In “It’s Time to Write A New Story”, I submitted we individually and collectively have an historic opportunity to proactively reset, reimagine, and redesign teaching and learning to meet the needs of each learner.
“Why?”
Simply put, we can design a system of education for “all” or better put, “each” learner irrespective of where they live, their ethnicity, national origin, race, gender, age, language, disability, or family configuration.
The inconvenient truth is not all students have equitable access, opportunity or resources to learn as do their non-disadvantaged peers. This is a product of the design of our present education system. No excuse or explanation will suffice as we have known for decades that the system in place has not, can not meet the needs of each learner. It wasn’t designed to do so.
Where do we begin? How do we begin a redesign?
I posited that to authentically address the shortcomings of the system in place we must first begin with a vision – a vision or picture of the work completed – one that is inclusive, universal, and equitable of, by and for each learner.
We have never been united or in agreement of the aim or purpose of an education. The absence of this agreement on the outcome or “ends” of an education has resulted in divergent “means”, conflict, litigation, alternatives, and most importantly, failure for children, families, and communities.
A new design for education starts first with a national plan to address what it has not adequately or equitably done so far – not a list of grievances but rather specific, universal proficiencies such as literacy and numeracy . It cannot be limited, obstructed or left to the devices of each state and their respective school systems to define these proficiencies.
This is not a time for competition. We must resist the practice of independence and embrace an interdependence unlike never before.
The probability of a perfect storm of economic and resource scarcity colliding with the sobering reality of prolonged pandemic uncertainty requires now more than any other time in history intentional collaboration, cooperation and coordination of resources, intellectual capital, and will. Irrespective of whether or not this storm hits landfall it remains an impetus to rethink, reset, and redesign teaching and learning and the system that supports it.
For example, what if we attacked illiteracy with a strategy of flattening the curve of failure? What if we marshaled the effort, energy, and will to ensure that each learner in America was literate – not by a certain grade level but right now.
Imagine a system of education that did not relent or succumb to such antiquated design principles as age-based learning or time-based learning. We have the technology and the expertise to abandon these practices.
We can effectively and efficiently intervene specifically, meaningfully, intentionally, repetitively if necessary, and most importantly with time sensitive urgency based on the need of the learner when they need it. Previously, the utility and import of technology prevented us from being able to do so. Technology has evolved to provide educators the actionable intelligence, knowledge, and insight to disrupt and interrupt the failure to learn in real time.
In a new design of education, time must serve as a fulcrum for each learner. It must be flexible not fixed. Technology as both a delivery tool for primary and supplemental instruction will serve as levers. Educators, learners themselves, and in some instance learner guardians will each apply the necessary pressure to lift the levers of learning.
As educators grabble with the “how” of delivering, maintaining, or supporting “learning at home”, adjusting the fulcrum of time as a first step will allow creative, innovative, and in the end, more effective teaching and learning.
Where to begin? We begin by redesigning our system of education with time as flexible not fixed. Eliminating time-based learning where each learner advances at their own pace and according to their learning needs is very powerful first step.
Next: With the elimination of time-based learning the next step - age-based learning and its' demise.
Perhaps the coronavirus will force us to finally confront the systemic inequities in the system. For example, the current switch to online learning has highlighted the unequal access to the internet in both inner cities and rural areas. Detroit Schools estimates that only 10% of its students have access to broadband beyond their phones. As a society, we must address these fundamental questions of equity and access, confront our deeply held beliefs about learning, and disentangle schooling from profit-making entities in order to focus our efforts on ensuring all children learn what they need to grow and thrive.
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