I am not sure if you suggested it but Jordan Shapiro's book , "The New Childhood" coupled with conversations I had with my two grandsons (8th and 12th grades)who play the whole gambit of video games online and off I can see where the paradigm shift will come from as they begin looking at education for their children.
Back in the early 60s my brothers and I were my dad's crew on his 40 sailboat racing in San Francisco Bay. The tides are ferocious within the triangle made up by Saint Francis Yacht Club, Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate. It was not uncommon to have the sails full and pulling as we made for a mark while the tide held us stationary. It was frustrating but Dad kept saying to hold the course as the tide was going to shift. I say the same to any authors that are addressing the necessity of the educational paradigm shift. I constantly recommend yours and others offerings in hopes of gaining a little foothold in changing the dialogue within the education using and future using community.
My youngest brother is a director of international sales for IBM's Quantum Computer. He speaks with leaders in science, finance and government around the world about the shift the Q will cause. I asked him about generative AI as IBM is heavily into it and he said the coupling of the two will make changes we are only beginning to comprehend.
Yes, I gained a lot from the podcast on ESA’s and see really positive paths as diversity in educational methods and locations (physical and online) become available . However, from my interaction with parents and the general public what really concerns me is that there is little understanding as to what a 21st century education needs to be comprised of. Somehow, with teacher accreditation, the teacher colleges must come into the fold in that arena which of course will play havoc with the trad'l admin and tenured teachers.
As an author and advisor you must walk a narrow line with respect to disrupting the status quo without appearing to be sinking the whole ship like happened with RCA. Being that trade‘l ed is the free daycare for all disrupting that aspect becomes more concerning to parents than the necessity to better educate their children. I believe this is why traction is so hard to gain. I just rewatched the 2010 documentary “Waiting for Superman” and as with other times finish it with tears in my eyes for the children that desire so much better.
Thanks for your more balanced perspective as I am pretty adamant about real change as I am in New Mexico where education is at the bottom of the national pile. I have real trouble playing nice as it seems to be the accepted practice to leave so many children behind. Our new District Attorney spoke out and said the youth crime problem ravaging the streets of Las Cruces has a lot to do with the schools inadequately preparing our children who basically are discouraged when they drop out (hopeless/helpless) or are lied to and graduated.
I really struggle with Jeff's viewpoint as It lacks focus on the unserved customer (the vast majority of students) that "Disrupting Class" focusses on. I was invited to partake in a socratic discussion class of aspiring education PhD candidates ( I was the fly on the wall) at New Mexico State University. Its focus was helping these candidates prepare their thesis.
The topic was "Social Justice in Education". When the 7 of us walked into the room the professor was writing across the board in very large letters "POWER and CONTROL". Dr Garcia led off with making a point that those two words describe the purposes and function of our educational systems.
My challenge with Jeff and others is that this fact is totally being left out in any discussions amongst educators or the suppliers of content. As you and Clayton made so clear in "Disrupting Class", entrenched institutions have only one mantra which is to preserve the institution so damn the torpedos, full speed ahead. School boards buy curriculum based on that slogan.
I am a real supporter of AI in being able to understand students specific learning traits but my concern involves going back to the words Dr Garcia put up on the board. Who is the customer being served? I think Sal Khan with Khanmigo has great promise but its true power will be when students are taught how to self direct (given agency) their learning. That level of empowerment is nowhere to be found in said institutions as they would have to surrender the weapons they were taught to employ in order to standardize and categorize children.
I hope at some point you can come out with a new version of "Disrupting Class". As I strike out against the insidious practice our children are subjected to all that I am finding is that schools, thus teachers, need to do a better job which in most minds in and outside the institution means doubling down on the failed practices that got us here.
Appreciate your perspective here. I think if you go back to my post about disruption within schools vs disrupting schools themselves now being possible in a world of ESAs, I see this conversation as very much on the former and not so much on the latter. This is a conversation about preserving the current structure -- but disrupting how content is received/delivered, etc. The disruption is not on the unserved -- but in schools that are overserved by trad'l textbook companies, and really they want more bespoke versions. Can that help students with personalization? Like you, I think I'm skeptical bc it's occurring in the trad'l system with its priorities. Jeff clearly sees something different.
