I discovered them later than most, but all of the different topics that are covered and those who give them give such an insight into anything imaginable. And these two particular talks, Sir Ken Robinson's "How to Escape Education's Death Valley" and Seth Godin's "Stop Stealing Dreams" were no different. Here's a rundown on my thoughts on both:
As I first started watching Sir Ken Robinson's talk, I was rapidly clicking away at my keyboard, jotting down notes, and thinking to myself, "yes! That! Exactly! Go Ken, go!". Every point he made within the very first few minutes, the jokes he truthfully cracked, all are things that are either currently a hot talking point or I've noticed in the field of education myself. Then I realized my list was way too long and we all pretty much know just how our education system is failing kids. Drop out status. Obedience and conformity. Robotic, everyone's-the-same teaching ("You would never confuse [your kids]. Which one are you? Remind me." Too true, Ken, too true).
But the one thing that stood out from his talk is something that I've heard before, but not nearly enough. To be honest, I don't recall where I first heard the topic being discussed - I think in a Youtube video for a class on education in undergrad - but it stirred my feelings yet again. We are using an outdated model. It's an Industrial system of education, both in the sense that it's a mechanical system as opposed to a human one; and also in the fact that it's no longer the 1900's - our values have changed, our technologies have changed, our world has changed. Obedience is not quite the same as it once was (yes, you should still listen to and respect your parents, but just think how much the family unit and social norms involving the family have changed and relaxed over the past hundred years). So why are we preparing kids for a machine-industry using mechanized methods when it's 2013?
It's a new age, thinking and approaches have changed, and yet education remains stagnant. I've always been a bit biased towards education's lack of progress; fields like science and technology are always adapting, and yet here's education, nowhere near the cutting edge of anything (or so it seems). The change doesn't need to be radical. We don't need to abolish school entirely, give everyone giraffes instead of grades, or replace biology with bungee-cord art 202 But if we keep doing what we're doing, our results are going to remain the same - crappy (I generalize, but you get the idea).
- I like how we, as a country, spend the most money on education, yet we'er still not doing so hot in the grand scheme of things. Just goes to show that you can throw all of the money in the world at something, and if you don't know what you're doing and your system has major kinks, it's not going to produce the results you want.
- I loved Robinson's comment about art speaking to the things within kids that would otherwise go unnoticed, unattended. If I didn't have music and art and expression - all of those "artsy fartsy" subjects or activities that seem to be getting pushed out of schools these days - I would've been an even moodier teenager. How unfeeling we would all be!
- Low-grade clerical work. I snorted when I heard that, but how true it is. I complain at my own job when I get saddled with menial tasks that I know exist for the sole purpose of being tedious. Just as in school, we knew when the teacher was assigning us an activity that was meant to keep us occupied while she caught up on other things - it's not brain surgery to know when you're being shorted. To hear the parallel made to "low-grade clerical" work really brought this whole idea into a new light for me. Wow.
Stop Stealing Dreams
And for me, Godin's talk builds off of my "need to change the system" rant. He poses the question, "What is school for"? And that's a tough question. The follow-up - "What did school used to be for?" hits on that notion of obedience, productivity, and industrialism. But I've talked about that enough. Let's talk about how hard it is to get an adult to do something creative with no constraints or guidance other than "make something interesting".
I can't even make something interesting! Trying to decide on a unit theme for our curriculum classes, where they can literally be about ANYTHING is impossible for me. Had you asked when I was 8, I probably would've said dinosaurs wearing jetpacks or something. I don't like having free reign (Linda knows my pain). I feel like I've been taught all this time that there's no need for creativity and open choice.
And that's where the problem with schools comes in. What are we teaching kids? Certainly not how to think. Again, I generalize; I'm sure there are schools and teachers out there who are excellent at teaching creative thinking and resourcefulness. But everything our school system is designed for as a whole is not aimed at creativity or divergent thinking - it's aimed at sameness. Standardized tests, I'm looking largely at you. We're very good at collecting things, and not so much at connecting them, and in the process we teach kids that it doesn't matter what you can do with that knowledge. You have it, and that's good enough. Psht, who needs to apply things, anyway?
