In the same way I’m intrigued about what others say about me, I’m also interested in what others say about my country. I pay close attention to dicussions outlining the differences between Americans and Canadians. Mark has already mentioned my blog being blocked by his district and even during last week’s Skypecast it was pointed out to me that here in Canada, we do not have the same restrictions with filtering, liability and other educational restrictions.
I’m not sure if this is a accurate analogy but it seems the sheer size of the U.S. brings with it the challenge of management. My experience has been that smaller schools, families, business and other small organizations generally do not have as many rules and structures as larger comparable institutions. Fewer rules, more trust and more conversation might be some of the ingredients.
Following this line of thinking, I’m wondering about how we are different politically. The two party system has its advantages but to me brings more polarity between citizens. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground. We actually have 4 major federal political parties (actually they are even more fringe parties). This is much messier. I know Wes likes messy. We have to work much harder to get things done. There are many Canadians who don’t like this because in some ways it’s less efficient. Trying to work with 4 varying ideas is challenging but that’s how we operate.
I love my country and know Americans feel the same about theirs. We are usually less vocal and demonstrative about our feelings but are very glad to have some of the liberties within our education system. That said, the borders around our thinking is fading. The more we get together to discuss and work out our own ideas, the better chance we’ll have all to impact the places and kids we work with everyday.