I am a slow plodding reader which is good and bad but I spend a lot of time reflecting on what I read maybe in one page or paragraph and how it applies to the future of education. I am the proverbial deer in the headlights on page after page of "Mindstorms" written in 1980 by Seymour Papert on why didn't anyone of consequence hear and watch how his perspective applies over the past 45 years and adapt processes to accommodate it. I am on page 8 where I will quote a portion of one paragraph (begins on P. 7) that should stop us all that are pursuing this field of study dead in our tracks to pause and ask "Why".:
"I believe that the computer presence will enable us to so modify the learning environment outside the classroom that much if not all the knowledge schools presently try to teach with such pain and expense and such limited success will be learned, as the child learns to talk, painlessly, successfully, and without organized instruction. This obviously implies that school as we know them today will have no place in the future. But it is an open question whether they will adapt by transforming themselves into something new or wither away and be replaced."
Mindstorms p 7&8 by Seymour Papert 1980
After listening to your guest on curriculum the answer lies in the blatant fact that one cannot monetize learning but can, as has been done for over a century, monetize teaching.
30 year teacher John Taylor Gatto wrote "Dumbing Us Down", testified in front of the Senate on the state and future of education and then wrote "Weapons of Mass Instruction" as his patience finally broke. In 1939 a book was published "The Saber Tooth Curriculum" on the absurdity of the system of education and in that same period renowned motivation author and speaker, Napoleon Hill, wrote "OutwittingThe Devil". He and his wife felt the subject matter was too controversial and never published it but in 2011 the Hill family seeing the demoralized state of our country following the 2008 financial meltdown published it. Perfect timing with the impending covid crisis to come.
I seriously doubt if any of these works are in our high school libraries which is so absurd when there is so much criticism of student's inability to critically think when they are denied the resources to weigh different sides of an argument.
I know the greatest challenge we face is not sinking the ship entirely but as entrenched as it is I fear there is no other option. Our children cannot afford to wait. Gatto addresses this disruption on page p. 154 of weapons. All of Gatto's works are available online for free as PDFs.
I am not sure if you suggested it but Jordan Shapiro's book , "The New Childhood" coupled with conversations I had with my two grandsons (8th and 12th grades)who play the whole gambit of video games online and off I can see where the paradigm shift will come from as they begin looking at education for their children.
Back in the early 60s my brothers and I were my dad's crew on his 40 sailboat racing in San Francisco Bay. The tides are ferocious within the triangle made up by Saint Francis Yacht Club, Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate. It was not uncommon to have the sails full and pulling as we made for a mark while the tide held us stationary. It was frustrating but Dad kept saying to hold the course as the tide was going to shift. I say the same to any authors that are addressing the necessity of the educational paradigm shift. I constantly recommend yours and others offerings in hopes of gaining a little foothold in changing the dialogue within the education using and future using community.
My youngest brother is a director of international sales for IBM's Quantum Computer. He speaks with leaders in science, finance and government around the world about the shift the Q will cause. I asked him about generative AI as IBM is heavily into it and he said the coupling of the two will make changes we are only beginning to comprehend.
Hold the course, the tide will shift.
Rob
Michael,
Yes, I gained a lot from the podcast on ESA’s and see really positive paths as diversity in educational methods and locations (physical and online) become available . However, from my interaction with parents and the general public what really concerns me is that there is little understanding as to what a 21st century education needs to be comprised of. Somehow, with teacher accreditation, the teacher colleges must come into the fold in that arena which of course will play havoc with the trad'l admin and tenured teachers.
As an author and advisor you must walk a narrow line with respect to disrupting the status quo without appearing to be sinking the whole ship like happened with RCA. Being that trade‘l ed is the free daycare for all disrupting that aspect becomes more concerning to parents than the necessity to better educate their children. I believe this is why traction is so hard to gain. I just rewatched the 2010 documentary “Waiting for Superman” and as with other times finish it with tears in my eyes for the children that desire so much better.
Thanks for your more balanced perspective as I am pretty adamant about real change as I am in New Mexico where education is at the bottom of the national pile. I have real trouble playing nice as it seems to be the accepted practice to leave so many children behind. Our new District Attorney spoke out and said the youth crime problem ravaging the streets of Las Cruces has a lot to do with the schools inadequately preparing our children who basically are discouraged when they drop out (hopeless/helpless) or are lied to and graduated.
