I have been cranky lately. This is a cranky post. My last one. I am officially making spring “positive blogging season.” Which I guess means I still have until March 21st to be cranky. So please bear with me…
What must we change to in order to improve schools? How many times have you heard a question like that in the last year?
I think that the question automatically skews the answer. If you start off by using the word change, you start processing a problem in terms of fixing what is already present. You take the current system and processes and make them better.
I think it is a question that is nearly impossible for teachers to answer. How can someone who has spent their entire life in the system be able to bring true innovation and change to schools since all they have ever experienced or lived in have been schools? It is kind of like having car companies trying to change and improve cars. They have made them safer, sleeker, more efficient, and lighter, but essentially they are still combustion engines on four wheels.
Just by having the word “schools” in the question sets us up for failure. That word forces us to keep in place certain processes and features and build around them. So how about if we get rid of the word school. We can’t make the question “How would we improve teaching?” That would force us to center our solutions around having teachers. We can’t insert the word “students.” That just brings us right back to teachers and schools.
Right now schools try to do everything. We teach skills, facts, values, parenting skills, drug prevention, fire safety, provide medical care, provide lunches, and you know the list can go on and on. Schools are the Wal-Mart’s of knowledge. While you can get anything you want at Wal-Mart, nothing is really the best quality. Even when they sell something that is identical to a quality product, there are different components in the inside that allows them to sell it just a bit cheaper. Buy a pair of sneakers at Wal-Mart and it will be worn out in a couple of years and you will have to come back and buy a new pair. Learn fractions in 3rd grade and in a couple of years you will forget it and have to be re-taught them again in 5th grade. Buy some eggs at Wal-Mart and they might look like the same on the outside as the eggs from the farmer done the road who let’s his chickens roam outside, but the taste, texture, and nutritional value sure are not the same. A high school can give diplomas to all of its qualified students, but all qualifying means is that you passed memorized some facts, and passed some tests. Kids are graduating with hollow insides void of wisdom, virtue, and love. Their brains have little “nutritional value.”
As a part time organic farmer, I often get questions from people asking how they can buy better food, what stores they should shop in, or simply what can they change with their food to improve their health? I don’t respond with names or types. I tell them to grow their own. That’s the starting place. If you can’t do that then what kind of food can you acquire that is closest to growing your own. I think we can start with the same analogy when we try to answer the question, “What must we change to in order to improve schools?”
12 responses so far ↓
[...] They were from 15 countries. Do say hello folks by sending your comments on my various ramblings. Schools are the Wal-Marts of learning – blogush.edublogs.org 02/17/2009 I have been cranky lately. This is a cranky post. My last [...]
I don’t care how cranky you are! That’s a great post and one that will be spread through out our school.
My philosophy: Implement new ideas, that teach the fundamentals, and constantly be searching for FREE resources.
Do what you can, with what you have!
P.S. If you haven’t patented the phrase “Wal-Marts of learning” you need to! It summarizes everything!
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What a great essay Mr. Cranky…
Thanks for giving me a brain jolt so early in the AM…I am thinking of ways to expand your ideas…
Tim
El Paso
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I was having a slow morning as well, but well-written, fresh ideas always wake me up!
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hey Mr.B,
i like this post and when you said that kids who graduate from high school are just kids that just memorized facts and passed some tests so, does that mean that the kids who don’t get diplomas didn’t memorized these facts because they didn’t want to or because they couldn’t memorized them?????and if they couldn’t memorized these facts, because of some issue then they should still get something if they tried shouldn’t they???
oh yea one more thing, i tagged you for the”if you were the last person on earth” so write a post about it!!!=]
-herky-
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@ Paul
I’ve started reading “The Game of School” by Robert L. Fried. You’re hitting on many of his points especially with the students coming out “hollow”. I think you’d enjoy the read.
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Paul,
Love the Wal-mart analogy!
I think your post helps uncover something that we’re not always comfortable talking about. We assume that everyone in education believes a change in system is needed. I’m not so sure.
If we asked Wal-mart staff if they see a need for change, would they all agree? One of the largest retail companies in the country, still making money in the present economy? Why would they see a need for change?
There are still many educators who are not paying into the question because they’re not convinced that any change is needed.
And perhaps they only way to help open their eyes is by being a bit cranky!
Thanks for a great post!
glennw
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Hey Mr. B,
I just tagged you with a meme about super powers. Check out my blog to see the questions if you haven’t already done this post.
Megan
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I didn’t think this was cranky at all! I’ve been thinking about your thoughts on this question since chatting with you at Educon. You’ve really helped me reshape the way I address educational reform in conversations and in my own thinking. This post goes to the heart of that.
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From a cranky colleague from down under: Wish I knew what a Wal-mart looks like!!! However, I get the gist of your analogy. Teaching methods and schools have changed very little over the last century. Only the tools may have changed, but even these, especially the digital web2.0 tools, are slow to be taken up by most educationalists. However, good teachers who facilitate, listen to their students and show they care can make a difference in their classroom, that may flow on to the school. Hope Walmart survives the credit slump!!
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Great post. Knowing that you were in a foul mood when writing it shows that you are more introspective than most teachers. Teaching is a second career for me and my observation is that teachers are reluctant to change. In business, teams adapt to changes in competition, but their goal is always clear. A few questions to ponder:
1. Do teachers have a clear goal? Is it a standardized test score or a skill assessment?
2. Who can influence teachers to improve their teaching? Improving teacher knowledge is the best way to improve education (see related blog post at http://tinyurl.com/cceo4q) Someone needs to observe teachers and make recommendations. The recommendations should be made part of the annual review process
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“I tell them to grow their own. That’s the starting place. If you can’t do that then what kind of food can you acquire that is closest to growing your own.”
Growing my own is not always easy, but it’s always worth it
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