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Access to a world of infinite information has changed how we communicate, process information, and think. Decentralized systems have proven to be more productive and agile than rigid, top-down ones. Innovation, creativity, and independent thinking are increasingly crucial to the global economy.
And yet the dominant model of public education is still fundamentally rooted in the industrial revolution that spawned it, when workplaces valued punctuality, regularity, attention, and silence above all else. (In 1899, William T. Harris, the US commissioner of education, celebrated the fact that US schools had developed the "appearance of a machine," one that teaches the student "to behave in an orderly manner, to stay in his own place, and not get in the way of others.") We don't openly profess those values nowadays, but our educational system—which routinely tests kids on their ability to recall information and demonstrate mastery of a narrow set of skills—doubles down on the view that students are material to be processed, programmed, and quality-tested. School administrators prepare curriculum standards and "pacing guides" that tell teachers what to teach each day. Legions of managers supervise everything that happens in the classroom; in 2010 only 50 percent of public school staff members in the US were teachers.
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That's why a new breed of educators, inspired by everything from the Internet to evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and AI, are inventing radical new ways for children to learn, grow, and thrive. To them, knowledge isn't a commodity that's delivered from teacher to student but something that emerges from the students' own curiosity-fueled exploration. Teachers provide prompts, not answers, and then they step aside so students can teach themselves and one another. They are creating ways for children to discover their passion—and uncovering a generation of geniuses in the process.
Good, long article on how education could be reinvented for the 21st century.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @05:37PM
Indeed. In order to create a "generation of geniuses" you need to motivate them to reach for high goals.
And this, right here, is the Achilles' heel to their plan to creating this new generation of geniuses. Most, given the opportunity, will take the path of least resistance; very few school age children will be wise enough to make the hard choices to learn those difficult subjects. Math and science too hard for you? Avoid these subjects by spending more time reading poetry. Reading novels too boring for you? Spend all your time doing math and science instead. The art of teaching lies in motivating students to learn those difficult subjects that they struggle with. That is how you create true geniuses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @07:52PM
I don't think an idiot or normie can ever turn into a genius, unless you have a very low standard for what qualifies as a "genius".