The Root

The root of the word “unit” is -uni-, which means one. Last night, on the television show The Unit, a visual demonstration of the root -uni- captured what is wrong with so much of the world today: lack of unity, of one-ness, of working together for the common good.

In education, we are degraded into doing our personalities, rather than our jobs, as our educational leaders ping-pong from one bandwagon strategy to another, seemingly making change simply for the change it makes. We have become reactive to the whims and vagaries of the politicians, the public, and the spin doctors who know what's wrong and how to fix it from the comfort of their easy chairs. Seasoned educators know what works: the basics must be mastered before the child can be challenged by anything beyond that level of understanding. If the student cannot master one content area due to a lack of basic skills and training, the chances are slim that (s)he can master many content areas that require those skills and training.

In the military, the concept is that one person is in charge of one group of soldiers, and that unit performs as one: it’s what saves lives during battle. No one should have to think about what anyone else is thinking, doing, or not doing, as all are acting as one. The person new to the military has the least knowledge, experience, and skills to be the leader, so the individual who has earned a higher rank is in charge. If an individual wants to be in charge, (s)he must demonstrate through knowledge, skill application, and time in grade that (s)he has earned the right to be in charge.

Last night, the TV drama showed what happens when one person cannot grasp the concept of “unit.” One soldier (a junior troop) second-guessed the person in charge (a seasoned veteran), which led to independent decision-making—and death. It may be just a TV show, but it’s also real life.

It’s not all about me--who I am, what I need, what I want—it’s about the collective “one” that makes this country unique. While politicians, pundits, and educators tout the value of individuality and diversity, the perceived need to meet all of the needs of all of the diverse individuals who live in the country, the commonality, the unit, is disintegrating. We are becoming a nation divided, and a nation divided cannot stand.

Show me the weakest link in a chain and I’ll show you a broken chain.

In the classroom with 40 students, one teacher cannot meet the needs of all—unless there is a commitment from the class to work as one, as a unit. If all students attend class, bring their required materials, pay attention to the lesson, ask questions, complete the homework, and test themselves on their learning, education takes place. If one student deviates from that unified process, the system fails as the one teacher has to deal with the one deviation, rather than working as one with the other 39 students to learn what needs to be learned.

In the television show, the experienced senior military leader quickly assessed the situation, realized which “shit bird” was the problem in the chain of command, and went into strict military mode, calling each individual by his/her rank, establishing who is in charge and who follows orders, and then using his well-trained cadre of men (the unit) to re-establish the unity of the dysfunctional unit they encountered in the field. Once everyone knew the one person in charge, the one person who would issue orders that would be followed, the unit began performing appropriately and the goal, to defend a military position, was met.

Paramount to the system working, however, was the authority of the rank, the positional power the individual has to establish the process, monitor the procedure, and deal with disciplinary issues in a timely, effective manner that leaves no doubt who is in charge. Okay, so here exists a slightly different tactic, the senior enlisted military personnel telling the ‘shit bird’ that if he fails to perform his mission “I will kill you,” while holding a lethal weapon in his hands, but the point is made. Define the mission, give the tools to the person in charge, and then provide all the material and support that person needs to accomplish the mission, and a dysfunctional group of people can become a well-disciplined, functioning unit—on the battlefield and in a classroom.

Of course, in TV Land it works without a hitch and makes the point about order and discipline. In the educational system, no one exactly knows what the mission is beyond “educate the kids,” and everyone has a different strategy/ tactic for accomplishing the mission, but no one is issued a weapon that can be used to ensure the orders are drawn, delivered, and executed. In the classroom, the disintegration begins with the student, travels to the parent, who accosts either a counselor and/or an administrator, and comes back on the teacher, who now has not only no authority over the conduct of the students, but no control over the classroom. The end result is chaos and the failure to educate all the students in the room because one student's needs must be met before anything else can be accomplished.

The theory of “the unit” extends into so many aspects of today’s life, and it is easy to spot those whose goal it is to take the focus off the unit and put it onto themselves. Until and unless we become a unit again, an organized rank structure where the senior men and women, those with knowledge, experience, and authority, make the decisions and assure that they are implemented, we will continue to flounder, both in society and in the classroom. It is great to have young people with young ideas, but until those ideas are implemented and evaluated for effectiveness, the older, more experienced personnel need to assess the situation, draw up the appropriate strategies, deploy the junior troops effectively to meet the objective, and then monitor the situation.

Last night, I kept hearing the senior man direct the junior troops to reform and re-deploy, to prepare for the next assault from the enemy. He didn't say, "This isn't working, so let's change what we're doing." He knew that his strategy was carefully considered and executed, a strategy based on knowing what works and what doesn’t, a strategy based on tried and true battle tactics, with the message "Let’s work as one to get the job done" one skirmish at a time so (together) our unit can win the war. He knew that there would be casualities, but he also knew that there would be fewer casualities working as a unit than there would be if everyone did their own thing. He prepared for the worst and hoped for the best--and then rode it out.

And the unit prevailed: they did the job they had to do, working as a unit, and they prevailed.