{"id":18335,"date":"2020-08-25T09:01:49","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T13:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/?p=18335"},"modified":"2023-07-31T21:43:22","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T21:43:22","slug":"public-education-needs-a-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/blog\/public-education-needs-a-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Education Needs a Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Can Teachers Do to Make the System Work for All Students?<\/h2>\n

This post was originally published on July 31, 2017, and updated on August 25, 2020.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for our public education system to be reinvented. We currently have alarming rates of non-graduation from schools and colleges, and the levels of stress and depression among students and their teachers have skyrocketed. University degrees are falling in value, yet the costs of getting one are increasing. And the levels of unemployment among graduates and non-graduates are escalating, as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, don\u2019t get me wrong. I\u2019m not suggesting public schools are terrible, or that our entire system is a mess (although it does sometimes feel that way). Public education has benefited millions of people\u2014including me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My education has afforded me amazing opportunities to thrive, to make a good living, and to provide for my family. But for countless others, public education has not worked for them, and some of our students are paying the price of failure.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Brief History of Public Education<\/h2>\n

Most developed countries did not have systems of public education before the middle of the nineteenth century. Public education systems were built to meet the labor needs of the Industrial Revolution, which means they were organized on the principles of mass production. Massive factories and efficient assembly lines powered the economy, the chief traits of their workers being physical strength and personal fortitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

My own grandmother worked at General Electric for 29 years. This was considered a good job for the time and area, and she needed only to be able to perform the exact same task repetitively and efficiently. If she could do that, she could make a decent living\u2014and she did!<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem now, however, is that we\u2019ve moved out of the Industrial Revolution and into the Information Age\u2014a time of technological progress resulting in the automation of many kinds of white collar work, and globalization resulting in jobs moving outside the country. In fact, we are actually in the process of leaving the Information Age and are headed toward what business writer Daniel Pink calls \u201cThe Conceptual Age.\u201d He defines this time as one whose main characters are the creators, empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, our public school system is still based largely on concepts that were needed in the Industrial Age. And when you run a school system based on standardization and conformity only, you quash individuality, imagination, and creativity\u2014all skills needed for the 21st-century learner.<\/span><\/p>\n

How We Can Promote Change<\/h2>\n

Now, here\u2019s the good news: I absolutely believe we have some control over this situation as teachers. But we have to realize that our revolution can\u2019t wait for legislation. It won\u2019t happen in the committee rooms of our legislature, nor should we depend on it to. It emerges from what we do as educators at the ground level. It\u2019s what happens between learners and teachers in actual schools. Education expert Sir Ken Robinson says it best:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a teacher, for your students you are the system. If you\u2019re a school principal, for your community you are the system. If you\u2019re a policymaker, for the schools you control you are the system.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

You<\/b> have to <\/span>be<\/b> the change. But how? Robinson offers the following options for those involved in education:<\/span><\/p>\n