I was talking with a good friend today about education and drew on the analogy of healthy relationships (particularly romantic ones) to reinforce my perspective of contemporary pedagogy. I resolved that both are a function of the following:
- substance
- engagement
- time
Like educational partners - both teachers and pupils - many partners in relationships lack the proper substance and engagement, which is oftentimes the result of insignificant substance. Unfortunately, a lack of either of these over time can be detrimental. Lovers often stay with each other because of codependency or simply great sexual chemistry. Similarly with friends, colleagues, and other relationships, our immediate consciousness naturally seeks instant gratification and, for most, it is no longer about food, shelter, or reproduction as it once was. Today, and more so tomorrow and the day after that, we encounter greater distractions than ever before. Similar to eCommerce, education faces the challenges of harnessing the attention economy.
Like any investment - and I believe relationships to be of greatest significance - a longer-term or more universal perspective is warranted if not expected from all parties. One of the greatest threats, one the US must deal with this decade, is losing perspective on education - the substance of our educational system; the methods we employ to engage students of all ages, dispositions, and backgrounds; and time it takes to excel relative to global and national peers.
Unlike machines, we are born semantic and capable of obtaining knowledge and, ideally, wisdom. But lack of substance, engagement, and time are constantly dragging behind us in those pursuits. Several services have been developed within the last decade that attempt to address these problems.
- Wikipedia: despite accuracy concerns, the greatest knowledge database in the world, and includes structured education in wiki portals such as Wikiversity.
- Open Courseware provided by Michigan, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, and others. Lectures are also accessible by podcast software such as iTunes U.
- University of the People: the world's first global, tuition-free Web university, which leverages the abundance of open courseware.
- KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program): It's operating under the principle that outstanding educators, more time in school, a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum, and a strong culture of achievement and support are necessary for a good education.
You may find elucidation on the economic and social consequences of inadequate education by reading The Price We Pay, Brookings Institute. Also, look up Work Hard. Be Nice. by the founders of KIPP.
Please share your research and insights.
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