Tree. It's nice to know there are more people out there with there critical thinking faculties intact. Not to take anything away from the kid--I certainly couldn't match his performance--but a memorize speech? Big deal.
But I too was unmoved by the speech. I know people who were their and found it quite moving. That's finde as far as it goes but there are a lot of inspiring kids out there. To me the most inspiring ones are not the ones who make great speeches but the ones who overcome problems every day. The ones who take ownership and control over their own learning. The ones who don't let their parents do their projects for them. The ones who go beyond what is taught in class to find books, and mentors, and projects of their own. There are lots of them out there. But they are mostly quiet and unknown but to the teachers who are paying close attention on a day to day basis. The tachers who see and nurture those kids are inspiring to me.
Just a little vent of my own.
Or maybe you were cynical because the district put its words into his mouth rather than letting him speak from his own heart. No, wait, that was me. Sorry.
As a high school public speaking coach and occasional judge for a good ten years, I helped students through the writing and delivery process. As I sat through the speeches come competition night, I always sensed which speeches were a little too well written or polished.
Dalton is a phenomenal young man, but too many people were pulling on the marionette strings.
Doug, you disappoint me.
You make a lousy cynic. Oh, you might be a fine skeptic, but I doubt your world view ever allowed for that high-falutin' romantic perch that precedes cynicism. I don't care how cute the kid is, he is spouting dribble, and you called him on it (or rather called on the cynical adults who allowed this young man to spout off his dribble). Sir, I know cynicism, and you are no cynic.
Ahem. Elona Hartjes (owner of Teachers at Risk) has written a
marvelous post that attacks educational romanticism, with an interesting little flurry of responses.
I, too, hope the young man was well paid--he has a chance to become a far greater cynic than you can ever dream of, Mr. Johnson. Until you have used a child as the adults around this young man have used him, you will remain a 2nd class cynic.
I have to agree with you - but I think it's deeper than just overly smooth rhetoric. The speech was a paragon of what adults want to believe about ourselves, it's like patting ourselves on the back.
Here's my take on it.
Congratulations Doug,
This kid was exploited as a propaganda stunt by a cynical school district who thinks so little of its teachers that they get a charismatic kid to spout obvious and slightly insulting platitudes.
The teachers who who say they were moved by Dalton's "message" have either never realized the enormous potential of children or became teachers without realizing that they are supposed to do their job and care about children.
I wrote the following in another blog on Augiust 26th:
I don’t want to be a wet blanket, but…
The kid sure is self-confident and fearless, like many kids of his age.
There is a long tradition of child evangelists. Dalton certainly represents a new member of that tradition. Al Sharpton was a licensed and ordained Pentecostal minister at age nine. Lots of teachers know kids with enormous talent.
As President Bush recommends, I “used the Google,” to learn the following about Dalton:
“Staff at DISD headquarters put the speech together for Dalton to memorize, and he worked over the summer to get it down.” http://tinyurl.com/6yuxjm
“Dalton’s speech was directed toward teachers. We need you,” he told them. They played a big role in preparing him for his big performance. Both his oratory coach from school, Irene Redmond, a fourth-grade teacher, and mother Donna Sherman, a DISD fifth-grade teacher, coached him all summer in preparation for his performance. They focus on proper diction and pronunciation of words.”
http://tinyurl.com/5c757a
I love the kid and admire his passion, energy and work ethic. However, it would be a huge mistake to generalize any grand theory of education from him being used as a prop in a publicity stunt created by a his school district. The fact that the district has posted the video on its otherwise standardized testing obsessed web site is proof of the publicity value of the Dalton Show.
You can and should be able to honor and respect the kid while despising the district's shameless propaganda.
OK, I understand all the cynicism that I'm reading, but I watched this video with a principal who had found it on the web. She and her faculty work with the Daltons of the world every single day, trying to bring their kids along so that they could have the courage and chutzpah to do something like this before 20,000 teachers and pull it off. The video moved her and her teachers to tears because they saw every one of their students in Dalton. They empathized in his success; they believed!
Perhaps the Dallas ISD teachers felt manipulated, but perhaps not. Perhaps they were delighted that their beginning-of-the-year speech was unique and captured their attention. It certainly captured ours! Yes, Dalton was prepared, perhaps overly so. But who would put a child that age in front of an audience without over-preparing him? Who knows--Dalton's "15 minutes of fame" could energize him for a lifetime. It's been known to happen. At any rate, I applaud the Dallas ISD and especially Dalton for making a statement brash enough to illicit all these comments. Heaven only knows, I haven't commented on a blog post in months!
@ Jim,
Thanks for the voice of support. I was surprised that I was not more taken to task for the post. I guess there are more of us cynics than I had anticipated. Or maybe the blog is a cynic magnet!
Doug
@ Alfred,
I WAS moved by YOUR comment. Thank you leaving it for me and other Blue Skunk Readers!
Doug
@ Scott,
I think that might be the crux of this. Had the student spoken words from his heart, not the school board, I would have been greatly moved.
Doug
@ Hi Paul,
I greatly value authenticity and honesty in any speech and I found both of these lacking in this one, I'm afraid.
Thanks for the comment,
Doug
@ Hi Michael,
Great link! Thank you.
I am rather disappointed to have my cynic label stripped from me, however. But I take your point and am complimented as well.
Thanks and all the best,
Doug
@Sylvia,
Thanks for the link to your post. It was great!
Doug
@ Thanks, Gary. I must have missed your original post (and I thought I read them all!) If you send me the link I will happily add it here.
Of course I think it is scary when I consider I may be thinking like you ;-)
All the best,
Doug
Hi Frances,
I am so glad you left this comment. Quite honestly, I was surprised not to go get more in a similar vein.
It made me start thinking that I never objected to, but actually enjoy, other "performances" by talented students at public function. I am rarely more moved than by a student singing the national anthem or reciting a poem.
And I have to say that I was moved the first time I watched Dalton's videotape. I was only after I learned that these were not his words, but words given to him that I was disappointed. Had the board been upfront that this was a reading or if the materials (like the Star Spangled Banner) was obviously not his, I would have applauded the effort.
And I think we all agree that Dalton is due all respect for his work and talent. It's the adults in the scenario I question.
Thanks again for writing and making me clarify my own thinking,
Doug