Time to think more than outside the box...
think inside the mind!
What should education look like in this time and space... and in the next 100 years.
Yes I said 100 years.
Do the same thinking and planning the people who built the buildings that today we are replacing.
Challenge ideas that dictate schedules, grades, staff, learning needs, buildings, transportation, budgets, and everything!!!
Great invitation! Where to start? Overall I think sometimes we look at trying to make this "great change" in order to make a great change. Use technology, lose the buildings, focus on learning instead of teaching, core curriculum, 21st Century skills, on and on... It seems that as long as we have a drum to beat, change is good. Maybe we need to assess what we actually need and go from there. My desire to use technology and to use the tools that students are familiar with are not in order to simply use them. It has to be an improvement to something. Think of whiteboards/Promethean boards vs. the lighted overhead projectors of the 80's. What good is it if we use it the same way? It's sharper, brighter, and cooler, but does it teach better? I'd venture to say "no" unless it allows something new and different. To some, we would only be forcing them to use something with which they are unacquainted to do the same thing that they did before. Since I love analogies...this is like traveling from Des Moines, IA to Houston, TX. Currently I know how to drive a car, which would get the job done. Flying would be much cooler, quicker, effective, etc. I don't, however, know how to fly an airplane. Is it a good idea for me to crawl into the cockpit anyway so that I can say I'm using a more effective technology? I'll bet that the citizens of Kansas City, MO would prefer I drive through their suburbs instead of TRYing to fly overhead.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the post says 'change' but 'CHALLENGE'. I do agree that change for change sake is not necessarily an avenue to success but rather another street the GPS indicates is the best route. (Has your GPS satelite been updated recently?)
ReplyDeleteChallenge the ideas that parents and students have about education.
Challenge the ideas staff have about teaching?
Challenge the ideas that administration have about facilitating learning and learning environments.
Challenge everyone in the educational process to be challenged.
Challenge can equal change but it can also mean to be wise enough to stay the course.
I thrive on challenge and realize that it is a never ending life long learning event. There are those who have to be challenged to continue forward and there are a few that challenge themselves. Both are needed to improve education in the future.
Let's challenge the idea of Carnagie Units. Time in class = learning=credit = diploma. This is being blown out of the water as a workable concept. On line classes finished in three weeks instead of the Carnagie unit of one semester. What is the value of time as it relates to learning. Is it possible to learn more in less time and we are learning less while using up more time. Think about alternative schedules where they block classes together to have more quality intense learning time but instead student scores are going down. You can also look at 40 minute classes that don't give enough time to experience the learning in various different venues. So what is the lucky answer? The big question also when the various ideas are presented how are they evaluated as to effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteHow about this for a challenge... how schools are run. Is it just a puppet system with the strings being pulled by the state and federal politicians who (most not all) do not have a background in education and instead have an agenda of getting re-elected? Then turn that around and be reminded that citizens vote for the politicians that are then put on the education committee that decides what strings to pull. Perhaps the state needs to get out of the education business and let it go the route of subcontracting and let a private entity take over. Then perhaps the job of the state would be to monitor effectively the private companies that will then educate the population. What would the roll of the teachers union be in this situation? Would the school boards still have a say in local education or would it be a totally different roll? What other questions and scenarios can you think of?
ReplyDelete