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John Florez: Excellence in education means meeting needs of new economy

In the current on-line utilities like facebook and myspace, and other examples too numerous to mention, we see the form of the educational technology core of the future. In this system anyone can be a teacher if he or she has the skills required. Indeed, many will be both students and teachers. Life long learning will be the rule. Secondary shools and junior colleges will build their offerings around the internet core. The system will be a balance of power one between students, parents, and the instructors.

Okay, now find a way to make this concrete. Ideas are pleothera; operationalizing them in an effective way is the hard part.

Why is it that the school system is designed to produce children intended to serve an "economy?"

Why not create a system that teaches kids how to think for themselves, how to become intelligent and self-fulfilled individual human beings?

Oh, that's right. If people could think critically, the economy would collapse. We could no longer convince people to consume things they don't truly need. Billboards would come down, ADD-inducing 30-second ad spots would cease to blitz our minds every 10 minutes with their inane repetition over TV and radio waves. We might read more content on the web than ads. People might look for happiness and satisfaction outside of commercial retail and entertainment.

The day our children discover that they have individual human souls, individual human passions and individual human intelligence is the day our mass-production luxury economy will lie in ruins. After all, a mass production economy requires a mass produced, machine civilization.

I think this is a sad commentary on humanity. Our forefathers believed in the capacity and sovereignty of individuals, and they were willing to spill their blood to get it. We have given our power to the "economy," which we now we serve with fear.

Excuse me for posting again, but pmccombs' input was very interesting to me. I think his doomsday conclusion is a bit overboard, but this general concept of a robotic or "automaton" mindframe (as some psychologists have called it) is good food for thought for all of us.

The educational model I'm talking about is coming about w/o the educational establishment. Everytime a student (we are all students are we not) does a search for information on the net, education is taking place. I can also tell you that the younger generation gets it. We're talking about a market based solution which maximizes individual freedom. The old model (credential laden, bureaucratic, top down) is in direct competition with the new internet model. There is still time for the old school to make peace and cooperate with the new, but if they don't I'm convinced they will be swept aside.

Forget all the hype. Home schools until the system comes to grips that they have a problem

So suggestions from the new commission are:

"recruit from the top third of the high school graduates going to college for the next generation of schoolteachers;"

I'm all for it, but it will take money.

"develop standards, assessments and curriculum that reflect today's needs and tomorrow's requirements;"

Yup, the educational hierarchy is on that one too. However, the legislature keeps saying that the educators don't know what they're doing.

"create high performance schools and districts everywhere and reform how the system should be governed, financed, organized and managed;"

I suppose that high performance refers to the students -- although NCLB only refers to the teachers and schools. hmmmm again, it takes money to get there.

to be continued

continued

"provide high-quality, universal early childhood education;" Educators have been suggesting this for ages now, but instead, we get the Paul Mero's of the world trying to convince the legislature that it is not only unnessessary, but the first step to the destruction of the family.

"give support to the students who need it the most;"

Again, educators have been calling for that for ages.

"enable every member of the adult work force to get the new literacy skills;"

Well, should that be paid for by the state or by business as a way to increase profits?

"and assure equitable funding for all schools by replacing local funding with a state funding system using a uniform pupil-weighing funding formula (www.skillscommission.org)."

Utah already does that; most other states don't .

So what exactly was new in that commission's recommendations?