things to remember about learning

Education reform is still a hot topic.   More and more people are waking up to the idea that something is just not quite right.  Unfortunately, I feel that alot of folks are missing the mark.  As stated by Sir Ken Robinson in his TED talk that I shared in a past post, at this point, what we really need is not simply reform, but a revolution in education.  Like so many facets of our culture, the current model for the education system is based on institutionalization that began roughly one hundred years ago, and it is outdated.  I think if more people were aware of how institutionalized education came about, and what its true main purposes were - largely, to serve the purposes of the Industrial Revolution - then they'd think twice about the system that has come to be accepted as the norm.  John Taylor Gatto paints the picture quite clearly in his book (which you can also read online, chapter by chapter if you wish) The Underground History of American Education.

There is this "Waiting for 'Superman'" movie that came out last year - see trailer and Q&As here: http://film.waitingforsuperman.com/videos

I'll reserve full conclusions until having seen the film, but having watched the promotional videos, I'm not sure if they're really asking the right questions. 

What is 'success' for our children?!



What we really need to ask is,
What makes for a successful learning experience?  Isn't that supposed to be the point of sending our children to school?

Another amazing independent film came out that addresses some really valuable issues with the current system and the question of redefining success, and I will reiterate my recommendation to view it, one way or another, and that is Race to Nowhere - found at racetonowhere.com. I wrote about this film, which I covered as a member of the press, in a previous post.


Ten Fundamental Truths About Learning
by

William A. Reinsmith
Professor of English
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science

Many of these points are at the heart of the unschooling philosophy.  I'll lay out the 10 points he makes; unfortunately the link I had originally where he expands upon these points is currently not working, but you get the gist:


"1. Learning first takes place through osmosis....
2. Authentic learning comes through trial and error....
3. Students will learn only what they have some proclivity for or interest in....
4. No one will formally learn something unless she believes she can learn it....
5. Learning cannot take place outside an appropriate context....
6. Real learning connotes use....
7. No one knows how a learner moves from imitation to intrinsic ownership, from external modeling to internalization and competence....
8. The more learning is like play, the more absorbing it will be-- unless the student has been so corrupted by institutional education that only dull serious work is equated with learning....
9. For authentic learning to happen time should occasionally be wasted, tangents pursued, side-shoots followed up....
10. Tests are a very poor indicator of whether an individual has really learned something...."


As a member of the media, I had the honor of photographing President Obama during his first year of presidency, when he gave an address on education at Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA, one of my home towns. Below, I share some of what he had to say. And I hear him, stand up, be responsible for yourself, don't be a victim of circumstance. But he is putting all of the honus on the youth, when it is the standardized institution of education being pushed from top down that is a big part of the problem. And now, over four years later, are we any closer to re-defining education in a way that inspires more kids to succeed rather than give up? What would happen if the system as a whole could really be organized in such a way to incorporate these ideas of 10 Fundamental Truths About Learning, and to recognize multiple intelligences - different learning types? What if we put power and creativity and inspiration back in the hands of the teachers and allow them to explore with their students, to discover what they are interested in and passionate about, moving away from standardized education to a more customized approach that gives kids more autonomy over what and how they are learning, and relies more on portfolio assessment than standardized testing?


"And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it....

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork....

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying. 

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. 

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America."