When we talk about education reform, it is usually imagined as a single movement towards providing students a better education. While at an education panel discussion in downtown LA, I was reminded that in reality there exists two separate education movements living under the same roof.
The "do it better" movement - These people are concerned with getting teachers and students to do better within the current system of education. This movement (could also be said to be a mindset) is embodied by the majority of those working within mainstream education (i.e., large institutions, public schools). They focus their efforts on getting students to excel at doing what the education system asks of them. It's a practical approach, which doesn't make it any less worthy or difficult. These people put their efforts to things like rehabilitating low preforming schools, increasing test scores (especially in math and science), providing opportunity for those without resources, and getting students 'college and career ready' .
The "do it differently" movement - These people are concerned with getting administrators, teachers, students, and anyone invested (which is all of us) to first reimagine what the role of education should be. They start with questions: Are test scores really all that important? Why do we care about Calculus? What things aren't we teaching or assessing (and therefore valuing)? And, most importantly, by the end of their education, what type of people do we want students to be and what things do we want them to do? These people put their efforts in introducing new experiences to the classroom, like game based and design based learning. They are interested in changing how and what we assess altogether. They are keen on figuring out how to better motivate and engage students usually by making things more relevant and giving them more agency.
A synthesis - Most people aren't entirely in one camp or the other, yet most of their efforts (whether by choice or circumstance) fall within the 'do it better' or 'do it differently' camp. For the past three years, I have been employed in the latter - making game based and design based learning products. I therefore have a bias towards 'doing it differently' especially since right now most of the efforts are in 'doing it better'. I acknowledge that trying to do it better addresses problems here and now and therefore is important in the daily lives of admin, teachers, students, and parents. But if we fail to explore how education can be done differently, we are not being critical of how the education system is feeding into local and global problems. And worse, we are not imagining what the world could become through a transformed education system.
TL:DR - Education reform has two movements, those who want to 'do it better' (e.g., increase test scores) and those who want to 'do it differently (e.g., teach systems thinking) - both are of value but the latter has the added benefit of reevaluating our social values.
The "do it better" movement - These people are concerned with getting teachers and students to do better within the current system of education. This movement (could also be said to be a mindset) is embodied by the majority of those working within mainstream education (i.e., large institutions, public schools). They focus their efforts on getting students to excel at doing what the education system asks of them. It's a practical approach, which doesn't make it any less worthy or difficult. These people put their efforts to things like rehabilitating low preforming schools, increasing test scores (especially in math and science), providing opportunity for those without resources, and getting students 'college and career ready' .
The "do it differently" movement - These people are concerned with getting administrators, teachers, students, and anyone invested (which is all of us) to first reimagine what the role of education should be. They start with questions: Are test scores really all that important? Why do we care about Calculus? What things aren't we teaching or assessing (and therefore valuing)? And, most importantly, by the end of their education, what type of people do we want students to be and what things do we want them to do? These people put their efforts in introducing new experiences to the classroom, like game based and design based learning. They are interested in changing how and what we assess altogether. They are keen on figuring out how to better motivate and engage students usually by making things more relevant and giving them more agency.
A synthesis - Most people aren't entirely in one camp or the other, yet most of their efforts (whether by choice or circumstance) fall within the 'do it better' or 'do it differently' camp. For the past three years, I have been employed in the latter - making game based and design based learning products. I therefore have a bias towards 'doing it differently' especially since right now most of the efforts are in 'doing it better'. I acknowledge that trying to do it better addresses problems here and now and therefore is important in the daily lives of admin, teachers, students, and parents. But if we fail to explore how education can be done differently, we are not being critical of how the education system is feeding into local and global problems. And worse, we are not imagining what the world could become through a transformed education system.
TL:DR - Education reform has two movements, those who want to 'do it better' (e.g., increase test scores) and those who want to 'do it differently (e.g., teach systems thinking) - both are of value but the latter has the added benefit of reevaluating our social values.