Welcome

Everyone is for better education for our youth. But what does that mean? What does a better education look like? And when we take into account that we are training our youth to succeed in an uncertain future—a world that hasn’t happened yet-- with technology speeding up creating brave new worlds for current and future generations, these questions are all the more important to find answers to.

First, a few distinctions.

1.       Resources. Resources are not an education. Often the two are erroneously conflated. As many have learned –and some still haven’t—throwing money at the “problem” of education does not necessarily result in better educated people. Resources are tools (eidetic and empirical) and materials that will help students learn to thrive in the coming decades. Some resources are essential. Others remnants of a bygone era and less than efficient teaching tools. To what degree are people resources? And what qualities or knowledge must a person possess to be an effective teacher?

2.      Purpose: What is the goal of a good public education? What are we trying to accomplish? What is our “finished product”? This is the most important issue because it drives the whole process.

3.       Curriculum: Given a well-defined and agreed upon Purpose, we must examine what information will be shared with students. What must they learn to fulfill their purpose? What does an “educated” person need to know?

4.       Means of delivery: How can we most effectively get a diverse student body to internalize the curriculum? To what role can technology supplant people in the learning process? And to what degree can tech NOT supplant people in the process

5.       Standards: The ideal and acceptable levels of curriculum internalization. What percentage of mastery will constitute success? Will grades (A B C D F) be used, or some different paradigm?

6.       Testing: the means of measuring student’s internalization of a given concept(s)

7.       Assessment: Examining the degree to which the educational process is working, reinforcing success and eliminating any degree of failure in the process itself. Are our students internalizing the curriculum? Where are we coming up short and what can we do to fix those areas to achieve better results.

With these terms understood, we are ready to start to answer all those questions listed above. Future blog entries will attempt to do just that, and more. Stop back soon.