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Education Industry?

Posted in Administrator, Education, Leadership, Merit Pay, Reform, Skills, Teacher, Thought Provoking, Truth on April 7, 2010| 13 Comments »

Industry: refers to the production of an economic good (either material or a service) within an economy.

Industry: a group of productive enterprises or organizations that produce or supply goods, services, or sources of income. In economics, industries are customarily classified as primary, secondary, and tertiary.

Although the words industry and education are often paired together, I have not seen the words combined within the definition of Industry in the few sources that I have considered. That is not to say that they do not appear together somewhere. However, either in the definition of “Industry”, or in a listing of the major classifications of industry, they do not seem to appear together.

I have seen, and heard, many references to the “education Industry” over lo these many years as an educator. I understand that there are many industries tied into education, textbooks from the Publishing Industry, Hardware from the Computer Industry, busses from the Transportation Industry, educational applications from the Software Industry, and chairs and desks from the Furniture Industry. The use of so many industries within education does not necessarily make it an industry onto itself.

The concept of public Education is said to be based on the industrial model. It was formed and designed to provide industry with a source of educated people to fill the ranks of workers needed by industry for it to succeed. This goes back to observations of an earlier post. “The 3 R’s of Industry” https://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/the-3-r’s-of-industry/

This is the background to my latest reflection about the need to change the culture to reform education. I again engaged this ongoing reflection after commenting on an educational Blog site. When the investors of the education industry look at what their industry is producing for their investment, what do they see? They, the taxpayers, are the stockholders and investors in this local industry, so they have a right to ask.

The question is easy, How much bang are we getting for our buck? The answer is more difficult, because we need to agree on what the buck is. If we think of education as an industry, we should be able to look at the end product and see the ROI, return on Investment. What is the widget that comes out after a 12 year production? This is easily defined by most industries. We simply look at the profit line. Money talks or somebody walks.The problem is that the Education Industry makes no money. there is no monetary profit. Without money as an indicator of success, what do we use?

This is where Education as an industry falls apart. We do not have agreement on what the product is without money as the measure. Is it how many kids graduate? Is it how many students passed standardized tests which assess knowledge of content? Is it based on how many students go on to college. Is it based on how many go on to be employed in a meaningful way? Is it based on how many become lifelong learners?Is it based on how many learning skills each can exhibit?

To further complicate it we need to evaluate: what skills are important; what facts are necessary; what do we place an emphasis on vocation, or higher education. The focus of these directions depends on whom you ask. Students, parents, teachers and politicians each have different expectations for the outcomes. This further confuses whether the investors are getting a return on their investment. If we cannot agree on a common measure for success we will never be able to satisfactorily answer the question.

Now we need to look at the management of the Education Industry. If education is not an industry, why would we run it like an industry? According to Dan Pink, research tells us that merit pay for teachers will not only be unsuccessful, it will be counter-productive. Further, which of the criteria for success should be used to determine whether the entire staff of a district should be fired as punishment for failure. Do we ask: the Students, the parents, the teachers, the politicians? Does mass firing, in addition to being a punishment for failure, also serve as a great incentive to attract better teachers who will work harder to meet the goals of that district?

In my humble opinion we have to stop thinking of Education as an industry. We need to come to some agreement on what the outcome of a good education is. The outcome or the Profit is never going to be in monetary terms. Maybe each student needs develop an Individual Educational Plan with desired outcomes clearly stated and agreed upon by all parties. We can then assess every student’s progress and success as they proceed in a formative assessment and not when it is too late to change course. This would enable us to assess reflect an adjust individuals’ educations, which is our product. We would shift from report cards to IEP meetings. This, although a time-consuming alternative, could save time for students over a 12 year career in school. With successful results meeting times would be less, unless a program of more rigor is indicated to challenge those who need it.

This is a simple plan that only needs us to get the students, parents, teachers and politicians to agree to the change and agree on the outcomes. I guess that would be the part of the reform equation where we need to change the culture. It may take a few weeks.

