User:Average/Education reform
The standard k-12 educational track puts too much pressure on conformance and not enough on developing the individual. v2.0001
Separate education into three phases:
Kindergarten: becoming familiar and comfortable with the school environment (who’s who, what is where), sensory-motor development, how to take care of your body, how to take care of your mind and be attentive to the world around you, socializing techniques (formally: "negotiation"), conflict management.
For each level, one outdoor and one creative recess each day. The purpose for breaks is 1) perceptual and kinesthetic novelty, 2) exercising personal choice (ego-development) 3) mental/physical freedom ("freeform activity"). Focus on one or the other for point #3, not both. Example for kindergarten: go bug hunting, it takes them outdoors and develops their perceptual faculties. Carefully-chosen entertainment video programs can be effective (exercising novelty and imaginative/perceptual freedom). If the videos are curriculum-related, don't put it in the break period, integrate it into the classroom.
Grades 1–6: Orientation at G1 (grade 1) around full school grounds (i.e. what they’re there for & where they’re heading). Then, focus on reading, writing, arithmetic, and geometry. Nothing much beyond this. The axiis developed here are analytical<-->creative, and logical<-->spatial, respectively. Geometry is not the impoverished 2-dimensional geometry of grade school ("angle A-B-C"), but 2-d and 3-d geometry they can use to build things smartly and kinesthetically. They should have a strong foundation in these basic skills which will allow them to develop themselves. Creative writing can be encouraged and use of calculator.
Different classrooms for each grade can have special "environments”. The G1 classroom, for example, could include elaborate hamster tunnels where children learn to care for the small creatures, learning about body functions, self-care, and caring for others. Another grade could be watching the cycle of life, planting seed, growing herbs or flowers in the window, pollination, and collecting seeds after they die. The idea is to give uncontroversial and healthy supplementation that parents might not be giving at home to teach appreciation of their health and the Earth on which they’ll always depend and doesn't challenge the authority of their parents. It also provides a connection to the outside world, so the classroom experience doesn't get too clinical or institutionalized.
A special one-month section each year for special instruction and creative relief: visiting places around the town, basic health, hiking trips, outdoor survival, maps and geography, self-defense. These one-month special terms will also give teachers a break. This reflects the activity cycle of the day: action, rest, action.
Grading: eliminate the 70% marker and go for 50% (Pass/Fail). Students should not fail for falling below 70% (a source of a lot of unhealthy judgment). Have a special merit for above 90% (“A”) to offer something for students to strive (not struggle) for. Special, private endorsements can be added by teachers to student portfolio. Concerns that seem unresolvable should be raised with higher-ranking teachers. Parents are generally better partners with disciplinary issues over learning.
Post-core (previously known as grades 7-12): Eliminate classrooms and focus on labs (woodworking lab, chemistry lab, computer lab), self-directed study and peer-based learning, and mentoring. Develop critical thinking, research and inquiry, and keeping a notebook or portfolio. Have a large library, well-curated by a full-time librarian who's also been a mentor. Workshop spaces where they can experiment with ideas gained from this study, forming a positive feedback loops of knowledge -> trial-and-error -> experience and understanding -> more knowledge. These spaces would be staffed full-time with experts in the various domains to assist and guide various creative and industrious activities: metal/wood shop, science lab, greenhouse stocked with seeds of various kinds, and computer shops. The idea is to be the professional guide who's always on-hand, not the dictator or lecturer. Teachers should meet with individual students on a daily basis and talk about concerns/ideas and establish plans. Mentors (assistant volunteers) from the community with the relevant expertise can oversee the shops, giving meaningful work for retirees (for example) while distributing some of the load so teachers can focus on life paths for the students and improving trouble spots. A curriculum plan offering 6-years of increasing breadth and/or depth for each area should be developed if there are students with such focused interest. The National Education Association should collect these in a common database or web-site so that educators can hone best practices and cross-fertilize each other. Different ages can teach each other and co-mingle in shops rather than segregating ages, making it easier for teachers and students. Much more can be accomplished by integration for both the students and the teachers. Be on the lookout for good in-class teachers to channel towards future generations. No preset time periods necessary, students can eat their sack lunch at a common area whenever they want. Teachers can establish “down time” and “office hours”. Library and shops should stay open from 8–5, perhaps until 10 if community members help supervise and parents get involved. This would facilitate community involvement and feed back continual improvements to the public school. A slot for sports, I suppose would be necessary too somewhere (see below).
