It’s back to school and for once, it feels as though things are going to be moving in a different direction. Maybe that’s just my misguided hope, but why not start the year with some optimism, right?

I was raised in the 80s/90s schooling system, when the reforms of the 70s found some grounding and education began moving away from knowledge based to skills based. Since the advent of technology was still far off, there was experimentation with different styles as we learned that a one size fits all model wasn’t serving the needs of most students.

However, this was all still rooted in a culture that still felt like education was important and that within these skills, knowledge must still be learned. At least, that’s how it felt from the inside.

But then the pendulum kept swinging.

And the accommodations and exceptions that were provided were suddenly the norm and students quickly learned how to manipulate the system for their ends. They were backed up by a culture who were getting suspicious that the promises of education weren’t on point anymore.

Then came the technologists who promised devices in the hands of every child would be a game changer.

Then the academics who needed to justify their existence by writing essays, books and giving presentations on why schools needed to be completely reformed, yet did nothing more than give us an Orwellian doublespeak of the 70s as a solution:

“We are moving to level based grading: Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 and this is the standard that each means.”
Didn’t we used to just call this A,B,C and D?

Then we removed consequences for arriving late, not showing up, submitting late work or just flat out being disrespectful.

Then our culture moved from suspicious to antagonistic towards anything related to education.

Good teachers who could see right through all this were smart enough to just close their door and keep doing what they’ve always done. Give it enough time, and whatever fad was permeating would eventually disappear and be replaced by something else.

However, last year felt like the final straw from within.

The proliferation of AI generators, and supporting apps that attempt to “mask” or “humanize” generated text, had many get back behind the pendulum and push it back the other way. Classrooms always dealt with issues of disrespect, plagiarism and cheating, but it hit a scale that couldn’t be contained anymore. It became clear that learning wasn’t being had and students were outright miserable.

For starters on the swing back, the province I’m in issued a system wide ban on cell phones. From what I hear for those who started earlier, it’s already been a game changer.

There are also schools popping up such as the Michaela school, which is the strictest school in all of England, in the lowest socioeconomic area and free to anyone who attend, who have absolutely dominated the rankings of the G.C.S.E. Not only that, students are proud to be a part of that school.

It’s going to take years to see the effects, but I feel the push back happening.

Hopefully one day the pendulum will find a balance point.