Presentation to CR Rotary 2.13.12

8/3/2019 Presentation to CR Rotary 2.13.12

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Dr. Trace Pickering

Director of Community Building

SourceMedia Group

Cedar Rapids Rotary ClubMonday, February 13, 2012

Cedar Rapids, Iowa


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Not understanding our ownassumptions is a major

barrier in our collectiveability to create the future

we want.

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CONTEXT

FUNCTIONS

STRUCTURES

PROCESSES

What is

happening

around us?

What do we

want our

system to do

for us?

How do we

organize to

get what we

want?

What

practices/

procedures

do we need?

SYSTEM

COMPONENTS:

The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution

License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering


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AGRARIANAMERICA: 1600-LATE 1800S

CONTEXT

What ishappening

around us?

Gentleman farmers

Skilled craftsmen

Learned leaders

Uneducated populace

New government: democracy

A way to ensure our democracy

Opportunities for the poor

A small class of educated leaders

Masses of people with artisan and trades

skills

The World of America was about: Americans wanted and needed:




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FUNCTIONS

What do we

want oursystem to do

for us?

Give poor kids educational opportunity.

Ensure America had intellectuals to advance

democracy.

(Jefferson only wanted to find the top 10 students

every year.)

Agrarian America wanted education to:

THOMAS JEFFERSON SETS EDUCATION

VISION

N

otes on the State of Virginia, 1784, articulated the vision for American education:

To rake the genius from the rubbish.




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Created one-room schoolhouses

Allowed children of all ages to attend local schools

Had each community house and pay a school master

To rake the genius from the rubbish in an Agrarian society, we:

STRUCTURESHow do we

organize to

get what we

want?




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Taught basic reading, writing, and computation

Attendance not required this was parent choice

General goal: about 3rd grade level academic skill

Practices & Procedures:

PROCESSES

What

practices/

procedures

do we need?




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An agrarian, upstart nation forging a newdemocracy and settling a vast country, created an

education system to help America identify the best

and brightest while providing a voluntary, basic

education for the masses.

This design was well suited to the needs and sensibilities of the

time:

Economic

Political

Social

Educational




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INDUSTRIALAMERICA: 1890 - 1980

CONTEXT

What is

happening

around us?

Rapid industrialization

Mass immigration & migration to the

cities

New job working for a wage

Created huge disruption in how

people lived and worked

To Americanize immigrants

To deal with large numbers of children in

the cities & educate beyond white males

To prepare most to become factory workers

To prepare a few to own and manage

factories

The World of America was about: Americans wanted and needed:




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FUNCTIONS

What do we

want our

system to do

for us?

Efficiently and effectively sort out the smart kids

from the not so smart kids. Prepare the masses for the monotonous, repetitive

work they faced in the factories.

Provide basic reading, writing, and math to the

masses so that they could participate in society.

Create a workforce buffer.

Industrial America wanted education to:

JEFFERSONS VISION STILL HOLDS IN NEW

CONTEXT

To rake the genius from the rubbish.




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Designed school around the factory model of efficiency and

standardization:

Batch kids by age and treat them as products.

Simplify and standardize the work of teaching & learning

Create tight, unwavering cycle times that would determine who could

keep up and who was defective. (13 yrs, 180 days, 7 hours, 50 min) Assume intellect is set at birth & job of school to figure out whos

smart.

Failure is a result of faulty/poor raw material, not the system.

To rake the genius from the rubbish in an Industrial society, we:

STRUCTURESHow do we

organize to

get what we

want?




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Taught basic reading, writing, and computation

get most to 8th grade level education.

Developed curriculums ensuring everyone was

exposed to the same material at the same time.

Focused on memorization and content knowledge.

Instituted strict behavior, discipline, and

attendance policies.

Graded the products (children) like we did

commodities (poultry, etc).

Applied aptitude and intelligence tests to more

efficiently sort and select the children.


PROCESSES

What

practices/

procedures

do we need?




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An industrialized, bustling, growing superpower,

America created an education system to help fill

the factories, employ millions, and do so efficiently

and with high standardization using the best

mechanical systems thinking of the day.

This design was well suited to the needs and sensibilities of the

time:

Economic

Political

Social

Educational




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POST-INDUSTRIALAMERICA: 1980 - PRESENT

CONTEXT

What is

happeningaround us?

Rapid globalization Mass immigration

Technological explosion creating

highly connected/networked society

New work shifting to jobs requiring

more mind than body

Huge disruption in how people areliving and working

To stay competitive in a post-industrial world To prepare large numbers of children to

become knowledge, high-technology

workers, entrepreneurs, and innovators.

To solve the economic disparities plaguing

the country.

The World of America is about: Americans want and need:




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FUNCTIONS

What do we

want our

system to do

for us?

JEFFERSONS VISION NO LONGER VALID

While the context is quite similar to the shift seen from agrarian to industrial (mass

immigration, migration to cities, new ways of working/living) it now demands that all our

children learn and develop to a high degree. The tried-and-true vision to:

Rake the genius from the rubbish




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FUNCTIONS

What do we

want our

system to do

for us?

Help all learn to the highest levels possible.

Prepare all for the highly contextualized and

intellectually demanding world they face.

Go beyond the old basics to ensure that children

are lifelong learners and knowledge seekers.

Provide avenues for the disadvantaged to realize the

American dream through education & employability

Post Industrial America wants education to:

A NEW VISION FORA NEW CONTEXT, TO:

Unfold the potential of every child




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Design school around the learner:

Organize children by what they know, can do and are interested in.

Integrate subjects to help students understand the inter-relationships.

Create fluid, flexible structures allowing students to move through the

system at the pace best suited for them.

Engage the larger community in connecting & learning with children.

Organize teachers to interact with one another and students to create

and plan providing a model for the behavior demands of the age.

To unfold the potential of every child in a Post-Industrial society, we must:

STRUCTURESHow do we

organize to

get what we

want?





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Individualized learning plans for each child based

on emerging competencies and skills.

Allow student passion and interest drive learning.

Assessments to determine what a child needs and

when they able to move on. Focus on inquiry and integration of subject matter.

Fluid movement of students in and around the

school and larger community.

Move teaching from delivering content to

providing deep learning at the point the child is

ready and open to it.


PROCESSES

What

practices/

procedures

do we need?





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IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CREATIVE

CORRIDOR Our assumptions about school are severely limiting our ability to

design a new system of education needed for the world we face.

Our obsession with catching other countries are causing us to bereactive and operating from deficit-model thinking.

The winners in tomorrows world will be those who create new ways,new models, and aggressively innovate and learn from their past and

current mistakes. The only way to a brighter future is through full community

engagement and support from business leaders, communityleaders, parents, educators, students, legislators, and citizens at-large.

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HOW WEARE LEADING THE WAY

The Eastern Iowa Compact www.commitandact4kids.org

The Great Conversation

& Community Building Around

Education www.educatingiowa.com

Twitter: @educatingiowa #IAEDFuture

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A CALL TO ACTION:

1. Sign the Eastern Iowa Compact www.commitandact4kids.org

2. Set up a time to have this presentation given to your

organization, network of colleagues and friends, and/or other

clubs and groups.

3. Bookmark and regularly visit: www.educatingiowa.com forimportant news and learning about transforming education in

Iowa.

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Documents

Presentation to CR Rotary 2.13.12