This week in Edstartup 101, we've been asked to explain our idea in no more than two screens full of text. My idea is a non-profit, but non-profits have to start up, too, right?
Summary
I would like to create a non-profit which promotes a new vision of the K-12 education system by collecting and disseminating research in best learning practices, running a demonstration school to model our vision, and producing open resources that allow other districts and states to scale the curriculum and practices of the demonstration school. Key components of the vision would include: multiage and developmentally grouped classes; competency based core curriculum; technology used both to learn and to create; and an emphasis on collaboration and lifelong learning skills.
What problem does your idea solve?
In one of his blog posts, Will Richardson sums up the problem by saying, "...if we don’t start writing and advocating for a very different vision of learning in real classrooms, one that is focused not just on doing the things we've been doing better but in ways that are truly reinvented, one that prepares kids to be innovators and designers and entrepreneurs and, most importantly, learners, we will quickly find ourselves competing at scale with cheaper, easier alternatives that won’t serve our kids as well."
How does your idea fix the problem?
In order to reinvent education in K-12, we have to make more changes than will happen in a public school under current conditions. Thomas Carol says, "If we didn’t have the schools we have today, would we create the schools we have today?" Only by separating the school from current state and federal legislation can we actually answer that question with a model. The non-profit will run a grant funded, zero tuition demonstration school with exceptionally transparent practices to serve as a blueprint for bold changes.
Why do you want to fix the problem?
I've been in education for most of my life, as a student, a teacher, a consultant, and a parent. I believe we as humans are curious, self directed learners, that we are better together than apart, and that caring mentors are essential to the learning experience. I am disheartened by the relentless emphasis on high stakes testing and scripted teaching. I want to model a bold change that scales without being standardized.
This is an excellent and much-needed idea. I especially think that mentorship is important, and very often completely lacking in the standard classroom environment, especially for students who struggle, or seek achievements that school doesn't help with.
ReplyDeleteMany students get labelled and tagged, both by others and within themselves, based on failure at tasks that may never scratch the surface of their abilities, or inspire them. Then, the criticism and shame of failure leads to all kinds of problems, including in many cases an internalized sense of a dark and miserable world run by uncaring participants in a thoughtless world. Depressing, isn't it? And, I think depression is one of the consequences of stifling learning environments, as I've experienced myself.
Consider this cartoon with respect to education -- how many people are failed by their education, that if it were some other kind of product, would lead to an outrage. But it's hard to pin down specific learning experiences or types of knowledge to life outcomes or plot points, and of course there is the student responsibility factor to consider.http://www.stus.com/stus-cartoon.php?name=Courthouse+Steps&cartoon=blg5942
However, it's hard to be responsible and stand up for more effective learning when "subjective" student experience is rarely taken seriously: I think a lot of students can relate to this quote:
"We got a number of answers that said: 'These surveys are pointless because even if there's a problem you guys are going to do nothing about it,'" Yazzie-Mintz told LiveScience. -- http://www.livescience.com/1308-students-bored-school.html
And so, I think a critical aspect of this is how the kind of resources and best practices you have in mind can be discussed and promoted by students themselves, in concert with some kind of advocates that can look beyond the immediate practicalities of running a classroom or school.
I also think a key part of this discussion needs to be about how the growing amount of student data is interpreted and used. When decisions are "driven by data" without stepping back and looking at what's really going on with a given student, taking their mind and selfhood into account, the result can be a string of misunderstanding. Add to that the problem that many students prefer not to be noticed or understood because they associate that with getting in trouble, and it gets hard to disentangle the web. With more and more details of behavioral incidents, attendance, and grades stored digitally, there's more evidence to work with, but again, how it's interpreted and used makes a big difference.
Check out Dream School Commons, which features JSchwamm's school concept -- its basic goal seems similar to yours:
http://site.dreamschoolcommons.org/dsc/home
An actual nonprofit oriented around this goal could help a lot with attracting funding. Either way, I'm interested in getting involved in the discussion and bringing it to more people.