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To Tell the Truth

Posted in Education, Leadership, Skills, Teacher, Thought Provoking, Truth, Twitter on March 19, 2010| 23 Comments »

I recently attended a thoughtful and thought-provoking webinar conducted by Ira Socol. If you are a twitter user, you may recognize him as @irasocol. The result of this webinar was the identification of yet another needed skill that our education system needs to address with passion, the skill to verify truth in information. Of course this is just another skill to be added to a long list of skills that educators must prepare our students with, if kids are to be successfully educated. By the way I don’t think this skill is represented on a standardized test.

The failure of our education system to address this skill is evident and underscored each and every day in the news. Technology has given us the ability to store and enable access to a huge amount of information which continues to grow exponentially. The information however, is both correct and incorrect, both true and false, both fact, and fiction. The skill to not only be able to obtain the information, but to also verify its truth, is essential. A reason to support public education is the necessity to educate the population of our democratic society to make intelligent choices of those issues which will affect the lives of all citizens. If people are basing their decisions on false information, the intended outcome will not be successful.

Consider the emphasis that our news agencies now place on the popular man/woman in the street interviews. People are asked their opinions on topics without regard to how well they are prepared for that opinion. This has been referred to as “Opinion without Portfolio”. Yet, after the opinion is given, it makes the airways without verification of the truth. To continue the process we have a large number in our society that believe, if it is on TV, it must be true. If we needed a life saving operation, would we go to the person on-the-street interview to consider our choices?

Consider the role of Polls in newscasts. If we think of a poll as a type of formative assessment or a snapshot of public support of an issue, it is valid. When the opinion poll and individual contributions to that poll are featured as the focus of the story it is a problem. The opinion is then presented as fact and it, at the very least, muddies the issue.

Consider the TV ads for Cable, Satellite, and Verizon. Each claims to be giving the facts as the truth. When we compare the facts of each, we must determine someone is being less than truthful. We do not hold anyone accountable we just believe whichever one we like without verifying what is true.

Joe the Plumber was my favorite. He was a plumber who asked, then candidate, Obama a question about taxes and starting his own Plumbing company. Joe was then catapulted to fame as an expert on taxation, free enterprise, and entrepreneurship. He was even a highlighted speaker at John McCain rallies. He was interviewed several times, as if he was an expert, and those interviews were broadcast to the American public. His credentials were never questioned until after the election and his 15 minutes of fame had been somewhat dulled by the facts.

Politicians are the worst offenders in our efforts to teach the skill of verifying the truth. Members of both political parties claim to be representing what the American People really want. This is not a stretching of the truth but an outright lie on the part of both parties. A plague on both of their houses. Now, we have the Birthers, those claiming the President is not American. There are also the experts who claim there are Death Panels in healthcare plans. What about legislation that will be “breaking the bank” or” saving the ranch”? We have become a society of extremes with the truth being lost in the middle.

If we are to be considered good educators we need to be able to instill in our students a need to strive for the truth. They need to be able to determine what information is of value. If information is the food of knowledge, then we need not consume food which has no nutrition at the best, or is poisonous at the worst. This is difficult for educators to do, for if we teach our students to question, they must question us as educators as well. “Be careful what you wish for!” comes to mind. Where does this skill fit in a list of all of the other skills that educators are now required to teach? Is this for the English teacher, or the social studies teacher, or the science teacher? Of course Math is always truthful. That is probably why it is so hard.

As always I come away with more questions than answers. I do believe however, that an important question was posed by Ira Socol: “How do we know that’s true?” This must be asked by everyone in our democracy and it is the educator’s responsibility to make it so.

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ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM

Posted in Education, Leadership, Reform, Teacher, Teched, Technology, Thought Provoking on March 13, 2010| 16 Comments »

The word “Passion” is often thrown around by educators when it comes to educational reform. It has also appeared in more and more tweets and Edchat comments. That is probably a result of it being so difficult to promote change within the Educational Community. Ordinary enthusiasm is often not enough to get it done. One reason for this is that, as educators, we have been conditioned to believe that once a movement for change comes banging at our door, if we wait long enough, it will go away. Sometimes, it depends on who has the most passion for their cause, in this world of winners and losers, to wait it out. Whoever has the most passion to hang in the longest wins. Unfortunately, this often takes us to a place where it is about what is best for us, and not what is best for our students.

