Diversity in Education
When I first found Green School’s website in early 2008, it highlighted a recent campus visit by Tom Friedman, an American writer well-known for his books examining globalization (The Lexus and the Olive Tree, The World is Flat) and environmental issues (Hot, Flat and Crowded).
When Green School was still just a vision with a website and a bridge across the Ayung river, this forward thinker supported that vision and commented on how he was looking forward to visiting again once its up and running.
About a year and half ago I read Friedman’s op-ed “Up With Extremism” (The New York Times, January 7, 2016) arguing for bold policies from both the far left and far right. One of his bold suggestions is to implement the “Common Core education standards as the law of the land, to raise education benchmarks across the country, so high school graduates meet the higher skill levels that good jobs will increasingly demand.”
Perhaps it’s time for Mr. Friedman to visit Green School again to see what education can be like if, instead of working from a place of assumed student deficits, we start from a place of trusting the innate curiosity and unique learning abilities inherent in each student. The Common Core standards he supports give an admirable nod toward the importance of skills (e.g. communication, collaboration, problem solving). However, any education model that proposes to be a one-size-fits-all solution with a series of benchmarks for each grade level and necessitates standardized testing, misses the importance of diversity in any complex system. It ignores the fact that learning is messy, unpredictable, even chaotic and that we grow through a process of learning, unlearning and relearning.
Think of your life-long learning journey with all of its twists and turns. How can we script where each individual should be on her or his journey? How can we predict what challenges may arise that would present themselves as learning opportunities for a particular community, school or student?
Friedman refers to “higher skill levels that good jobs will increasingly demand”. In reality, we are preparing students for a world in which many of the jobs that will be available in ten years don’t even exist now. We need to be preparing students to be able to adapt, problem-solve and innovate. Instead of preparing them for the skills jobs will demand, we need to be preparing them create their own jobs, markets and solutions. We need to give the an entry to engage with the world right now, rather than preparing them to engage when they turn 18.
In Hot, Flat and Crowded Friedman emphasizes the importance of bio-diversity in our natural environment. Diversity is important to the health and sustainability of any complex system, including schools. We need to allow our students to discover their own passions and aptitudes, to blossom in their own unique ways. Trying to educate all students to the same outcomes using the same benchmarks along the way will not foster the creative thinkers and innovators that our current and future challenges will require.
At Green School, we embrace the journey of learning, not just the destination of outcomes. We give students a safe place to make mistakes and develop the invaluable skill of learning from them. It seems its time for Mr. Friedman to come back to Green School. I’d like him to meet our GS Green Generation and our Bye Bye Plastic Bags and Nalu teams. I invite him to watch our 8th grade Quest presentations and our seniors’ Green Stone presentations. I’d like him to join our students in our Jalan Jalan program. I’d like him to join our Green Leap and engage with students working to face their communities’ challenges creatively. I’d like him to see what education looks like when it is given time and space to explore while empowering students to take control of their own learning and follow their passions.
Glenn Chickering
Head of Faculty, Green School, Bali
