I don’t think I’ve been really clear about what I believe when I write about education,
unschooling or schools. Perhaps that’s because my ideas are still percolating and changing.
My last post must have seemed really negative, and I guess it was. It’s what I observe. And I know some (who live in affluent areas) will say that their schools are mostly great. To that I say, they are probably better, but they are still operating under the same post- enlightenment/industrial revolution model that Ken Robinson talks about. A model that is content driven and does not reflect our changing society.
I was going to elaborate on my points from my post called schools. I’ve changed my mind though, for now, and I’m going to focus on the positive change that we need.
What I want to be clear about is I do believe in public education. I just think it has to change, a lot. For the past little while we’ve sort of been following in the footsteps of the US, moving towards more standardization. I think we need to move away from standardization, and not just the tests.
I think we need a huge paradigm shift. Forget about how you were taught. Forget about the myths of a great job and tons of money. First of all, these dreams may not come true, an undergraduate degree is not a guarantee. Secondly, our current (collective) lifestyle is unsustainable, ecologically, psychologically and emotionally.
I’m not clear about what the new system will look like yet. Karen commented on my last post that it might be like a library with teachers there guiding students. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.
I’ve been reading lots of tweets lately about education, and linking to some very interesting and, sometimes, inspiring blogs and articles. Here is one that I read today, on Richard Laskin’s, Thanks2Teachers I think it can help me formulate what a new education paradigm might look like. I know it sounds “pie in the sky”, but what does that say about our species if these ideas sound like a pipe dream.
Beyond the Three ‘R’s:
The 21st century school is a caring learning community!
1. WHERE: The FOCUS is on the INDIVIDUAL CHILD’S RIGHT to develop intellectually, social-emotionally and academically to his or her fullest capacity under the guidance of well educated, highly trained, dedicated and well paid professional teachers.
2. WHERE: PARENT(S) are recognized as major players in the child’s overall development and are actively encouraged to participate in all aspects of the life of the child and school and in major educational decisions such as alternative programming and/or alternative schooling.
3. WHERE: All the adults in the school community are CHILD ADVOCATES and do make a difference for children.
4. WHERE: All those in positions of authority (teachers, principals….) LEAD WITH THEIR HEARTS as well as with their minds.
5. WHERE: Building bridges between school and home leads to maximum levels of CONFIDENCE and TRUST.
6. WHERE: Ongoing two-way COMMUNICATION (people truly listening to one another) minimizes conflict and maximizes understanding and creative problem solving.
7. WHERE: All members are ENERGIZED through ACTIVE PARTICIPATION.
8. WHERE: Bureaucratic regulations and demands are minimized in order to maximize INITIATIVE and CREATIVITY.
9. WHERE: RESPECT, KINDNESS, FAIRNESS, and COOPERATIVE LIVING are taught as basic values of the school community.
10. WHERE: PROBLEM SOLVING and CONFLICT RESOLUTION are intentionally taught within the school-laboratory.
11. WHERE: PLAY and IMAGINATION are recognized as key elements in childhood and growth and are incorporated into the curriculum and school life.
12. WHERE: MUSIC and the ARTS enhance the SOUL and the SPIRIT of the school community and encourage children to express their inner selves.
13. WHERE: The harmony between the child’s PHYSICAL, MENTAL, and EMOTIONAL FITNESS is furthered by offering a balance of both cooperative and competitive play and individual and team sports before, during and after the regular school day.
14. WHERE: An expression of a wide range of FEELINGS and EMOTIONS is accepted as normal and an integral part of the child’s development and enriches the child’s daily school life.
15. WHERE: AGGRESSION is REDIRECTED into positive activity and the flip side of positive is not negativity but rather ENCOURAGEMENT.
16. WHERE: TECHNOLOGY is embraced to ENGAGE all learners, to ENHANCE the child’s individual STYLE of LEARNING, and to FURTHER the child’s UNDERSTANDING of the complexities of our rapidly changing world.
I think I would add a 17 that was related to being responsible for our environment and nurturing our planet.
The education system paradigm that I envision would incorporate all of the above. It would involve truly experiential learning. It would NOT become the bureaucracy like we have now. It would truly be about learning, NOT teaching. It would NOT be content driven, it would be driven by the interests of the children.
I think that the educational paradigm shift needs to be accompanied by
another shift. A shift where we stop striving for more, more, more.
We don’t need big houses with perfect furniture. Our kids don’t need
hundreds of toys made from fossil fuels that pollute our earth. Don’t
get me wrong, I get sucked into that “dream” all the time. I’m
struggling against my own consumerism, and my inner David Suzuki
doesn’t often win. We also need to equalize the “wealth” on our planet. Fodder for several other posts, no?
What it really comes down to is that I want my kids, and all kids, to be happy. To enjoy learning and to follow their passions. I don’t want them to go to law school or medical school or business school, because that’s where the money is (not that there’s anything wrong with those, if they are your passion).
I will be writing about these shifts in a series of posts and I would really, REALLY, love to have your opinions, insights, successes, failures, inspiration, etc.
I will leave you with an excerpt from a poem, entitled Revolution for the Tested, by Kate Messner.
Read.
But don’t read what they tell you to.
Don’t read excerpts, half-poems,
Carefully selected for lexile content,
Or articles written for the sole purpose
Of testing your comprehension.
Don’t read for trinkets,
For pencils or fast food coupons.
Don’t even read for M&M’s.
And don’t read for points.