Thanks again.
Rob Wood
Las Cruces NM
Thank you! And I hear you... I think with each passing year I get less patient!
I really struggle with Jeff's viewpoint as It lacks focus on the unserved customer (the vast majority of students) that "Disrupting Class" focusses on. I was invited to partake in a socratic discussion class of aspiring education PhD candidates ( I was the fly on the wall) at New Mexico State University. Its focus was helping these candidates prepare their thesis.
The topic was "Social Justice in Education". When the 7 of us walked into the room the professor was writing across the board in very large letters "POWER and CONTROL". Dr Garcia led off with making a point that those two words describe the purposes and function of our educational systems.
My challenge with Jeff and others is that this fact is totally being left out in any discussions amongst educators or the suppliers of content. As you and Clayton made so clear in "Disrupting Class", entrenched institutions have only one mantra which is to preserve the institution so damn the torpedos, full speed ahead. School boards buy curriculum based on that slogan.
I am a real supporter of AI in being able to understand students specific learning traits but my concern involves going back to the words Dr Garcia put up on the board. Who is the customer being served? I think Sal Khan with Khanmigo has great promise but its true power will be when students are taught how to self direct (given agency) their learning. That level of empowerment is nowhere to be found in said institutions as they would have to surrender the weapons they were taught to employ in order to standardize and categorize children.
I hope at some point you can come out with a new version of "Disrupting Class". As I strike out against the insidious practice our children are subjected to all that I am finding is that schools, thus teachers, need to do a better job which in most minds in and outside the institution means doubling down on the failed practices that got us here.
Rob Wood
Appreciate your perspective here. I think if you go back to my post about disruption within schools vs disrupting schools themselves now being possible in a world of ESAs, I see this conversation as very much on the former and not so much on the latter. This is a conversation about preserving the current structure -- but disrupting how content is received/delivered, etc. The disruption is not on the unserved -- but in schools that are overserved by trad'l textbook companies, and really they want more bespoke versions. Can that help students with personalization? Like you, I think I'm skeptical bc it's occurring in the trad'l system with its priorities. Jeff clearly sees something different.
I am a slow plodding reader which is good and bad but I spend a lot of time reflecting on what I read maybe in one page or paragraph and how it applies to the future of education. I am the proverbial deer in the headlights on page after page of "Mindstorms" written in 1980 by Seymour Papert on why didn't anyone of consequence hear and watch how his perspective applies over the past 45 years and adapt processes to accommodate it. I am on page 8 where I will quote a portion of one paragraph (begins on P. 7) that should stop us all that are pursuing this field of study dead in our tracks to pause and ask "Why".:
"I believe that the computer presence will enable us to so modify the learning environment outside the classroom that much if not all the knowledge schools presently try to teach with such pain and expense and such limited success will be learned, as the child learns to talk, painlessly, successfully, and without organized instruction. This obviously implies that school as we know them today will have no place in the future. But it is an open question whether they will adapt by transforming themselves into something new or wither away and be replaced."
Mindstorms p 7&8 by Seymour Papert 1980
After listening to your guest on curriculum the answer lies in the blatant fact that one cannot monetize learning but can, as has been done for over a century, monetize teaching.
30 year teacher John Taylor Gatto wrote "Dumbing Us Down", testified in front of the Senate on the state and future of education and then wrote "Weapons of Mass Instruction" as his patience finally broke. In 1939 a book was published "The Saber Tooth Curriculum" on the absurdity of the system of education and in that same period renowned motivation author and speaker, Napoleon Hill, wrote "OutwittingThe Devil". He and his wife felt the subject matter was too controversial and never published it but in 2011 the Hill family seeing the demoralized state of our country following the 2008 financial meltdown published it. Perfect timing with the impending covid crisis to come.
I seriously doubt if any of these works are in our high school libraries which is so absurd when there is so much criticism of student's inability to critically think when they are denied the resources to weigh different sides of an argument.
I know the greatest challenge we face is not sinking the ship entirely but as entrenched as it is I fear there is no other option. Our children cannot afford to wait. Gatto addresses this disruption on page p. 154 of weapons. All of Gatto's works are available online for free as PDFs.