As most of you know by now, I am a big fan of Disney. Over the last few days, Walt Disney World has been having soft openings; first tests were with their cast members and then with annual passholders to ensure that they are ready for a social distancing experience in their parks. I was watching live streams to get my safe dose of being at the most magical place on earth when something struck me during The Carousel of Progress attraction.
Don’t Know The Carousel of Progress?
Just in case you are not familiar with the attraction, here is a very brief rundown about it. Walt Disney, along with his Imagineers, created The Carousel of Progress for General Electric to be seen at the 1964 World’s Fair. The show is set on a rotating theatre as guests enjoy watching John and his family (audio-animatronics) through the generations of inventions and technology. Our narrator is John, but I am more interested in focusing on one family member, Uncle Orville.
Uncle Orville adds comedy to each scene and is seen as someone who may have overstayed his welcome. In the 1920’s, the family is preparing to celebrate the 4th of July with their town. We are told it is a hot summer and see John trying to cool off by waving a paper fan. Uncle Orville has hogged the coolest room in the house—the bathroom. He is seen taking a bath with a block of ice. There is a fan plugged into the wall and is blowing on the ice towards Orville. John tells us that Uncle Orville is calling his invention air coolant.
Here is what I want to focus on. Ironically, we are told that Uncle Orville still has not found a job. For some reason, this was the first time I started thinking about what Orville had invented, the air coolant system, and what if he did something about it. The family would be set for life because he would have been the first person to have invented air conditioning. Not to mention, Orville probably would have built a sense of pride and purpose. How often do we, as educators, have a simple idea that we do not share?
As much as we have seen changes in schools, we have still not progressed that far. I mean technology has given us an abundance of tools, but we still essentially have students attend school and sit in a classroom very much in the way that John Locke envisioned in the 1600’s. As we see things in schools changing, mostly due to the 2020 pandemic, let us maybe search for opportunities to find progress in how we teach children. We might be surprised to find that we already had good ideas, but we just needed to share them.
We might be surprised to find that we already had good ideas, but we just needed to share them.
Don’t be like Uncle Orville and just keep the innovation to yourself. Be a leader. Collaborate. We need to move forward and work together, even if it scares us. The song that is played during The Carousel of Progress is titled “It’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow”. I keep trying to sing those words in my mind whenever I find myself worrying about what kind of school year this will be. Stay positive. Every day is a “beautiful tomorrow.”
See You Real Soon,
Erin
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