Turtles, Rabbits and Raven: A Fable About Good Schools

A family of turtles was relaxing on the sunny bank of a river just above a waterfall.  They were enjoying watching the deep green water turn a translucent blue as it spilled over the granite edge of the falls.  Suddenly, a turtle named Simon saw a baby bunny struggling in the strong current and heading for the waterfall.  Simon grabbed a life preserver attached to a rope and threw it to the bunny.  [Turtles are naturally cautious creatures and always come prepared for emergencies.] The baby rabbit grabbed hold and was pulled to safety.   

            Just as Simon was helping the bunny to the grassy bank he saw another small rabbit in the water.  Again, Simon threw the life preserver.  As he was pulling in this rabbit another bunny appeared, struggling in the current.  Simon called for help.  The turtles all worked to save first one and then another baby bunny, but the astonishing number meant that even the most vigorous effort could not save all of them.  Precious bunnies were being lost over the falls. 

            Attracted by the noise, a raven flew to a near-by pine and rapidly took in the situation.  Now, turtles are slow, though honorable, animals, but ravens are both sharped eyed and sharp brained.  Raven knew what to do.  He flew up the stream until he found where the baby bunnies were being thrown into the swift stream by a large hare. 

            “Stop” cawed Raven.  “Don’t you know that the bunnies are being swept over the falls to their death?” 

            The hare looked at the raven and spoke with disdain.  “We are throwing the bunnies in here to teach them to swim.  They will learn quickly.”

            “Don’t you realize they are disappearing down the river?” asked Raven. 

            “Some take longer than others.”

            Raven turned his attention to the other rabbits.  “Stop letting this hare throw your babies into the river.  They are being swept over the falls and their bodies are being eaten by wolves and bears down the river.”

            The rabbits looked at the hare, suddenly concerned and afraid. 

            “Why should you believe Raven?” asked the hare.  “He is not one of us.  I am a rabbit like you, and I tell you this is how to teach your children to swim.”

            But Raven spoke persuasively, and, at least for the rest of this day, no more baby bunnies would be tossed in the river. 

            Raven flew back to the turtles, who were both exhausted and dismayed.

            Raven, who is wise, told the turtles “If you want to save the bunnies don’t try to catch them as they go over the falls, find the place where they are being tossed in the water and stop them there.”

            The moral of this story is that fighting the effect is heroic, but fighting the cause is efficient.

            When you send your bunnies off to school, you may want to evaluate their school by the virtues delineated in the August 16, 2018 issue of Education Weekly.

Leadership:  Effective principals and school board members who are visible and collaborative with their teachers.

High Expectations: Don’t diagnose the failure, remediate it.  Teachers must be involved in professional development that is focused on instructional success.

On-going evaluation:  Teach, test, remediate, not punitively, but moving toward success.  Evaluation of students should not just be against one another, but other schools across the country.

Goals and Direction:  You hit what you aim for.

Secure and Organized:  The school environment must be safe, respectful and pro-active in how it treats all students.  The right to learn must no be abrogated by disruptive students.

            It warms my heart to know that I spoke at length about each of these goals decades ago when I wrote Beating the Bell Curve.  Evidently, they still count.

            Listen to Raven, and keep the faith.