Since I am passionate about education, and accessible to other educators in several social media venues, many people share with me their stories of wins and losses in the battle for educational reform. That is not a phrase I select without thought. There is passion amongst the 10 to 15 % of people who will always be satisfied with education as it remains today and also as it was yesterday. They are passionate for what some refer to as a comfort level, but it is in reality a call for the “Status Quo”. If it was good enough for me, it’s good enough for my kids!” They attempt to recruit as many to their cause, as do the reformers to theirs. This creates the “us and them” mentality that hurts collaboration. Need I mention the word “PARTISANSHIP”?

An experience shared with me recently, may serve as a good example of the problem faced by passionate reformers. It is a typical story like many told to me on a regular basis. This incident took place in the arena of Higher Education, but it could have taken place at any level. It occurred at a Professional Development workshop conducted by an educator who is interested in integrating technology and learning. The workshop addressed how to incorporate Web 2.0 tools into lessons. Everything seemed to be going well, until the end of the presentation when the participants were asked for questions or reflections.

One professor passionately motivated to share his views stood up before the group to respond. Since this came to me second-hand, I cannot be exact, but he said something to the effect that, if anyone needed to get information to him, they need not text, twitter, message, or email him. They should simply talk to him. It was good enough for him, so it is good enough for his students. Furthermore, what was the need for this tech stuff anyway? These kids know how to do this stuff when they come to us. (So much for formative assessment.) The workshop obviously was not working its magic with that Professor. But wait, there is more! If you believe in edtech reform, the part of the story which may cause you to start “screen-screaming”, is this; the audience of educators applauded the statement.

That might almost be enough for some to run from that room into the streets screaming “All is Lost, All is Lost!” But alas, we must remember these were the words of a “Ten-Percenter” and not necessarily the opinion of the majority. We all have the right to make personal decisions. The nature of these decisions however, is just that, personal. They should be decisions affecting us individually and our families. As educators our decisions have a ripple effect that goes out and touches the lives of many individuals. If we make a personal decision to live in a cave that is fine, it is our right. We do not have a right to make others live in a cave with us.

Tradition, however, falls on the side of the “ten-percenters” when it comes to Education. A majority of our society sat at desks in rows looking at the blackboard, or squinting at an overhead, or listening to scratchy records and tapes. They may have watched movies on film, film strips or video tapes. We were even used to filling out mimeographed worksheets. Those are all familiar tools which made a majority of us comfortable. These tools are also in the process of disappearing. We will no longer see them. Some are gone already. It may be the time to get out of the horse and buggy and ease into the car. YES, it is true a good teacher needs no tech to be good! It is also true that a good teacher with tech can be better!

I hope this is more than a re-hash of things I have said so many times before, but rather, a call to passionate change agents of educational reform, not to be discouraged. The “ten-Percenters” are the reason so many call for the tearing down of the system. The reason so many say we can’t wait for these people to die off. I believe passionately that is a radical approach. We need to keep plugging away at change. These people are dedicated and educated individuals who may need to be cajoled into a level of comfort with technology. To those who totally refuse the call to change, we may need to ignore. They will be revealed as time passes them by. To those who remain passionate in their pursuit of reform, I would say in my best dialect free Latin, ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM, which sounds much more intelligent than its English translation, “Don’t let the bastards grind you down”.

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Lead Us Into Reform

Posted in Administrator, Education, Leadership, Reform, Teacher, Teched, Thought Provoking, Twitter on March 4, 2010| 10 Comments »

A recent tweet about my “crew” brings me to this Post. I did not know that I had a crew until someone pointed it out in a tweet. The tweeter made reference to the @tomwhitby crew discussion – 1) Admins stink. 2) Teachers are holy. 3) ???? 4) Profit! I really did not fully understand points 3 & 4, but, based on 1 & 2, I believe this person felt that I always knock Administrators and praise teachers.

