How can we ‘fix’ education?
One of my favorite monthly tech magazine reads is Edutopia, published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. It is always filled with thought-provoking information, focusing on general education topics, but consistently making a technology connection. The latest edition is no different. This month the focus is How to Save Public Education.
From looking at the table of contents it looks like the editors have generated a list of ‘things’ that we educators can do: in 5 minutes; 5 days; 5 weeks; 5 months; 5 years. You see, I really haven’t read the articles...yet. But I thought it would be interesting to make my own list of 5 ways we can make public education better, and then compare my list to the 5 top suggestions from their readers. Of course there are more than 5 things to do or fix with our educational system. But based on my experiences and thinking, here are the 5 I would suggest.
1. Encourage out-of-the-box thinking. If in fact we agree that we need to fix anything, that must mean that we aren’t doing something as effectively as we should. I don’t know if people have a lack of creativity, or if they just don’t want to buck the system, but far too many in education are willing to repeat the same patterns that we’ve been cycling through for probably a century. We need people to think ‘cutting edge’! Yes, the system doesn’t encourage this, but we need to if we are ever to break out of this routine we have been stuck in for decades.
2. Eliminate present forms of assessment. That is, this notion that we have to test our kids to death, using tests that really don’t test anything beyond fact recognition and memorization. Much of this is being led by people who know no different, our political leaders. How can we hold education accountable? And standardized tests are their answer. What they don’t get is that they are in no way authentic accounts of what our kids know. We in education have to stop rolling over and allowing this to happen to our children.
3. Do a better job of teacher preparation. I spend some of my time working with and observing new teachers, fresh from college. Some are truly gifted, creating environments in which kids really do learn and grow. Too many, though, appear to be underprepared to take on the challenges of 21st century education. The commonly spoken words, “Teachers teach the way they were taught.” are all too true. There appears to be a lack of motivation and initiative. Are we even attracting the ‘right’ people into our profession?
4. Make learning experiences more student-centered. Too many teachers still do teach the way they were taught - in a classroom that is dominated by teacher-talk and students as passive learners. This doesn’t work any longer, especially with today’s unique learners. Did it ever work? Learning in the classroom needs to be more authentic, with students collaborating with one another and performing real tasks - not ones that make sense only to the teacher.
5. Involve students in redesigning our educational system. We don’t give kids enough credit. In the 21st century, the style of management in our schools cannot be top-down. That won’t work in the classroom either. Students and teachers need to collaborate, learning from each other. When we admit that the only way to better understand what is best for kids is to seek their input, education will become more real, and they will feel as if they have a stake in its future.
And what were the top 5 suggestions submitted to Edutopia?
1. Raise teachers salaries.
2. Reduce class size.
3. Decrease standardized testing.
4. Increase parental involvement.
5. Educate the legislators about schools.
I wouldn’t disagree with any of these. I think mine are more global and need to be addressed first before we can think about such things like reducing class size and increasing parental involvement. Looking forward to reading the articles in the magazine.
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