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.