Sharpening the Cutting Edge of Educationby Neola Mace
The function of education is two-pronged; to pass along the collective wisdom of the past and present, and to prepare the student to handle new experiences successfully. There has traditionally been a huge gap between general education and vocational training. General education has been a broad program of studies designed for all persons; for example, courses in literature, history and general science. Vocational training has previously meant practical and specific skill training, which prepared the student to obtain wages in exchange for work. While most other countries have tested their young people by the age of 14 or 15 and decided, based on a set of factors, whether they should be academically or vocationally trained, the U.S. has committed itself to a unitary system. Our system, accessible to all, enables students to progress without being tested at the secondary level which would normally result in doors being closed to higher institutions of learning. This is consistent with our very best democratic ideals-equal opportunity for all. Unfortunately, children are graduating from high school with little to zero practical job skills, and not enough current, relevant knowledge to make informed consumer or job choices, or to stay abreast in a competitive environment. It is also certainly questionable whether students are obtaining a classical education that offers them real insights into the failures or successes of the past or that prepares them adequately for college. Some people have called for technological improvements to education at an earlier level-even elementary school-so that computers, video equipment, and other machinery give the student an assist into the real world. Some elementary schools are adding courses such as foreign languages to the curriculum, and leaving out some of the old education. A high school business teacher I know was asked to teach a math workshop for one semester. He told me that he ended up giving approximately half the class a failing grade. The students did not know how to add and subtract, or their times tables. They were lost without a computer or a calculator during tests. This same high school teacher also told me that many of the students in his classes had come up to him to ask him what time it was-even though they were standing underneath the clock. It seems many elementary schools have decided against teaching time by clocks, and instead teach students to tell time by digital numbers. It seems clear to me that simply adding technology at an earlier level is not the answer. Many advanced theories and concepts rest on the earlier, basic knowledge that students must have to go on to higher education. So I am not advocating leaving out the basics. But there is still the problem of the void in job skills in graduating high school students. Many do not plan to go to college, and even of those who do, many need to work while they are attending a college or university. And what about the rising number of graduating college students who are unable to get a job in their field of study? Does Anyone Have Any Ideas? (Boy, do they!) 1. Home Schooling: I believe home schooling is a mistake. It addresses primarily only one of the prongs of the function of education. To learn lessons from the past is important-but successfully navigating the child's integration into the mainstream of society is no easy task, and it is made much tougher by the prolonged absence of a child from the mainstream. Having said that, I think it should be allowed by the state, if the parent can show an appropriate and varied curriculum, and sufficient progress. 2. Vouchers: I'm against the voucher system espoused by some so that parents can make a choice as to whether to send their children to private, primarily religious schools, or public schools. This is supposed to force our public schools to become more competitive, function more efficiently. It seems to me another way of throwing up our hands and saying that public schooling is too difficult for us to fix, so now we'll give private enterprise a try. This supposes that all parents will be informed consumers and will make wise choices for their children. And what about those children who receive a substandard education before the informed consumers realize that, and take their vouchers elsewhere? There is also a real concern among educators that the voucher system may again promote segregation. 3. Compulsory Education: One possibility is to make schooling optional, instead of compulsory. If we want to have an informed, voting, literate electorate that has the capacity to remain competitive in a globally competitive environment, this doesn't seem to be a great option. 4. Vocational Training: I think computer training cannot be over-emphasized, and that states should require it as part of a mandatory curriculum (but not too soon, and not at the exclusion of basic math, reading, spelling, and writing). If the general population was stunned and angry when the USSR passed us during the space race, that's nothing to compare to what could happen if we as a country fall behind in the information age. Some schools have implemented mandatory senior projects for graduating seniors. Other schools have begun to re-emphasize communication, particularly oral communication, at the request of employers. 5. Personal Responsibility: Can personal responsibility be taught? In school as opposed to in the home? Some states are making a small attempt, by requiring some community service for graduating students. 6. Critical Thinking: The best teacher I ever had taught U.S. history in my high school. He challenged us to think for ourselves and belittled us when we recited the easy answers. My country, right or wrong was the epitome of his sarcastic rejoinders. He taught us critical thinking, how to weigh and measure what we were told by the history books, and also by the media. Critical thinking must be taught in schools. If a person questions and evaluates received information, it makes a dramatic improvement in the quality of the life of the individual-it would be exciting to extrapolate that improvement to society as a whole. We may sometimes look wistfully at education in other countries because it seems they may have the discipline and results that we sometimes lack. We can learn one lesson from the recent earthquake in Kobe, Japan. Many bridges and elevated highways collapsed because of the brute-force design. Freeway and bridge supports here are designed to bend and ride out stresses of ground shaking, a feature the Japanese design did not incorporate. We must teach our children to use their minds to challenge, evaluate, question, and adjust. How do we strike a balance between classical learning-the body of knowledge that has been passed down from generations, and is learned primarily through study and recitation of learned details-and teaching people how to function successfully in our society? To obtain jobs? To manage money? To get along with people and work in groups to solve problems? To raise children and form healthy societal relationships? It seems clear to me that our public schools are in desperate need of a curriculum that incorporates both. Some People Who Are Boldly Going Where No State Has Gone BeforeDoes it sound difficult or maybe even impossible to teach skills like critical thinking and getting along with others in a school? Those educators in Oregon have decided to give it a try. The Oregon State Board of Education has voted to completely overhaul its curriculum. They have decided to throw out traditional middle school and secondary education, along with SATs, and implement outcome-based education. The new program emphasizes student outcomes and continuous feedback. There are strategic mileposts at 3rd, 5th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades, where everyone is evaluated against overall goals. Students are required to build a portfolio, which will include some test scores, but will also include papers written, may include a videotaped performance, or some original art work. The traditional high school diploma has been replaced by a CIM-Certificate of Initial Mastery. A CAM-Certificate of Advanced Mastery (pre-higher education)-can only be earned after completion of the CIM. The CIM has been designed to be obtained at about 10th grade, or at approximately 16 years of age. There are two different sets to obtain a CIM, and several subsets that comprise the set: Core Applications for Living Deliberate on Public Issues Understand Diversity Interpret Human Experience Applied Math and Science Understand Positive Health Habits Foundation Skills Think-Critically, Creatively and Reflectively Self-Directed Learning Communicate-Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening and Art Use Technology-New Technology Quantify-recognize, process and communicate quantitative relationships Collaborate There are rubrics for each of these subsets, including goals and scoring for each area. I don't have too many details of the CAM, because it seems to be still under construction. That is not stopping Oregon from implementing the CIM plan for now. If the Oregon plan does not work, or becomes messy or gets bogged down in implementation, you still have to admire their nerve in making a complete change in the way they educate their children. They are trying to prepare them for the business of living successfully in the world, a complicated and messy affair at best. If the new plan of education does not quite work, one can only hope that they use a lesson from their own curriculum, under the subset Self-Directed Learning: Implementing the plan and monitoring progress; making strategic changes that are necessary for success of the plan. Hopefully other states will be watching and learning from Oregon's courageous example. And it is also to be hoped that in the finest tradition of learning, they will mimic what has been successful, feel free to learn from the past, and always strive to improve on the original. Neola Mace is the controller of a small company, a computer software expert, a freelance writer and editor. She is currently working on her first book.
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