Let’s Be Clear About Pedagogy
Educating our children with context is more important than ever
I’ve always found starting to be the scariest part of writing. You question whether what you plan to write makes sense. Is it redundant? Will people care? Do I care?
Education in our country feels a lot like the same way. Our kids wake up every morning (hopefully) expecting to get through the day. They dread the deadlines, formulated schedules, rigid classroom etiquette, long days of back-to-back classes, and the parent-orchestrated music/tennis lessons. They dread starting.
And can we blame them?
I’ve learned to use my fear of writing to be driven and deliberate with it. There’s an inherent need for all of us to creatively express our thoughts and feelings with the hope that it becomes a productive step towards our contextual solidarity.
So, I ask, why haven’t we completely restructured our education system to bolster personal growth and inclusivity? We now have the tools and evidence to disrupt how we can effectively teach our children — what’s stopping us?
A Broken, Bureaucratic System
Noam Chomsky, one of the greatest living minds of our time, underscored in the documentary, Requiem for the American Dream , that the greatest threat to the American system is against public education.
In his work he highlighted 10 fundamental principles, called the Principles of Concentration of Wealth and Power, exposing the nefarious prosperity of corruption and wealth since the beginning of our democracy. His underlying message: time to wake up from the “American Dream”.
Based on a federal budget report by First Focus, federal funding for K-12 public education has dropped by 20% since 2011. These budget cuts have been further exacerbated by significant state budget cuts. And considering about 46% of public school funding comes from the state, the foundation of our children is desperately at stake (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2016).
Our public education policy has faltered on the principle of factory model schooling — a down-trodden method of assembly-line social engineering since the mid 19th century.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, Gladwell highlighted the importance of contextual learning, narrative, and anticipation through repetition and creativity to assemble systems of thought in developing children. This idea of the “Stickiness Factor”; the reason for the wild success of America’s greatest children’s television series: Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues.
We are afraid — afraid to leave the things that are unequivocally wrong for us, while also afraid that a better purpose may not exist. Thus, existing not in the comfort of our stability, but in the purgatory of our true potential.
How Can We Work Together to Unite and Fix It?
1. Influencers/Creators
As my former college roommate says, “Education is a connected process”. After three years as a TFA (Teach for America) educator in Charlotte, NC, Kevin Poirier continues to “love the ground work” by being deeply involved in his school district as a Technology Facilitator.
When I asked him where we could make the most impact in the public sector he stated, “with a foundation of great people.” When our government’s core faculty is to cut funding, our institutions are backed into a corner. Without incentive, it’s difficult to scale and replicate new curriculums when the entire qualitative process is at stake.
We need transgenerational influencers and creators to systematically rebuild what’s best for our kids. More of our national leaders have to be involved in the classroom, with the main focus being why we want our children to learn in the first place. Our social responsibility includes helping to continue shape the world in creative and cohesive ways, while being held accountable for how we leave it behind for the future.
2. Social Movements
Occupy Wall Street, #BlackLivesMatter, 2016 Presidential Election, Women’s March, LGBTQ rights movement
Those are some of the largest social movements that have occurred in American history (and all within the last decade!). Our children are more involved and connected to the world than ever. Parents are no longer the main drivers of bias and influence in their kids’ interests. In fact, social psychology research has proven that children and adolescents are behaviorally shaped by their peers much more than their parents.
If managed well, social media in the educational setting can empower improved processes and ways of thinking. Or as I like to call it, “wealth of communal power”. This, in principle, can help our youth capitalize on the influence of their peers to incite diversified perspectives within a safe environment.
If we only leave things to the inherited wealthy, the structural pillars will continue to erode. Education is not like the GDP: we can’t assume the economic significance of educational goods and services based solely on monetary utility.
3. ACCESS
Yes, technology in the classroom has effectually brought new algorithms to teach arithmetic and quantitative sciences. However, what about the qualitative skills children and young adults need in order to thrive in an increasingly competitive job market?
The U.S. Department of Education projects that in 2021 public schools will enroll approximately 91% of all preK-12 students. With that said, EdTech has become one of the fastest growing markets in the country, knowing full well the growing need for adoption of effective learning. And, although many of these wonderful start-ups and organizations (Khan Academy, BluPears, AltSchool, Newsela, to name a few) are hustling to disrupt the old school way of teaching, “we still need the people in the public school systems to utilize and buy-into edtech solutions”, as Kevin elucidated. “It would especially be hard to scale and replicate these solutions if we are just thinking about resources.”
“Education is a relationship.”
Access is a double-edged sword. Too much access in our digital age can lead to information burnout. We need to be smart in our approach to student engagement with the dynamics of public, financial, economic, and social policies.
Closing Remarks
As the informed community, it’s our civic obligation to undue the control of stagnation. We need to agree that our innate principles are rational and communally focused, and not driven by private interests. Actively standing up for open discussion will be imperative to our continued efforts for change. Our social structure can no longer afford a shielding of transparency under the closed-door agenda of the privileged few. Education, like healthcare, is a human right. And it’s about time we start treating it as such.
Our first step: incentivise educators so they wake up each morning feeling rewarded and accountable to do their best for our kids.
