Argument Statement
In Chapter 2 of The One World School House, titled “The Broken Model”, Khan argues that development of our modern education systems is based on historical traditions rather than how students learn best. While the structure of the one size fits all education model reaches a large amount of students, Khan feels that students do not necessarily master skills and often some are left behind.
Talking Points
“It’s not just that tradition tend to cramp imagination; it’s also that our educational system is intertwined with many other customs and institutions”. In the first section of this chapter, Khan compares the education system to the habit of eating three meals a day. So much of our life revolves around this. This is very similar to business and government involvement in the education system. Because of this, it is very difficult to make changes.
“But we do ourselves and our kids a disservice if we fail to look past those minimum requirements and recognize the places where the system has become creaky and archaic, and why old customs and standards no longer suffice.” Khan discusses the Prussian Model used to develop our education system. This model was developed during an industrial time. The education system was used to mold students into good citizens and workers not necessarily independent thinkers. Subjects were to be memorized. Class periods were too short to prevent students from discussing topics and thinking beyond the subjects. While this model still works in some way, we need to acknowledge the areas of weakness and make changes.
“To be successful in a competitive and interconnected world, we need every mind we have; to solve our common problems regarding relations among peoples and the health of our planet, we need all the talent and imagination we can find.” When discussing tracking creativity, Khan highlights that grading and testing excludes the "different thinker" students early on. This is detrimental because these student tend to be large contributors in their fields. He also states that educators to do not consider math, science and engineering creative areas.
Connection
When I compare my experience in the education system to what I see my kids experiencing today, I do think they are exposed to many more learning methods and opportunities than I was. The high school I attended was very focused on college acceptance and that was not necessarily the best option for everyone. As my son explores options for high school, I find it so exciting that he has different choices and opportunities to support his interests and the learning styles he prefers. Recently I was helping him work through some struggles he is having in ELA. He was given the opportunity to redo his work and examples were given to help him understand the concepts. While he still finds this area challenging, giving him the chance to review rather than fail him is a much better situation.
After reading this portion of The One World School House I did some further research on the history of public school and the author Salman Khan. Below are some of the links I looked into and there is also Salman Khan’s TED talk on reinventing education.
https://support.khanacademy.org/hc/en-us/articles/202483180-What-is-the-history-of-Khan-Academy
https://www.history.com/articles/public-school-america-horace-mann
https://www.raceforward.org/reports/education/historical-timeline-public-education-us
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606970.pdf
I like your connection to your son’s experience. It shows how learning is changing in real life, not just in theory. Letting students redo work and actually understand the material seems much more helpful than just failing and moving on. It also fits well with Khan’s idea that learning should be about growth instead of just grades. Thanks for posting the TED talk. I enjoyed watching.
ReplyDeleteHey Amanda, I love the point you brought up in your third talking point about how "different thinkers" tend to be the ones who are great contributors in their fields after they are done with school. It makes me wonder how these students defy the odds and make it out of an education system that actively works against their strengths. It also makes me wonder what happens to the "different thinkers" in today's age who do not have an educator willing to see them for who they are and give them a different way to show their capabilities. I love the piece you put about your son as well, I am so grateful to hear that some educators allow students to master concepts by giving them more chances rather than moving on after one try of getting the concept. Nice work this week!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your connection to your son's experience, Amanda! It shows that giving students a change for a learning moment and to have another at-bat if you will on their assignments is beneficial as opposed to just moving forward.
ReplyDeleteThe example you give about your son being able to engage in revision is perfect to show what it might look like to challenge the Prussian model! Great point.
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