Do you believe in education? In learning? In school?
Like "God," these words are used with an assumption that everyone knows what they are and mean and that our very existence is dependent on our adoption of the belief systems attached to them.
Twitter and the blogosphere are full of proclamations of X ways to improve student learning, assuming we have an agreed understanding of what this "learning" is. And words wield power.
"You can't get a good job if you don't go to school and graduate."
A good job is the "heaven" after a life of toiling in school. Good behaviour and following the rules will be rewarded. Leave school and you are damned to a life of low-end, menial labour, serving those who obediently followed.
Sure, there are some non-believers, high school, college and university dropouts who go on to become millionaires and billionaires, but they are the exceptions, and their examples are not to be followed.
The religion of learning
Departments of education are the high order creating the doctrine, theology and commandments to be followed. Age-based classrooms, distinct subject area courses, required hours per course, percent grades, individually written tests and exams, all form part of the core belief system. Challenge any of these and you risk being shunned or cast out.
Those looking to transform the orthodoxy of the education system to favour the learner rather than the pre-ordained system are too often viewed with suspect for daring to challenge the "it is" of education.
There are many good things happening in schools so why are you bashing them?
Yes, there are good things happening, and yes, there is a growing movement focusing on the learner, and yet those good things do not erase the not-so-good things and the things that could be much better in our schools.
Despite much research to show that there are better ways to enable and evolve learning--and I'll use Katz & Dack's definition of learning as "a permanent change in knowledge or behavior"-- change is slow to occur because the core of the current system is based on beliefs and not arguments. Asking "Why?" disturbs the education universe, where to question is taken as a threat or an attack, rather than as an opportunity to reflect, discuss and examine. You can't argue with a belief.
What do you believe?
For those not raised in a religion, religious practices will seem peculiar, if not, downright irrational. How can anyone possibly believe that? For those raised in the religion, the beliefs and practices are not only "normal," they are True. That being said, religions do break/splinter/divide (note the connotations) into denominations and sects as new ideas work their way in while trying to maintain the core beliefs. The struggle to maintain an orthodoxy while courting pluralism is a challenge for existence and meaning in a current context.
What if you never went to school?
Most of us have gone to some kind of traditional school. The idea of "school" and "learning" and "education" is rooted in us. To say a certain practice doesn't make sense, can be taken as a personal attack by a person whose identity was formed through the practice or a teacher who finds their identity in the practice.
Different ways of doing learning we call "alternative," that is, not the normal, regular this-is-how-it-should-be way. We view learning through the lens first given to us. We compare other ways to what we have been led to believe is "the way." We need a conceptual and mindset shift. A religious mindset reformation.
Try to imagine a way for many to learn without drawing on your past school experiences. It's easy if you try.
What are the benefits of believing?
The symbols, rituals, ceremonies, rites of passages, and communities found within schools have value for individuals and their communities. Clubs, drama, band, sports teams, graduation, and just hanging out with like-minded friends, all have short and long term value.
![]()
Let's at least ask two things: What are we doing well that we should keep doing? What should we stop doing so that we can try other things?
Can you believe in learning and not schooling? (Can you believe in love without believing in a deity?)
What could learning look like?
Learning isn't about being, it's about becoming. To learn is to change. If you say you want to learn, then you'll have to change. That means acting on research that shows better ways to learn.
Learning is welcoming the ocean waves washing the sand away under your feet causing you to shift and rebalance, over and over again.
Yeah, I'm a dreamer. I believe we can do better. I believe I'm not the only one.
Like "God," these words are used with an assumption that everyone knows what they are and mean and that our very existence is dependent on our adoption of the belief systems attached to them.
Twitter and the blogosphere are full of proclamations of X ways to improve student learning, assuming we have an agreed understanding of what this "learning" is. And words wield power.
"You can't get a good job if you don't go to school and graduate."
A good job is the "heaven" after a life of toiling in school. Good behaviour and following the rules will be rewarded. Leave school and you are damned to a life of low-end, menial labour, serving those who obediently followed.
Sure, there are some non-believers, high school, college and university dropouts who go on to become millionaires and billionaires, but they are the exceptions, and their examples are not to be followed.
The religion of learning
Departments of education are the high order creating the doctrine, theology and commandments to be followed. Age-based classrooms, distinct subject area courses, required hours per course, percent grades, individually written tests and exams, all form part of the core belief system. Challenge any of these and you risk being shunned or cast out.
Those looking to transform the orthodoxy of the education system to favour the learner rather than the pre-ordained system are too often viewed with suspect for daring to challenge the "it is" of education.
There are many good things happening in schools so why are you bashing them?
Yes, there are good things happening, and yes, there is a growing movement focusing on the learner, and yet those good things do not erase the not-so-good things and the things that could be much better in our schools.
Despite much research to show that there are better ways to enable and evolve learning--and I'll use Katz & Dack's definition of learning as "a permanent change in knowledge or behavior"-- change is slow to occur because the core of the current system is based on beliefs and not arguments. Asking "Why?" disturbs the education universe, where to question is taken as a threat or an attack, rather than as an opportunity to reflect, discuss and examine. You can't argue with a belief.
What do you believe?
For those not raised in a religion, religious practices will seem peculiar, if not, downright irrational. How can anyone possibly believe that? For those raised in the religion, the beliefs and practices are not only "normal," they are True. That being said, religions do break/splinter/divide (note the connotations) into denominations and sects as new ideas work their way in while trying to maintain the core beliefs. The struggle to maintain an orthodoxy while courting pluralism is a challenge for existence and meaning in a current context.
What if you never went to school?
Most of us have gone to some kind of traditional school. The idea of "school" and "learning" and "education" is rooted in us. To say a certain practice doesn't make sense, can be taken as a personal attack by a person whose identity was formed through the practice or a teacher who finds their identity in the practice.
Different ways of doing learning we call "alternative," that is, not the normal, regular this-is-how-it-should-be way. We view learning through the lens first given to us. We compare other ways to what we have been led to believe is "the way." We need a conceptual and mindset shift. A religious mindset reformation.
Try to imagine a way for many to learn without drawing on your past school experiences. It's easy if you try.
What are the benefits of believing?
The symbols, rituals, ceremonies, rites of passages, and communities found within schools have value for individuals and their communities. Clubs, drama, band, sports teams, graduation, and just hanging out with like-minded friends, all have short and long term value.
Let's at least ask two things: What are we doing well that we should keep doing? What should we stop doing so that we can try other things?Can you believe in learning and not schooling? (Can you believe in love without believing in a deity?)
What could learning look like?
Learning isn't about being, it's about becoming. To learn is to change. If you say you want to learn, then you'll have to change. That means acting on research that shows better ways to learn.
Learning is welcoming the ocean waves washing the sand away under your feet causing you to shift and rebalance, over and over again.
Yeah, I'm a dreamer. I believe we can do better. I believe I'm not the only one.