Image: CC by 2.0 Alan Levine
I have boxes of old albums in my closet. The cardboard jackets are faded and the records inside may not be playable. I have no way of checking since we haven’t owned a record player for decades.
These relics were once vital to me, but even as a teenager, back when I felt as if I lived within the notes and lyrics of my favorite songs, I didn’t assume that recordings fully expressed an artist’s music. A record was just that, a “record” of what was played at the time the audio equipment was on and how those tracks were edited.
A record can’t capture the process of composing or the life of the musician. It can’t truly sum up the sounds that formed the musician’s work — from lullabies heard in infancy all the way to the hiss of air brakes on a touring bus. A recording is only a glimpse into something larger, deeper, and essentially inexpressible.
Which brings to mind a term that handcuffs students to a superficial and stunningly inadequate account of who they are. Their “permanent record.”
A permanent record is too often a weapon used to cajole and threaten. It teaches kids that their best impulses —- to explore, to find worth, to help others —- are instruments of utility. Although the love of learning and the desire for mastery are higher callings, it reduces them to a way of proving one’s ranking.
We strand young people on a narrow path while the wider world beckons in a million ways. Years of “pay attention” and “eyes on your paper” can dampen, even extinguish the unmeasurable and unique gifts each child brings to life.
Night after night of homework, grade after grade, test score after test score — there’s barely room for what’s not assigned to fit in a student’s life.
Ask today’s students. They’ll tell you there’s no authentic part of themselves in their permanent records other than a summary of the ways they bent (or failed to bend) themselves into shapes expected of them.
I wonder what music is inside that we haven’t let them play?
Laura Grace Weldon 
Oh wow that was nicely put. It’s so true me having three kids in school. I see so much of what you described this almost cookie cutter style of learning. When just out of my three girls. Each style is different, unique. So let’s imagine a class room of 10-15+ students. Again wow! What a way to look at things. Thanks for sharing
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“I wonder what music is inside that we haven’t let them play?” So lovely, poignant and true. Permanent records. Feh!
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I really like this and it’s another reason I homeschool, but the picture reminded me of a time when my kids were in public school and we were moving from Washington state to Peru. We were instructed to bring our children’s school records with us. Two of the three schools were cooperative, but I noticed each made a production of sealing the envelope and informing me I had no right to open it. The third school refused to hand over my daughter’s records until my son’s principal called them and told them to get on board. All of this fuss and secrecy over giving a parent their own child’s records! Later I learned there was nothing in there I didn’t already know, nothing I didn’t have a right to know, and nothing worth knowing when it came right down to it.
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How very strange that parents aren’t permitted to see their children’s records.
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Maybe not all public schools are like that, but I think it might be a control issue. I’ve always felt like the schools acted like they had more rights to my kids than I did when they were in the system.
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When I was in high school I read a pamphlet put out by the ACLU with information about student rights. One of those was the right to see one’s own student records. I was curious about this high holy permanent record so I gave it a try. It was a hassle but eventually a bored school secretary slapped a file on the counter and gave me a few minutes until the next class bell to look mine over. I found out nothing juicy except my IQ, which thrilled me, so I walked out of the office happy.
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I’m glad she finally caved!
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Thanks for making the point so well, Laura – a disturbing truth. in lak’ech, Debra
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The same continues to be true throughout adult life, doesn’t it? Our tertiary education, professional qualifications, our resumes and employment history, all evidence of squeezing ourselves and our minds into the mould of ‘desirable employee’ or ‘suitable candidate’. It is perhaps a form of cruelty, and especially hard when forced on the young…
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Totally agree. One of the most excruciating things is applying for university and then for employment. Trying to mold oneself onto a college or employer-pleasing application and then, worst of all, the interview which honestly feels much more painful than tooth extraction. You’re right, it’s particularly cruel when forced on the young…
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Very, very true.
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Thanks alote
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