My family, friends, and peers often ask, “Why are you doing this? At this stage of your career, why are you invested so heavily in this process? Shouldn’t you be slowing down instead of revving up?” My answer, after no small amount of considered reflection, is a resounding “No!” I cannot give in (give up) now. Not when I feel we are on the verge of a complete and very necessary shift in educational pedagogy. A shift that was summoned by (and I have been awaiting since) A Nation At Risk in 1983.
Indulge me in a bit of back-story. I came of age and began my professional career in the late 1960s; a decade of personal turmoil, political assassination, and prolonged mistrust and conflict. My passions and opinions were forged in that crucible. It was then, after sampling theater arts, anthropology, journalism, and English as major courses of study that I determined a career in education was the ONLY way to level the playing field for marginalized populations, and to get the general public thinking about and acting upon solutions for the world’s complex problems. I guess you could say I became a staunch “Jeffersonian” educator during that time. One who believes that educating the masses is the only way to maintain a functioning democracy that serves all the people.
Since those heady days of spirited optimism, I have observed - from the inside - the gradual degradation of the educational systems in several areas our country. Despite the heroic efforts by many well-meaning people, schools are always a pawn in political maneuvering. Schools seem to be chronically under funded, consistently the target of budget cuts. Schools are always under attack by critics who believe they know how to ‘do school’ better, or at the mercy of funding agencies which refuse to grant the time it takes (often 12-15 years) to maintain a course of change in order to see if a proposed improvement actually works. Schools and teachers are constantly in the crosshairs of state and federal governments that require slavish adherence to mandated curriculum and performance levels. If I were a cynic I might believe that those in power like it this way. Keeping the masses of students the public schools have turned out over the last quarter century sheepishly dogmatic, compliant, cogs in a much bigger machine.
Like business interests, educational organizations, in order to reach optimum potential, need resources: time, money, and the best and brightest people. Yet salaries for teachers, in most school districts, remain poor. Poor salaries attract marginal workers. Marginal workers remain meek in the face of large education bureaucracies. Teaching is a tough gig. It is labor intensive and crisis driven. Many teachers give up or resort to a “work to the contract” mode and rely heavily on prescribed texts and workbooks proffered by the flashy marketing machine of the publishing industry. It becomes a repetitive grind. Whether its peer support, funding for special supplies or technology, or just physical energy that is lacking, most, sadly, never venture to try anything innovative. Educational organizations and the people who inhabit them, perhaps through no fault of their own, seem to be trapped in a cycle of ineptitude that is sustained through lack of funding, a stultifying national curriculum, and a society that values attitude over aptitude.
And my point is...? This is the reason I have chosen an Integrated Exploratory model as my path. I believe that Thomas Jefferson’s idea of developing an intelligent electorate as the means to preserving democracy is in grave peril. Could it be that public education’s role as sustainer of hard fought American ideals has failed? Use critical thinking. Look around. Talk to the hundreds of students who drop out of school every day. Listen to what they say. Read the newspapers. Watch TV. Are today's policy makers, financial firms, entertainment industries, and sports franchises making intelligent choices that will benefit our Country? Perhaps the fault can be laid a the school's doorstep. It appears they have been failing in their duty to truly educate the populous.
I see this new "integrated exploratory" content delivery model – an engaging model that focuses learners on THINKING, thinking deeply and critically, thinking about everything – as a means to an end. It has the potential to move students (and later global citizens) back into that realm of wide understanding: where problem solving rather than conflict is the means to an end; where doing what’s right, not just what’s expedient are once again fashionable. Instead of dampening children’s inventive spirits with the mundane, the constructivist nature of the integrated exploratory curriculum has the power to ignite them with authentic engagement. Our American culture as well as our planet sorely needs the creative spirits and inventive minds this type of pedagogy produces.
In a mere 10 to15 years our 5th graders will become decision makers and leaders on a world stage. As educators we must provide them with the tools they need to negotiate this brave-new-world. We must do this not just because they will soon be in charge, but for the rest of us, too. We who are leading this charge for change, as well as those who are not, will be sharing the planet during their prime. The learners of today will be called upon to exercise their power, their choices and judgments. Will they have the skills to think clearly and to act decisively in the interest of all of us? Or will they be "me" focused and consumed by greed and competition.
We've heard it before, "Think globally and act locally." Integrated Exploratory and its design- thinking component is a single class, a small start. But it is a class that could help ignite a school-wide then perhaps a state or national trend. Portola Valley is a small school district, but it is located in the cradle of innovation, Silicon Valley. By virtue of its location our tiny sphere of influence can only increase. I am one teacher of a handful in this district who is committed to this movement. We are not alone. There is a growing state and national trend toward this new pedagogical structure that merges academic disciplines into systems. Something educational futurists are beginning to call transdisciplinarity.
For decades business ventures have seen the value of design thinking and the benefits it has on their bottom lines. It is apparent now that teachers, like me, need to wrestle our profession from the grip of the text book companies and the mavens of the content standards movement who would prescribe away all vestiges of mental acuity. We will lead the assault on the status quo even though we become the lightning rods in the process. Teacher training programs, usually the last to change, will be forced to adopt new pedagogical programs once public outcry reaches critical mass. Until then schools and teachers can choose to work in conjunction with organizations like the d.school at Stanford or IDEO in Menlo Park or ISKME in Half Moon Bay. Through them teachers will receive the type of training they need to carry the design-thinking torch into the next decades.
Critical thinking, design thinking, integrated exploratory thinking are, in my view, one and the same. Creating an environment that provides a comfortable space for children to exercise their blossoming abilities as thinkers and organizing curriculum into "systems" that make connections between disciplines is the most significant job of this new millennium. It is this transformative path I have selected today. The logical next phase of a vital career path chosen 40 years ago. The persistence of a functional democracy and a robust planet depend on my efforts. That’s the point.
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