I want to recommend an eye- and heart-opening visit to an amazing teacher’s classroom.

You can visit Toshiro Kanamori’s fourth grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, Japan, northwest of Tokyo, by watching a DVD called “Children-Full-of-Life.” For a taste, go to YouTube to watch any of the five filmed segments. Or order the DVD from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (Because the price is high—$132—this would make a good school or grade-level purchase.)

This profound documentary was made in 2002, which means the students who are in the DVD are now approaching or have completed their secondary education. I wish we could talk with some of these students today about their experience in fourth grade.

I purchased the DVD and shared it recently with a group of principals whose work I’ve helped facilitate over the past two years. The discussion that followed drew all of us into a rich dialogue about the meaning of our work and the inner wisdom of children.

In this 45-minute DVD, we are privileged to follow the 35 children in this class and their teacher through the entire school year. We see the richness and rigor of the academic life of the classroom built through the teacher’s deep commitment to having his students not shy away from some of life’s most difficult challenges.

In an era where a laser focus on tough standards and global competition seems to be driving the educational agenda, this DVD offers a striking counterpoint for considering a more balanced view.

In the same vein, I commend ASCD for publishing the significantly revealing book: Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization by Yong Zhao. This book tells quite a different story about what is happening in the world of education that is quite different from the story the media and so many of our national education leaders would have us believe about our need to catch up to the rest of the world.

Here’s to keeping our eyes, minds, and hearts open to what many of us believe about “best practice” for our children.