Respect, Honor and Strength in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Shifting the Paradigm in Education

Earlier this week I shared a video by Sir Ken Robinson with our staff. In the video Robinson highlights the fact schools in America were originally created in the time of the Industrial Revolution. His example is schools today still run like factories. We group students by age, not ability. We are run by bells and we segment ourselves by departments, as we mass produce students who must pass standardized tests...and if they can't...they are deemed "not smart". Robinson asks the question, "Why do we do that?" Are we not alienating many smart kids who think they aren't simply because of what a test said? I often ask myself those same questions as I continuously think about how we can improve our current educational system. When you are inspired to try new approaches, the challenge becomes when and how?

Our challenges include: construction projects at our school, implementing Common Core State Standards, creating detailed family engagement plans, having our school go through Accreditation, writing and implementing graduation initiative grants along with dissecting our 4 Star Rating on our district and state performance reports. Don't forget tests, tests and more tests! At the same time we can't forget the most important challenges, which are making sure our teachers are supported with the time and resources they need and ensuring all of our students have the best opportunity to succeed. Oh...and yes...we are a school and we should have some fun once in awhile!

If you look at the broader challenges, there is little autonomy for principals to change the industrial structure of schools. Building lay-outs, budget restrictions, age requirements and standardized test regulation really do handcuff us. We can't make excuses though. I remember how revolutionary it was when we shifted to a 7 period day. We had to receive special permission but we made it happen through hard work and determination. Now most of the high schools in the area are adopting the model due to our success.

The mandates and red tape will probably always be a challenge. So how do we shift the paradigm of education when these challenges exist?

Well... I do believe the shift to Common Core encourages divergent thinking, which is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. Close reading strategies, argumentative writing and increased opportunities for students to discuss text are a few examples where divergent thinking can take place. Those are the skills I believe our kids need to be successful--creative problem solvers. I can't speak to the assessments because they aren't here yet. So we start with Common Core. We then take steps in supporting cross curricular lessons, service learning projects, student internships, and growing our technology Signature Program. I think along the way we continue to stretch our minds and research innovative ways to educate our students. Who knows what we will discover!

So let's do what Sir Ken Robinson suggests and "wake our kids up". Let's make school a place where students "feel truly alive". Let's not worry about what we can't change but focus on what we can.
Then when I am king of the world, I will give principals the autonomy to use their budgets as needed, structure the school day to fit their needs and rid themselves of those factory bells!