Let’s talk about this idea of “fixing” education.
I’m amused by the idea of many progressive thinkers (and also a slew of people just talking for the sake of hearing their own voice) about how we can “fix” our education system.
I’m amused and put the word fix in quotes because we don’t have a real benchmark to know when we’ve fixed it.
Is it better Math scores?
Closing the gap between affluent students and poorer ones?
Graduation rates?
Literacy rates?
Test scores?
I don’t deny there are many reforms we can make within our education systems. If you look at my published work on the subject, you’ll know I’m dedicated to overhauling how we teach Religion.
My benchmark, by the way, is to have Religion classes stop being mirrors of Social Studies classes and become the engine that gets students excited about going to school. In other words: Religion class is where school culture is born and propagated.
Back on point.
There are a lot of strategies, thoughts and motivational videos out there for teachers to adopt. On top of those are the deluge of articles, books and research papers that highlight “best” practices (it worked somewhere, therefore, we should use it everywhere).
Each has its merit and should be carefully evaluated against student learning (this has also been a contentious issue on how we evaluate if a student learned something; I can go on about this for hours).
The one that concerns me the most is the suggestion we need to prepare our students for the future by modeling our education system after how workplaces function right now.
Big red flag here.
First, what workplace are we talking about?
The people pushing this agenda aren’t coming from the trades, the military or the boutique shops and cafes.
They’re coming from the tech industry, which are for-profit companies that have a vested interest in securing their place in education for their own profit. Let’s also remember they are run by twenty-something year-old people who are making it up as they go along, ultimately vying for that billion dollar valuation.
One great example is that push for the open office plan as the greatest thing for collaboration and businesses quickly jumped on board.
Next, and this is the big one for me, businesses hire their employees based on their set criteria and have the power to fire an employee if they are not meeting that standard.
Could you imagine if I was allowed to hire my students based on a criteria I set and be able to fire them if they weren’t performing up to my standard?
Of course, as a teacher, it’s my duty to set a high standard for my classroom and for my students. However, I can’t pick my students and barring some serious behaviour issues, I don’t have the power to kick them out of my class for not performing.
What I can do is accept the students in front of me are the best they can be with the backgrounds they are coming to my room with, and it is my job to push them as best as I can to live up to their potential.
That’s going to look different for every student.
This is what a good teacher strives for and it’s easy to get burnt out because not every student responds. Some need time and others need a different approach all together.
Some just hate you because you’re a teacher.
Finally, the world is a mess right now. Major businesses are dying, downsizing or being bought out. Automation is replacing skilled workers and AI is replacing low-end cognitive tasks.
Not to mention we’re facing some of the greatest global problems, ever, thanks to some of these businesses who are trying to dictate what education should be.
We’re entering a new epoch and I don’t think modeling our future after the chaos that’s out there is the best approach. Perhaps giving students preparation for what they’re going to walk into is where I’ll acquiesce.
Education is going to change because it has to adapt. Its purpose is shifting and this idea of “fixing” it overlooks something more fundamental:
Nobody has a clue what’s coming next.
Maybe if we start there, we’ll have a better idea of how to fix the problem.