Seth Godin's Gel talk was almost as amusing as Sir Ken Robinson's TED talks. Nonetheless, he makes great points. One of the ones that struck me was the "It's not my job" category of broken. In this day and age, things are so compartmentalized. There's a department for everything and if it's not part of your department, you don'touch it. Explains why so many things are broken these days.
My experience with broken things falls under this category. Various members of my family have been received jury summons, our civic duty. They get a letter in the mail with instructions to call on a certain day at a certain time. They call only to be told to call again at a different time. So the cycle continues for a few days. All the while, they are unable to go to work should they be called in. This fails to make any sense to me. Either call them in or let them go? Why is that so hard?
I think what is broken with school falls under the "the world changed" category. The public education system was developed in the 1800's. 200 years later, we are still using the same system. To say things have changed since then would win the "Understatement of the Year" Award. It's no wonder the education system is broken. It's beyond outdated. It would be like me trying to do this assignment on one of the first PCs. Not only would it take me hours, I would send myself into a coma from banging my head into the wall so much. Thankfully, unlike the education system, PCs were updated as time went on. Things were improved upon, new things were created, some things were even removed. The same things need to happen to the education system, or else someone down the line will be their head against the wall.
My experience with broken things falls under this category. Various members of my family have been received jury summons, our civic duty. They get a letter in the mail with instructions to call on a certain day at a certain time. They call only to be told to call again at a different time. So the cycle continues for a few days. All the while, they are unable to go to work should they be called in. This fails to make any sense to me. Either call them in or let them go? Why is that so hard?
I think what is broken with school falls under the "the world changed" category. The public education system was developed in the 1800's. 200 years later, we are still using the same system. To say things have changed since then would win the "Understatement of the Year" Award. It's no wonder the education system is broken. It's beyond outdated. It would be like me trying to do this assignment on one of the first PCs. Not only would it take me hours, I would send myself into a coma from banging my head into the wall so much. Thankfully, unlike the education system, PCs were updated as time went on. Things were improved upon, new things were created, some things were even removed. The same things need to happen to the education system, or else someone down the line will be their head against the wall.
Well said! I could not agree with you more about our educational system. Seth Godin's blog would be great for you to follow- especially since you will be launching your own business.
ReplyDeleteIn considering my role as a 'facilitator' of high school students, I am acutely aware of how awesome a responsibility given to me. These words of Yeats motivate me: "I have only my dreams to offer, tread softly on my dreams."
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