When I first started to read the book, I was wondering why? But after I finished reading it, it reminded me of the educational system of today, just not the cavemen....Unless you're talking about Administrators....(Just Kidding)
My 25 word or less analogy of the book was: The evolution of college and the importance of education, and how everyone believes that they have the perfect mousetrap.
Since entering into the world of high school education in 1997, I still believe this to be a true analogy. I've been through four principles and four Academy Administrators, and they all believe that their vision is the best. In many cases they do not involve the staff or the students, they just roll out their vision and ask us to believe it and support it 100%.
Just like in the book when the scouts came back and reported on the community over the mountain and how they had rocks, but they didn't use them. The ruler asked "don't they have education" and the scouts said " they do something they call education, but it's a collection of traditional activities".
Like education today, we are blocked in attempts to better the educational process with pseudo education, for high stakes testing.
I do see the tide changing and we as educators are more involved in the process of delivering great education, because the "Cavemen" are being replaced with more progressive Administrators. That way we will not be over run by the ruler from over the mountain.
I copied down your mousetrap quote in my class notes last week, because it is true: everyone believes they have the vision or next big thing to cure what's "wrong" with education. Some schools pilot the thing ("we're a PBL school" or "we're a personalized learning school"), while other schools provide teachers with a single day of "next big thing PD" and call this certification. We teachers are asked to be the "do-ers" and carry out that vision, whether we feel competent or not.
ReplyDeleteWhile the visions are all called different things, I do think we're headed in the general right direction: focus on the learner. Implementation of technology isn't enough; it's what we do with it. Considering at 1989 article for designing good instruction shouldn't be "progressive," but that's the snail's pace that innovation in education moves at sometimes.
I have seen many different educational systems in my many years of teaching inside and outside the US. And I have seen that everywhere, everyone believe that they have the perfect mousetrap. But it may also be true that they probably do, based on their unique situations. You said it well that the tide is changing. It does start as a ripple from the front liners, the teachers. And hopefully, will persist to cause timely relevant wide-range changes.
ReplyDelete