Much of the world of educational reform revolves around special interest groups or individuals claiming that their way is the “best” way to increase student achievement, close the achievement gap, and provide the educational setting that students deserve. All of these ideas are loosely-coupled and rarely speak to the crux of the issue simply because they fail to take each other into account. Each discipline, innovation, or idea operates on an island with no bridge to the next. Hence the reasons why educational reforms frequently end up as “fads” and never provide true, sustainable results. Some of the best attempts at solving this problem fail at an alarming rate specifically because they are not provided with the infrastructure necessary to accomplish the goals they have sought to attain.
At the same time, do not take my words to mean that I am an educational traditionalist and that education should continue as it always has. That simply could not be further from the truth. I don’t believe that the structure of the past was unsuccessful. I simply believe that it has had its time and must be altered to meet the needs of students and society alike.
Couple that with the fact that I am not some radical who believes that schools should be destroyed completely and that the educational system deserves a “do-over” or a “reboot”. Those that come in with ideas that deviate beyond any form of pragmatism fail to recognize the deep cultural roots that education has in society. Small tinkering over time with the structure of school will result in large gains.
The question is: how?
I believe in synthesizing education. Working diligently to generate a combination of old ideas, new ideas, and “futuristic” ideas in an effort to manifest the best possible decision given the context of the situation. This kind of thinking fascinates me simply because, in my opinion, it is the most difficult to attain. It requires accepting components that you do not like, components that you do like, and aspects that face some skepticism. Essentially combining all schools of thought on education reform in a drive to find the “best” answer.
Think to yourself: what would happen if we began to utilize this thinking in schools throughout the country? What would happen? What would change?
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