If that is the perception of the flavor of my tweets, I am misrepresenting my beliefs and I should apologize to a number of people. I firmly believe that, if education is to improve, it will be because a number of great educational leaders will lead us from where we are today, to where we should be tomorrow. I do not believe we should throw everything out and begin from scratch. Many of these leaders reside in the ranks of today’s educational administrators. In my not-so humble opinion there is a difference between leaders and administrators.

My perspective on this comes from a career in education as a teacher who has worked with a number of Administrators. My personal,professional experience has spanned over three school Districts and two Colleges. I entered the teaching profession as enrollments were declining and schools were reducing their staffs to accommodate the shrinking size of their baby-boomer, student bodies. Many teachers lost their jobs and did not re-enter the profession. With each reduction I was lucky enough to land on my feet and secure positions in other schools.

In 34 years I worked under many administrators; Eight Superintendents, nine Principals, sixteen assistant Principals, ten department Chairs. Recalling these numbers for the purpose of this post brought to mind many good people and many others who did not exactly advance education. Those I had great respect for included: Two of the eight Superintendents, three of the nine principals, two of the sixteen assistant Principals and three of the ten chairs. My respect for those administrators came from their ability to understand and enable teachers on the staff to be successful. It was apparent to me that for many reasons, the great administrators came in much smaller numbers. Too many of the less supportive people floated to the top. I am haunted by the thought of those 13 AP’s moving up.

During my career I have always been involved with Professional Development. Many of the teachers that I worked with looked to improve their teaching methods and learn about new tools. This is not to say that there weren’t teachers who were unwilling to learn and grow. I really believe that I have addressed those teachers in many of my tweets. I also spent Five years on the Board of Directors of the New York State Association of Computers and Technology in Education. I worked with many progressive administrators leading their schools into the future with technology. That was highlighted by their teachers giving wonderful presentations of accomplishments with Tech and Teaching. Presentations which would not be possible without administrative support.

Teachers, however, are at the bottom of the power structure. The only group lower than teachers in regard to power would be the students. If real change is to come, it might be suggested by the lower levels, but it must be directed to happen from the top. Superintendents and Principals are in a much better position to promote lasting change in the educational system. Their attitudes and leadership will direct buildings and districts. Teachers or students, although influential, do not have that power.

And then there was the Superintendent from Rhode Island announcing that her entire teaching staff was being terminated. The teachers refused to work longer hours and more days without additional money. They also refused to eat their lunches in the student cafeteria with the students. This particular superintendent did not provide the leadership needed for improvement. If the teaching methods were not working during the regular work week, why would a superintendent expect that, an increase in the number of hours and days using those same methods, would improve a dropout rate? What other ideas had this superintendent implemented for professional development? Did she promote best practices? Was there a mentor program in place? How supportive was she of her staff?

What made it worse for me was that our head Educational leader, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, immediately supported the action and said that more actions like this may follow. This was underscored by the President of the United States reaffirming that statement within days.

What motivates people to become teachers is usually a need to affect change. I see many students enter the profession with passion and energy to change the world. They are smart and willing to work. If, after a period of time as a teacher, these qualities are less obvious, they may not have disappeared, but rather may have gone dormant for a number of reasons, lack of leadership being one. These qualities do still exist. They may need to be awakened by a caring and knowledgeable leader who looks to build and not tear things down. Teachers should teach, and Administrators should lead. Politicians should do whatever it is they do, but that would not be anything involving Education, unless it is their own. The only way to improve education is to lead us to improvement. Tearing down the system and starting over wastes resources, money, and people.

