Response when asked what I thought about The Myth of Our Failed Education System, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JSD/is_8_55/ai_77196590/
I’ve heard much of that. Statistics and “facts” can always be spun to support almost any argument. I don’t think all schools are evil. I think most teachers are dedicated professionals who have the best interest of their students in mind. Yes, teachers are dealing with students that come from a huge variety of problem households (pgs 3-4) and that stacks the deck against them. My questions (and one that is never addressed) is … who educated *those* parents? What system did they come out of that their households are in such disarray that their children come to school severely disadvantaged? We are very often doing what we’ve always done, expecting different results. We need to change what we are doing and how we are doing it if we want to break the cycle.
Ask any scientist or engineer how severe the shortage is of qualified American students. They can’t find enough people to fill the current and anticipated technical jobs. The base here has a billboard on Hwy 395 trying to get recruits, it’s that bad. When Steve went to grad school, after graduating with his BS with honors and a double major/double minor, he found himself at the bottom of the pile in terms of preparedness and ability to compete with grad students that came from other countries.
There’s lots that is working just fine. But there is something systemic that isn’t really working at all. I see it in my own children’s education, and I see it in the college students I get. I hear about it from educators and read about it on listservs, networks, and other avenues I am tuned in to. Lots of people rise to the defense of an institution they are full vested in for many reasons… I wonder if that closes their eyes to the possibility that change can be good, even desirable and necessary, if our educational system is to remain viable in a world that demands the ability to adapt, communicate, collaborate, and constantly learn. I wonder what it will take to go from the drum beating rhetoric that all camps are engaged in to tangible, effective action like the people at NotSchool.net and the Westwood Cyber High School are affecting. I wonder…
