So, you say you want your very own education consultancy?
Actually, I didn't. Well, I didn't like the title "education consultancy."
We're talking about changing not simply the fabric of education, but the manner in which that fabric is woven.
"education consultancy" seems too self-satisfied, too self-important, too self-absorbed for so critical a mission.
But my colleague and executive director, the great, the inimitable, the unmatched, the Master Team Builder Par Excellence, Dr. Annette Kramer, pointed out the obvious to me:
"People won't have any idea what we do if we don't say that's what we do."
Or words to that effect.
She had a point.
So we're an education consultancy.
That answers that question.
But why the UK?
Long-winded, blog answer for that.
Annette had been to the UK on many different missions before taking up her position with cagse.
She knew many people in education very well.
Everyone from the ground up.
She'll talk to anybody any time any place.
And she has this amazing knack for meeting people in key positions, usually on a plane, a train, or some such similar fast-moving vehicle.
I think it's genetic, but that's not exactly my field.
In short, Annette knows everybody, and those people she doesn't know, she will soon meet.
Meanwhile, the UK government has imposed literacy requirements on its schools. Schools must meet the requirements which are laid out in somewhat complex form on the UK government web site.
But schools are at a loss as to how to meet those requirements.
cagse is not.
But why didn't you start cagse in the US?
Well, technically we did.
We're a registered LLC.
But.
And this is a big BUT.
The US is a bizarre place to introduce Latin and Storytelling.
Half the schools have Latin and think their Latin programs are superior;
the other half don't think it's worth their time.
Yes, there is a movement to replace existing Latin programs going on, but as yet it is not at a critical stage.
You could ask two different people the same question, "How's Latin in this country?"
and get two completely different answers: "Nobody does that anymore" or "I didn't know schools still did that here" vs. "Latin is making a comeback." Don't bother consulting the New York Times (a rag if ever there was one) on the matter. They come up with figures for those who take Latin from the years in the '50s and 2005. Not the best comparison.
But hey, nobody ever accused the Times of getting a story right.
But the US does like stuff that comes from the UK.
Cambridge and Oxford bring "instant credibility" and "name recognition".
So. We prove ourselves in the UK.
We show that the program for Latin and, coming soon, the program for Storytelling, help state schools more than meet key expectations for literacy.
Combine that with the fact that my Executive Director is a dynamo, a five foot juggernaut who can move not simply mountains, but whole mountain ranges.
Add in a touch of US knowitallness.
Gently mix in US academic insecurity regarding UK programs.
And Voila!
Go to the UK.
If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere.
Wait, isn't that what Frankie said about New York!?
Yep.
New York's Next.
drg