With this as a backdrop to my tweet, I apologize to all of those administrators who are supporting their staffs and encouraging learning. I believe teachers who are not doing their best to advance themselves professionally are doing wrong by themselves, and their students. They should be held accountable. I do not apologize for promoting collaboration and discussion to involve those who need to be changed. I believe teachers need to support change by directing and supporting their administrators in the best ways to teach kids how to learn. I believe social media allows all parties to collaborate and exchange ideas to benefit all educators. I believe anyone willing to be in my crew gets an extra ration of RUM.

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In My Humble Opinion

Posted in Administrator, Assessment, Education, Leadership, Literacy, Thought leadership, Thought Provoking, Uncategorized on January 22, 2010| 22 Comments »

I am beginning to appreciate this blogging thing more with each post I write. What I like best is that these are my ideas and have no effect on anyone except those who choose to accept them. Readers even get to pick and choose which of my ideas they want. I will never know what effect they will have, but I do get to read the comments, and for the most part they are positive. I appreciate the comments that are even more thoughtful than my original post. That being said, I can now post something that some will find upsetting . If you are in that group by the end of the post, come back to this first paragraph and remind yourself of this opening statement. It may have more meaning for you the second time.

Through my entire career in education I have seen plans that were supposed to revolutionize the educational system, the latest attempt being “No Child Left Behind”. Now with this new administration we are looking at merit pay for teachers. A plan flawed in its conception with a great potential to fail and once again target teachers as the reason for failure. I am putting an IMHO here to quell the stirring beasts who are about to pounce on the reply box.

As a teacher of teachers I always instruct my students to have an objective or a goal for every lesson they teach. Their purpose is to focus their thoughts, direction, and energy to accomplish that goal. Most importantly however, they are to assess their students along the way to make adjustments in order to complete the goal.

If we apply that same principle to our educational system, I would expect a positive result. All we have to do is ask the question, “What is the goal of education?” You have to see where this is going by now. The problem is who will answer that question: Politician, Parent, Administrator, Teacher, Student, Tax-payer, or that non-educator sitting on the educational advisory panel? The answers will muddy what should be a clear answer.

Here comes the IMHO again. As far as I can tell, the goal of education is to provide workers for the job force. That seems to be the driving force in everyone’s perception of education in America and probably elsewhere. Before you scroll to the reply box, finish the post. I might say something else to set you off. Employment seems to me, to be the Goal of education. Some might say the goal is to get the student to college. Moving a student to Higher Ed, it is just a hand-off to the college to prepare a student for higher paying employment. Colleges are ruled by the same goal.

The problem with all of this is that when the goal of employment is reached the perception of many is that the need for education, and learning has ended. That is true for many individuals no matter what line of work or whatever profession they enter. That most definitely includes ALL of the professionals in education. Once they get their job there is no longer a need to learn. We have even coined a phrase for those who are exceptions. We call them Life-Long Learners. Those are the people who did not buy into the education- culminates-with-employment idea.

If the goal for Education is employment and a student becomes employed, the goal has been attained. There is no need for continued learning. We have succeeded. If however, that is not the outcome we want, maybe we should go back to the beginning. Let us look at the Goal for which we must focus our thoughts, direction, and energy to accomplish. Maybe it needs tweaking, or clarification, or assessing, or a complete change. As an educator I have to throw all that in, even though IMHO the goal sucks and should be scraped.

It may be time to establish a Goal we can all agree upon. Here is my contribution or the point I would like to make with this discussion. My Goal would be to promote Learning and Literacy through education. “We do that”, you say. If we did, why do so many people stop learning and being literate once they get a job?

At one time people needed to spend time reading books and engaging in conversation and debate and collaboration. It was difficult to do when there was no time or place to do this after one graduated. After all, the goal was attained and there was no need. The Internet has changed all that.

If Administrators made their decisions on whether or not something promotes and supports literacy and learning, many decisions for financing, curriculum, and staffing might be different. If principals had that as a goal, School policies, support of teachers, professional development and even interaction with parents might be more purposeful. Teachers, many who will claim this to be their goal, will be more open to accepting new ideas and new tools for preparing kids to learn beyond the classroom. A skill they will need if we meet the goal of learning and literacy.