Kath, TripleBlessings & Cathie,
Thank you for commenting. I really want to have a conversation about this because I think that change needs to be grass roots, bottom up, not top down.
I do think that some of the points above are happening in schools but certainly not all of them. We are too busy with the curriculum expectations to focus on a lot of those. I really don’t think The Arts are well represented, at least not at the elementary level. Maybe it’s the rural thing, we don’t have specialists in most schools. The bigger schools have music specialists, but not drama or dance or visual art. The smaller schools don’t even have music specialists.
I also don’t think there is a lot of truly experiential learning…there is some.
Cathie, you’re right about dropping some stuff but that’s hard with our data driven School Improvement Plans and Professional Learning Communities (which are dictated/run by the admin, so not really communities). Maybe it’s different in other places, sounds like it is where you are.
My goal here is really to focus on change. As I said above, I’m not really sure what the change will look like and that’s why I’m asking for ideas.
TripleBlessings, I’d love to hear more about the community schools. I’ve read about some in BC, but I think they pulled the funding.
Having read the above 16 “Beyond the Three R’s”, I wonder what makes you so sure that those ideals are not being met in individual classrooms, if not in whole schools. Perhaps you are in an environment that doesn’t foster those ideas? I find it discouraging that you are feeling so cynical about your job and the field that you have chosen to enter, but glad that you are researching concrete ways in which to make changes.
I believe that a good Principal and a a strong staff in partnership with the community as a whole, can create (despite the often unrealistic demands of the Ministry of Ed.) a school environment that meets the needs of the students in as many ways as possible – including creatively, emotionally and intellectually. Sometimes (often) that means ignoring what you are told to do by people that have not been in a classroom for 20 years, (at the both the board and ministry level) to do what you know is best for your kids – sometimes that includes traditional teaching techniques and the expectation of some degree of conforming in order to prepare them for life outside of school. Finding the balance between individual programing that allows children to follow their own paths, and programing that consolidates socially normed content is a tricky thing.
Certainly, I have my own frustrations with the education system as a whole. For example, I too am often discouraged by the seemingly endless supply of waste-of-time PD, while buying concrete school supplies – including technology, seems to come last. I find the EQAO and the emphasis based on the completely bogus and unreliable “data” stunningly off course. However, the pendulum steadily swings back and forth, and what we think is the “best and only way” to teach and administer right now, may be proven wrong by the next “best and only way” that comes next week, next month or with the next government.
The best part of the education that both you and I received as children is that, despite the many flaws that you feel exist in our school system, we are both able to express our opinions (contrary or not) in an articulate, confident and independent way. That makes me wonder how much ‘education’ really molds a person when compared to caring, intelligent parents. It is not my job to be a parent to the children in my class, but to be an educator, mentor, role model…whatever that means. I have to do what I know to be best for each child in my class, or my school each day, based on my own education and knowledge. I don’t think that letting a child determine their educational path is necessarily the best course of action. Unless their parents have already worked to create intrinsically motivated, pedogodgically superior kids (and frankly, those a few and far between unfortunately), their choice of interest may not be something that will help them develop learning skills and relevant knowlege long term.
At any rate, just some thoughts….
I like that wish-list for an ideal school paradigm. And I have to say that my children have experienced a great many of those things in the public school system. I’d love to see our public elementary school teachers better paid and more highly trained, but the ones we’ve met are almost all passionate about their work, full of ideas and enthusiasm, and dedicated to engaging the kids and turning them on to learning. And the principals, assorted VPs, school board members and superintendants I’ve worked with have also been top-notch, committed, dedicated and inspiring. The problem is not there – maybe with the provincial government and tax/funding priorities, as Kath suggested?
I wish that ALL schools, all teachers, and all kids could have the same positive experience we’ve had – especially children coming from challenging home situations, or with learning differences or “special needs”. They are the ones I see struggling, including the students in inner-city schools who have challenges in every aspect of their lives, not just school. I don’t think the solution is un-schooling or alternative schooling, though that may be good for some families. I would rather see our public school system become more flexible and more child-centered, able to offer every child the kind of learning experience and opportunities they need, and universally accessible. The “community school” model I see in Saskatoon could be very powerful, if fully supported by the government, local agencies and charities: to meet the needs of children from breakfast through to after school and evening programming, and opening doors for adult learners as well.
Erin, I totally agree with your new paradigm of education. In my experience, most educators want the same thing. I haven’t been “in the system” for as long as you, so maybe that’s why I’m not as jaded. The biggest problem, imho, is the government. That would be the bureaucracy you refer to above. In my experience, it’s the province and not even the school boards that are pushing for standardization, penny-pinching and cost-benefit analyses of education. In my experience, most teachers, principals, superintendents and others are truly driven by a passion to work with children, to guide them in their personal learning journeys and to nurture them to develop their own individual strengths. As with all things in life, some are better at this than others.
But why do groups like the Fraser Institute rank schools? And why do governments INSIST on subjecting our children to standardized testing? No educator I’ve ever met is in favour of it. So who is? Voters, presumably, and parents. People who like to say “I sign your paycheque when I pay my taxes…so why is my son taking part in an opera performance when he could be learning math?” (an actual, verbatim question/accusation from a parent whose child I taught – he’s also an accountant…coincidence?)
I agree. Our whole society is “results-oriented” (I don’t really know why that’s seen as such a virtue), and those results are usually taken to be: good marks, good university, good job, good house, good car…and so on.