This freedom of self-guidance gets rid of student-teacher rebellion issues and students can graduate at a mutually-agreed on time between the school, teachers, and student, offering certificates of construction trades, science, math and computer programming, general service and toolcraft. G7 should focus on exposing students to the best of each subject area to make sure that students are getting stuck in narrow view of the world and what's possible. If some students wanted to be done after grade 8, they could do so, if they’ve developed a portfolio which the school deems sufficiently responsible to graduate, this includes how to survive on their own. Students who have left can come back up to the age of -20. Adults could also come back to school and build their portfolio, utilizing the public system as long as they’re willing to be give assistance to hired faculty or staff.
Special one-month terms during the 7–12 phase should include things like responsible engagement with their government of the People, guided outings for living on Earth, student presentations, 1-month trial job positions at various local industries for job experience; investigating and preparing for college admissions, basic independent living (cooking, cleaning, mending), working with the law and contracts (renting apartments, for example), musical and art, and so forth. Integrating with 4-H somewhere would be desirable. These 1-month break ideas should be also be published on a website so that educators across the world can compare ideas and successes, refining the education process and curriculum for everyone.
While positions in the 7–12 shops could be filled by quasi-volunteer experts in the community, the librarian should be a hired professional who's been a mentor (a respected teacher nearing retirement would be ideal). Further, there should be a hired professional or superintendent for managing and administering the school (keeping things clean, functioning, liaison between teachers and parents). For their services, they get extra pay. They should have experience with teaching, finances, basic maintenance, and be superb with people. With the right such administrator, teachers should feel comfortable reporting to such.
Rather than grading here in this last phase, help the student to develop a portfolio — a resume that they can show to get immediate work or apply for college. Portfolios can list different levels of achievements (these achievements should be refined: “proficient in the use of a woodshop”, “knows how use glass lab equipment, Hazard-3 chemicals”, etc.). Leave the competitiveness for soccer and RPG tournaments where successes will be respected instead of abhorred.
Sports: Replace expensive american football (in the US) with soccer. Soccer develops muscle and bones, the cardiovascular system, mind-body coordination, leadership, working as a team, gender equivalence, and strategy. Leaders here can go into business management. Soccer requires nothing but a ball and some goal markers while played practically everywhere in the world. The idea here is not to win against the town next door, but to develop the traits mentioned above to create a well-rounded, healthy and capable individual. For winter sports, something indoors, perhaps basketball or something creative.
As a contrast and balance to the regimen of sports, I'll argue that Dungeons & Dragons offers the best extra-curricular alternative, developing imagination and creativity, support of the intellect, and is inexpensive enough for anyone to participate without requiring expensive school facilities. Further, teachers could imagine and develop campaigns that are imaginative, clever, and didactic. Let them use the theatre each afternoon and interested others can sit and watch them play. Weekend nights can hold regional tournaments just like in sports, where community members can come in and watch.
This changes the landscape for higher education. Following the above prescription will give graduates a much clearer direction in life and a portfolio that they can market right away. Colleges should partition themselves into two types: those which aim towards the abstract (e.g. Harvard, Oxford), and those which go towards specialization (MIT, Ecole Polytechnique). Additionally, colleges should focus on life-long learning, since the portfolio is something people can continue to develop their whole life and could be used to re-enter the academy at any time. Additionally, these portfolios can act as a guide or inspiration to future students when they retire should they decide to assist the education effort and become mentors.
Publicly-funded education should probably stop after grade 12, excepting where state leaders are developing specific trades for particular needs in statecraft, industry, or the arts. There the state can subsidize student higher education or, better yet, offer scholarships sponsored by individuals from the community.
In closing, the ultimate goal of education should not be to train individuals to enter the workforce but to create a vibrant and healthy society of independent thinkers and responsible citizens.
Note: this document is in process of revision. See the author.
Other points, not yet integrated:
- Like sports, the structure of the classroom is not the best for teaching creativity. Hence the suggestion of role-playing-games as a substitute for athletics.
- type your suggestions here...
Credit to: Evergreen University (Olympia, WA) for pioneering idea of student portfolios, Montessori Schools for the importance of kinesthetic learning, MIT for idea of exploratory/independent activities mid-year (IAP), Dan Keene (Tacoma, WA) for the appreciation of soccer and for being an overall good guy, various hippies for several explorations of education reform.
