schoolyard subversion

2001-09-05 [< * >]

The Education Revolution

This article was written as part of the Seybold2001 Project: What does the future hold? For background, see Scripting News: Is education the next revolution? and Scoble: A Tale of Two Classrooms.

It seems we're in the midst of an education crisis. All the usual people are telling us that we need to save the next generation, have no child left behind, and invest more in public education. And despite all the money we're spending and the stricter rules we're enforcing, according to the tests we're supposed to be giving to "every child, every year" our children are doing worse than ever. What's gone wrong and how do we fix it?

What's gone wrong is that our "educational system" has spun out of control. We've become obsessed about schooling, which most of the time amounts to a teacher making a bunch of students memorize stuff in a classroom. What we need to do is focus on learning, which isn't something you can make someone else do, but nonetheless happens all the time, anywhere. As a tool-centered society, we're sure that we can solve the problem if we just find the perfect tool: the right curriculum, the right teacher, the great computer, the perfect software. While all of this helps, to some extent, it ignores that children are fiercely individual, and we are unlikely to discover a "magic bullet" that will help everyone learn everything.

What we need to do is take a step back from the mess we've made and begin to start again. We need to begin throwing out all the things that take away children's choices, and start putting in those that give them more. Let's take away tests, homework, separate rooms and classes for each subject, etc. All those things just get in the way of learning. Let's put in freedom, encouragement, and access to interesting tools. Let's stop forcing children to do it our way, and help them in doing things their way. It's an exciting world out there, and there's more than enough in it to keep everyone busy. Let's help show them the way.

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