Today I want to end my blog posts about the book I've been reading,
Most Likely To Succeed, with 2 quotations that come directly from the final few pages that focus on the future. The heading for this section is Innovation -v- Education. I'm actually posting these quotes in reverse order as I think they make sense in this way. Bear in mind that the book is focused on the system of education in the USA. It's less relevant in international schools - but these quotations still ring true.
Today, our education system has become the American Nightmare. It saps the joy of learning from every child and teacher. Classrooms jump through endless hoops that have nothing to do with life skills.
So as you can see here the focus of the system is on content - and then assessing the recall of that content. Here's the second quote:
We have an education system that would make perfect sense in the 1970s U.S.S.R. but is completely out of step with America's core values and strengths. We invest on top-down command-and-control. We micromanage every minute of every lesson plan. Instead of letting a thousand flowers bloom, we replace all flowers with the same lifeless, overtested weed. We take every ounce of bold creativity out of the classroom, replacing it with a soulless march through dull curriculum and test prep decoupled from life skills. We prioritize standardization and accountability, and don't seem to notice or care that students lack engagement and purpose. We rob our kids of their futures.
I saw this video on Facebook earlier this week. I'm posting it because I think the comparison is interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment