Or seems to change. Let me throw this out to everyone: I think some of this continuing concern about the educational system is a bit like complaining that medicine never gets any better because people still get sick, suffer and die. But, one might insist, the illnesses are shorter, the lives longer the suffering treated with better palliatives. That’s kind of how I think of it sometimes–the world is more complex now than the 1970s, the demands on what kids know and are able to do are greater now, there are more standardized tests now, there are more options as to what to major in or get a job in now, social life contains more ambiguity and uncertainty now… Really, I very much doubt America would still be the planet’s leading nation if we weren’t doing something right. And as with medicine, we get ever closer to immortality but still have a long way to go. How much ‘improvement’ in meeting educational goals is really, actually, possible in what amount of time? Well? How much could reasonably be done in a perfect world?

And in that setting, the devotees of the Efficiency Movement set about correcting this situation by applying the same empirical tools used to analyze and improve manufacturing processes.

I wonder how many working teachers have even heard of the Efficiency Movement. Quite a bit of what goes on these days reminds me of what went on during that time. Of course, having no idea about it keeps us from choosing not to recycle the same failed ideas.

So, in my strongly held opinion, another element of “building a better teacher” must be an adequate exposure to the foundations of education (both history and philosophy). Ignorance of what has been done and thought in education does nothing to advance reform.

Some are trying to start over by creating magnet schools and charters, private schools, and home school networks. This is why it is imperative that “regular” public schools reinvent themselves! Unfortunately, many interested in rescuing “the souls of children from the maw of industrial design” are simply checking their kids out. Many would-be high school students check themselves out.

As for “our worldview” – Therein lies the rub. There is no “our worldview,” but I would maintain that if we are not careful the tyranny of the majority will dictate… This is why we need choices whenever and wherever possible, even in rural areas. Since my first teaching job in an alternative program in the 1980′s I have maintained that if more “regular” schools looked like “alternative” schools there would be no need for “alternative” schools. Every school should be an alternative.

I doubt there is any way to rescue the souls of children from the maw of industrial design. If only we could start over…oh yeah, what IS our worldview that informs the decisions we make about what we call education?

Exactly. Context, connection, interaction… systems thinking…