The PATH and analogies
There is a difficult rocky path that must be taken. Not the entire path is known and what it leads to may be part surprise, like the future.
The following analogies and models will be used to help explain several ideas associated with education.
Titanic Analogy
Horse/ Auto Analogy
Chocolate Chip Cookie Concept
One
River and Rain
The path leads to a ridge. The ridge is the goal. Once the ridge is reached, decisions can be made about where to go next.
The goal in education is for students to reach their potential. Reaching their potential will likely be best accomplished by allowing the student to move rapidly along the areas of strength and use the areas of strength to learn other areas so they become reasonably will rounded. In order to best move on areas of strength each student’s instruction must be individualized. In order to individualize instruction economically and efficiently, 21st century technology must be used.
Analogies
It is useful to talk about something that you cannot see or have not yet experienced in terms of things that have happened or can be seen. The future of education with 21st century technologies can be looked at like the change in transportation from horse and ox to the internal combustion engine. The need to act with some haste can be talked about as the Titanic tragedy. The need for unity and an overall plan can be described in terms of the CCCC. Another useful model is the One Room School House model. The relationship of education to test scores is in the rivers and rain analogy.
HORSE TO MODERN TRANSPORTATION
Horses have been one of the most important means of transportation and labor for thousands of years. Yet once the internal combustion engine was introduced the horse was largely displaced in a few decades. Automobiles, airplanes, and tractors became the dominant modes of transportation and farm labor. While it was possible to improve on the basic horse, to get them to stronger, faster, smarter (Percheron, thoroughbred, quarter horse) there were limits. Wagons and buggies were improved, but again the limits were approached beyond which they would not exceed. Skilled teamsters help push the limits of the teams, but basic limits remain.
Education has not changed much in the last several centuries. The educational system of Dickens was not vastly different than the system we have today. While it is possible to make small improvements in teaching and administration, there are limits beyond which it will not be possible to improve instruction. The invention that will change education is digital technology. Just as the transportation system of 1900 differed from the system in 1970, the educational system of 2070 will likely differ from the educational system today,
Chocolate Chip Cookie Concept (CCCC)
Many educational concepts have been tried over the years. Each is an attempt to deal with part of a problem. The final solution needs to involve all of the concepts in the correct proportions and sequences. Just as a chocolate chip cookie is much different in taste, and for most, preferable to any of the ingredients. A teaspoon of baking soda, salt, or flour is a little much to take for most. A bit of brown sugar is good. Sugar and butter blended is good, but not quite as good a taste as a cookie and not as easy to keep and transport.
There are various methods of the educational system that have been tried and are being done now. It will require a coordination of these efforts to make a well-functioning system quickly. Many ideas have been tried in the past and have not been completely successful. Many other ideas are starting to be used now. Examples include the school without grade levels, ungraded work, and online education, blended education where the computer is included in the class room and instruction is done in the class room as well.
Each of these programs by themselves is a useful educational tool, but the combination in the correct ways will lead to a more efficient, education for all people just as the blending of ingredients in the chocolate chip cookie.
TITANIC ANOLOGY
The sinking of the Titanic was a tragedy not only because there were not enough life boats, but because of the inefficiency of loading the life boats. Had all of the life boats been launched and fully loaded, nearly 500 more people could have been saved. While it is difficult to recognize the severity of a problem and correctly react to it in a few hours, this tragedy is an illustration of the importance of identifying a problem and taking appropriate action to minimize loss. Perhaps some innovative solution to create more life rafts, such as lashing the deck chairs together and covering them with greased sheets, could have saved even more people.
Public schools have had problems for a long time. Finding a solution to some of the problems is becoming more acute as modern demands of students change and require skills that differ from the needs of past centuries. Private instruction and charter schools are life boats for some, but there is a danger that students will be left to sink as the third class passengers on the Titanic were disproportionately lost. We need to fix the system.
ONE ROOMED SCHOOL HOUSE MODEL
The One Room School House Model has several useful features. Students of different ages were evaluated to determine what they were ready to learn. Learning took place at the pace the student could handle. It required a low student to teacher ratio. Many times there were fewer than ten students and more advanced students would help less advanced students. My mother and aunt started teaching in such one room schools and I believe they learned lessons on how to individualize instruction in larger single grade classes. Assessment for learning readiness, progression at a pace and method best suited for the student can be done if the teacher has appropriate software tools. Such tools combined with other classroom innovations could result in an environment that is like a low student to teacher ratio.
River and Rain
When it rains over a large area an increase in the river flow can be observed. So the river serves as an indicator of rain. Sometimes it will rain in just a small area and no change is observed in the river flow. Other times the smaller showers will produce a small change in flow. So flow can be used as an indicator of rain, but it can rain without indication.
It is important not to confuse cause with effect. That is, an increase of flow (effect) can be caused by rain (cause). But an increase in flow does not mean that it is raining. The increase of flow could be caused by water released from a dam.
If rain represents teaching and learning and flow represents test scores, then a similar relationship will exist. Test scores are useful indicators but are not complete descriptors.
The path to the future in education is a lot like the path in the picture. It is not always straight and the exact steps are not always obvious. It is important to look at there we need to go and not worry about problems that came before.