Employment and supplying a workforce should not be the goal of educators. That is the stuff of politics. Let the need to continually learn and communicate in a literate manner be the Goal of All educators. All decisions should be weighed with this in mind. All assessments should address this goal. We would need no standardized tests with this as a standardized Goal. IMHO.

Now you can return to my first paragraph and then scroll to the Reply box and leave your comment. I hope my humble opinion has given you pause to reflect.

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Doors?

Posted in Education, Leadership, PLN, Professional development, Reform, Skills, Teched, Technology, Thought Provoking on January 19, 2010| 29 Comments »

Did you ever give any thought to doors? Right now you are probably thinking, “Why would I ever give a thought to doors?” Hold that thought for later. We never question doors. They come with every house. There are inside doors and outside doors. We build entrance ways to enhance doors. We adorn them with brass kick plates and fancy handles and elaborate locking systems. We never question their value. We never even have to think about how they work. We do not stand in front of them to contemplate their hinges, or handles. We use them without thought. It becomes almost instinctive. They are everywhere, on closets, on cabinets, on furniture, on cars, even on shower stalls. We accept and use them everywhere and the most thought given is probably the thought traveling through your brain right now.

In order to give this post a little more to write about, I would add a few more household necessities: the refrigerator, stove, television, and telephone. Can you imagine an average American home without these tools or a door to offer protection for them? Yes, there are people who choose not to make these tools part of their life, but that is a rare choice. It does not mean that these people have no understanding of these tools. I would be safe in saying that they represent a very small portion of our population. By this point you should have an inkling of where I am taking you with this.

I am a post WWII child. David Letterman and I are the same age. In the old days we were the Baby Boomers, or The Boomer generation. Now, as a group we are affectionately referred to as the Old Fart Generation. Even at my age however, there was never a time when I did not have a refrigerator, stove, television, or a telephone. They look very different from the 1940’s, but they still are useful tools for the purpose each serves. We have little choice in their use. They are similar to the door in that we no longer need to think about their use or purpose. It is a given.

We often think that we have choices in life and we do, but not everything is a choice. There are some things that our society, or culture, or government chooses for us. As Educators we once had a choice to use technology as a tool for teaching and learning. It was an expensive tool and there was a big gap between haves and have-nots. It was financially beneficial to schools if teachers chose not to use Tech as a teaching tool. Training, time and money were the obstacles of choice for change.

Now let us consider the objective of our teaching. I always thought I was preparing my students to be able to think and learn in their world, for that is where and when they will live. I am not teaching them to live in the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 00’s as I did. God I am getting old. The choice of technology as a teaching tool is no longer mine to make. My choice is how best to use it. Look around! Computers are everywhere. Computers that run our cars are probably more functional than those which were used to send men to the moon. I am not so arrogant to think that I can offer a student all he/she needs to know based on what I know.

For the generations to come technology is going to be like doors. It will be everywhere and people will not even have to consider its use. As educators why would we fight that evolution? Why are we not using that power to promote creative thought? Why do we have educators resistant to something that will continue to grow and improve the way we access, analyze, consume and communicate information?

The dumbest argument I remember from Math teachers in the 60’s about the use of calculators in Math class was;” What would happen if there were no more batteries. They need to know how to work without calculators for that reason.”We believed that back then. We were not stupid, but maybe a little unaware. It was a knee jerk reaction to technology. I guess math teachers had a fear of being replaced by calculators. That was a fear shared by many educators back in the day-being replaced by a computer.

We all look at something the same way, but many of us see it differently. I would like us to get to the point where we only have to think about how to best use technology and not whether we should use it. Yes, I agree, a good teacher can teach without technology and that will always be true. Yes, I agree, Technology does not have to be in every lesson. Yes, I agree, technology is not the answer to everything. Technology, however, is with us to stay and it is evolving. As educators we need to evolve too. These kids need to be educated for their world not ours. In their world Technology may be as ubiquitous as doors are.