A Few Thoughts on Education

It seems I have been spending considerable time debating Common Core and our education system in general. I fear we are missing 2 key points in the debate. The first of those points being “parenting.” The second: What exactly do we consider “smart?” I would like to take some time to look at these two aspects.

First just a little background in case you have missed it. I am the father of 2 GREAT kids. Calvin is 10 and in the 5^th grade. Sydney is 8 and in 3ed. Just to keep it simple, lets just say they are polar opposites in personality and learning style. Like all kids they are involved in stuff! I have the opportunity to interact with other kids and often their parents. Believe me I see lots of other GREAT parents. We do our very best to be involved. It's now the 5^th week of school. We have interacted with both teachers and in fact have had a sit down meeting with the principal (not in a bad way :-) ). Believe me there are some GREAT teachers! We do homework nearly every night. I HAVE seen the math book. :-)

In the long term I am quite positive putting in the hard work to parent will pay HUGE dividends. I consider being a parent my single most important and rewarding job. That's why we had kids in the first place! Statistics all seem to show having an involved parent(s) as the single most important aspect to a child's education and subsequent success. Unfortunately, that does not seem to motivate all parents. This does not have to involve rocket science! Any reasonable adult/teacher is more than capable of distinguishing an ornery child from one acting out and desperately needing intervention. If a child is so disruptive as to degrade the educational environment, I don't feel it's unreasonable to have the child's parents held accountable and by some means a part of the solution! Our teachers should not be spending their time parenting the entire classroom! We need to parent our kids. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money, It's very rewarding, pays huge dividends, and it's the “RIGHT THING TO DO!” If some chose not too, there needs to be more immediate and tangible consequences!

Secondly the people involved in the debate are by definition “involved parents.” Win or lose the debate our kids have a much better chance of success because we are involved! I take much solace in this as a parent. Mercifully, as a parent, I have noticed more rewards for effort regardless of the actual path chosen. Perhaps we could all use this bit of good news to chill out a bit and perhaps support one another in the common ground.

An even more thorny issue and what I see as the paradigm shift involves what we consider “smart” or “intelligence” in the first place. I purpose, currently, one who can store and forward large amounts of information is considered “smart.” No bought having a good memory is a very handy skill to have! I am purposing if one had a “photographic memory” one could simply store the information and “BE” anything they wanted to “BE.” The fact is they may (MAY) do okay. I wish I had that kind of memory! I do not. That is not the way my mind works. To say that in my school days I was not considered “smart” is an understatement!

I once read a book about Medical School that also highlighted this issue. You have to be “smart” to get into med school in the first place. By all accounts the level of information needing retained is intense. Suddenly (I have never been to med school. I will have to take the books word), the student is dumped out of the class room and faced with a real live patient! Again at least according to the book, this comes a quite a shock! Many “smart” students are not able to make this transition. Common sense would tell us everyone would transition differently.

Lets be honest. Nearly anyone who has changed the oil in there car or worked on most anything has cussed the engineer who designed it. Again, I have never been to engineering school but I am willing to bet the “design flaws” we cuss are not caused by the engineer failing that particular course. Engineering a product always involves choices, striking a balance if you will. Obviously “balance” implies more then one thing.

If there is a problem with our educational system (I believe there is, but that debate is beyond the scope of this post), I believe it is related to the fact that we have maxed out on how far we can go with “storing and forwarding” large amounts of information. We need the balance. The other things. What we need is some creativity, a deeper understanding, more thinking outside of the box and dare I say character! A new definition of “smart” to reflect these needs seems reasonable.

We all know there is no “one size fits all.” There is no “normal/average” way of learning. We have attempted to design an education system that fits a non-existent student! Is it any wonder it works for no one? Paradigm shifts are hard. I see it in my own house. I have a rule follower and a free thinker. It's my job too see they both succeed. They obviously struggle at different situations. Systems that are helpful for one causes stress in the other. I do however see much more diversity in this new system than I seen in the old. I surely don't think it's perfect. I'm not even sure it's all good. I'm just saying A) I think change is necessary B) I see at least SOME good points to this shift.

Will I continue to be vigilant? You bet. I will remain respectful and attentive to differing opinions. Please know if your opinion is obviously uninformed or short sighted it will be summarily disregarded by me.