Special mentions:
- Memorizing is not important. THANK YOU! Someone said it. I'm a firm believer that resourcefulness trumps everything; I may not know the answer, but I know how to find out, and to me that is much more valuable than having memorized how to spell "jodhpurs". If you're typing it on a computer and don't have the discipline to find out what you don't know, there are many more issues we're going to have than you failing your spelling test (like work ethic, laziness, and learning how to use technology in a competitive world).
- Lectures on subjects that are interesting, that are free and everyone has access to? I see what you're doing there, TED Talks.
- "Good" as a construct (i.e. a "good" college). I love ruminating on social constructs, and really, aren't most things? What makes such and such "good"? What is "good"? As a society, we assign things arbitrary value and they become the norm, just 'cause.
In writing this, I've also realized how much more seriously I take writing a blog post than a discussion board post, even though they're essentially the exact same thing. Interesting...
I really enjoyed reading your reflections, Kristin. Over the past many years, I have processed so many different feelings about education (from the in-the-system point of view, and from the parental point of view). My current feeling is that teachers would benefit so much if the system allowed them to step back and truly consider, reflect, integrate. When I worked outside of the classroom as a tech integration consultant, we had days and sometimes weeks to plan for one training. Secondary teachers are required to teach 6 or 7 or more periods a day, multiple preps, with highly detailed lesson plans. Where is the time for meeting these demands thoughtfully? I'm actually amazed at how excellent my kids' teachers do given their work conditions. I honestly don't know how they do it day in and day out!
ReplyDeleteThank you! There are so many things to process as a teacher, from the political implications of things, philosophically, psychologically, socially - it's hard to find an answer to any, let alone one overarching "thing" that explains our education system, where it's at, and where it's going. I think having the time to reflect, especially on technology, would be IMMENSELY beneficial. There's so much to juggle already!
DeleteHi Kristan,
ReplyDeleteWe have very different views with regard to the ideas presented in these videos. I would just like to provide a friendly challenge to some of what you wrote.
It seems there is a vein of anti-intellectualism coursing through educational theory and philosophy, as is evidenced by Seth's views towards textbooks, memorization, and teachers.
That word "memorize" has been so besmirched that it now carries a negative connotation in educational theory. In truth, it is at the heart of education, and most theories of mind and intelligence are based on some variant of the memory-prediction model, wherein one learns information and predicts future events based on the past. This is basically the definition of "understanding," and memory plays an important part.
We are passively memorizing information, and sometimes it is useful to actively memorize information that is important for understanding a subject, e.g., anatomy and physiology. That said, not all memorization is necessary, e.g., 3.1415926573...., but just because we sometimes memorize items of no importance does not mean that memorizing itself is not important for developing a well rounded intellect. It is often important to memorize or collect the parts in order to put together the whole.
I'm not saying that memorization is necessarily a bad thing; I agree, we're constantly passively memorizing information, unconscious of just how much we're absorbing and understanding. It's the mindless, fine-detailed facts that students are meant to memorize that I'm not so fond of. Too often I see teachers ask "What year was Shakespeare born in?" when, in my mind, the context - knowing that, no, Shakespeare did not exist in the 1940's (true story) - is more important. That understanding and learning still requires memorization, but something that I think is more practical and applicable to things students will be asked to do later in life.
DeleteYou made an excellent point about Ken. He hits the hot topics! Therefor he knows he will get a great response. What I do enjoy about him more as a presenter is that he feels personable, likely because he is humorous to listen to.
ReplyDeleteWe are working on an outdated system. I keep trying to explain things about that to people. For starters we are a technological age, therefore social skills and social protocols, and social timing is different than it was 15 years ago (let alone 30 or 40!). We also have a need to change how we do our education system because (not just behavioral and social constraints) we have a different job market and employment/educational need. I am very happy you brought that subject up!
Thanks Ben :)
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