Old Structures vs. New Reality

How does the K-12 education sector incorporate the significant changes that are occurring in society?  It is cliché to say “we are moving away from an industrial society into a knowledge society” so let’s not start there.  Let’s start with an observation.

I see that our K-12 education institutions are currently being pulled in two diametrically opposed directions.  On one hand you have an out dated organizational structure that reflects the world as it was in the 20^th Century.  This model of organization suggests two important views of people.  First, people cannot be trusted to do a job. Second, people must be monitored at all times to assure they do exactly what they were tasked to do.  Our schools are organized around these principles both for students and the workers in the buildings.  For students, we “progress monitor” them and “remediate” them when they do not meet some artificial standard of acceptance. Structurally, we track students much like a widget on an assembly line. For the adults in the system, we mark their progress by monitoring their student’s tests scores…as if this were a legitimate measure of competence or success.  Many school leaders still believe that it is appropriate for teachers in a similar grade level to be on the same page of the same book on the same day, this to ensure that the curriculum is implemented with “fidelity”.  

Because this type of thinking is common in society, school boards consist of members who demand a command and control ethic. School boards have shifted from being a governmental body that acts on recommendations from the administration to active participation in minute details of operations.  It is not uncommon for school boards to spend significant amounts of time arguing over what kind of copy paper to purchase.  Although this may sound like a waste of time, if put into the context of our society it makes perfect sense.  When our elected officials are hardwired with a distrust of people and organizations then you will have these types of conversations. 

On the other hand, schools are being pulled inexorably into the future.  The command and control style of organizational development is being supplanted by a collaborative work ethic.  The process of moving away from command and control toward a more open, collaborative system is reflected in the demands of our youth.  Students raised in an environment where they can “search up” answers to questions and organize collaborative experiences with people across the globe do not respond to a command and control structure.  Students today view their experience in the world first through a lens of collaboration.  Until recently, students had bought into the individualistic, distrustful command and control style of organizations.  Today young people, both in and out of school, do not relate to that structure. 

This is the most important problem facing schools today:  the dichotomy between an old structure and a new reality.  By recognizing the existing, outdated structure, schools can change to reflect the reality of today’s society.

Learning Experiences Reimagined

“Vigor and creative flow have their source in internal strains and tensions, it is the pull of opposite poles that stretches souls. And only stretched souls make music”

-Eric Hoffer

Eric Hoffer was considered the “workingman’s philosopher” and is best known for his 1952 book The True Believer.  The above quote is a result of a line of thinking that Hoffer undertook when discussing religion and change.  I have spent a lot of time thinking about this quote and placing it into an education (or learning) context.  What are the implications of this statement for learning?  First, let’s review the current state of learning (education).

Our current learning system is an inspirational wasteland which counteracts all impulses of learners and teachers to “stretch their souls” and make music. The system of learning encourages learners to look for one “right” answer that can only be accessed by the adult in the room.  Governments urge this type of learning by implementing State sponsored testing of students based on an approved curriculum that reinforces the idea that there is only one correct answer to any question.  There is no room for learners (or teachers) to spend time interacting with lessons where students critically review different viewpoints. After all, there is only one “right” answer…and that is either “A”, “B”, “C” or “D”.

We can do better…

We can create a learning ecosystem that is radically learner focused and focusses on the learning experience.  By doing this we can “stretch student’s souls”.  I have discussed being radically learner centered in previous posts and the idea can be summed up by meeting the learning needs of every learner every hour of every day. This is one filter in which we must use when reviewing ALL decisions in our learning (education) system.  The second filter for all decisions in a new learning ecosystem is how to create the best learning experience for learners.  How will we create learning experiences that “fire” learners, souls, hearts and minds?  Moving beyond traditional lesson plans, we must create learning experiences that have no barriers of time, place or pace.  Learning for some learners (at times) will occur in a traditional “school” setting while other times the learning for the same student will be community-based and not occur in a traditional school setting.  For example, community activism or internships are a valuable learning experience in which a specific physical space for learning is unimportant.  Creative flow for learners cannot have a time constraint placed on it.  One learner may be able to be inspired by simply reading a quote and trying to figure out its significance over the course of a few hours.  Another learner may be placed in a creative flow by interacting with nature over the course of a few days.  Either way, our new learning ecosystem encourages learning experiences that recognize these differences in learners. 

Learning experiences that place learners in situations where they experience “strains and tensions” based on their unique place in their learning will benefit the learner and the communities in which they live.  We want learners to interact in learning experiences where true critical thinking occurs.  These experiences will occur in the community, local businesses, colleges, vo-techs, and schools (of all stripes).  The pace of learning will depend on the learner, not on “getting trough the book/curriculum.  Learning will be based on actual learning.  We can, and must, build the new learning experience for all of our learners.