Some Things Just Don’t Change: Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 7)
The education system is a very big ship with very big inertia. Changing anything within it is very difficult, unless something completely unexpected hits it square between the eyes. Last spring’s COVID-19 pandemic did just that.
Last week, I discussed how politics, driven by fear, vehemently opposes any attempt to change things. There is hardly a better example of this than how the education system has resisted adjusting to the changing environment that technology has brought to us.
This is not to say that technology is not being employed, but that the intransigence of a very large system has largely adopted technology to help maintain the unchanging status quo which has only increased the costs of delivering the same antiquated and irrelevant programming. Modernizing an old system is not the same as reforming it to accommodate modern times.
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Working to Prevent Change: Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 6)
Sometimes, no, actually most of the time, we do things a certain way simply because it is the only way we know or it is the way it has always been done. There is nothing wrong with practicing a consistent approach to reach a standard product, if indeed the product is some thing. We should really question why we do so when it involves someone.
During my high school teaching days, I had the privilege of organizing job shadowing experiences for some of my students. They were always excited about the opportunity to live in the shoes of someone who was actually involved in a career that interested them, even if for just one day.
As the day approached, students would usually ask me what they should do or how they should prepare for this experience.
Continue reading “Working to Prevent Change: Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 6)”