There are those who believe the WHY of public education in the United States is to provide all children with equal access to a quality education that prepares them for college, careers, and active participation in a democratic society. The overarching goal is to ensure that all students have the opportunity to reach their full potential and contribute to the betterment of society. Achieving these goals is a daunting challenge because there is not equal access nor clear consensus as to what a quality education is, what it means to participate in a democratic society, reach a person’s full potential and contribute to the betterment of society.
As we enter the 2024 election cycle for President of the United States, the message emerging from the right-wing conservative ecosystem is distrust of teachers, elected school boards, and what is being taught to children. The left-wing ecosystem is protective of public education and its progressive perspective trajectory. Neither side is looking for common ground, with the young caught in the middle, receiving mixed messages. This is not healthy.
Teachers feel this frustration. Educational thought leader and change agent, Will Richardson, titled his November 22, 2022, BIG Question Institute Bi-Weekly Update, “What is our Calling In Schools Now?” He takes a global perspective that calls for schools to reflect on “what the world is trying to be” He asks the hard questions: “Why do schools exist today? What are the collective needs they serve? What needs should they be serving?” To move forward we need conversations addressing these questions that build consensus.
Top down or bottom up?
JC Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, brings focus to Richardson’s questions. In Bowman’s op ed “What is the Why for Educating our children” Cleveland Daily Banner, February 2, 2023, he rhetorically asks “Do we educate for the sake of the child? The family? Educators? Businesses? Government? Society?” He goes on to say that “How you answer the WHY we educate question will determine what policies you will embrace.” Each of the filters Bowman identifies (child, family, educators, business, government, and society) have unique challenges, requirements, desired outcomes, and responsibilities that look differently at the local, state, and national level. A bigger question to be answered is who and how is this funded?
Taking a good hard look in the mirror.
The current condition of public education is that not all children have equal access to quality teaching and learning. Access is dependent upon a Zip or Area Code, financial resources, and the dispositions of teachers, locally elected Board of Education, and community members. Dissatisfaction is evident today with parents organizing, calling for vouchers, charter schools, and demanding change and options.
Today, Public Education’s emphasis on college and careers equates success, fulfillment, and happiness to being gainfully employed. Grounded in a 20th century industrial model, time on task, system design, the outcome is conformity and mastery of prescribed content, measured by standardized tests. The historical belief was that a college degree is the golden ticket, and that parents and students were willing to bear the burden of crushing future debt by assuming student loans to get it. The chilling reality is that a college diploma does not cleanly translate into being gainfully employed, and therefore, saddling young people and their parents with massive student loan debt is not a financially sound strategy.
Public education is great at producing consumers of content and not necessarily creators of content. Sadly, content consumer skills become less critical every day, while today’s Information and Interconnected Age, requires critical thinking skills and the ability to access, discern, and apply information to real world predictable and unpredictable situations. Science, Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) programs, like Project Lead the Way (PLTW), show potential but are viewed in schools as standalone activities. They are not integrated but taught in addition to the regular curriculum.
“For the entire 30 years of my professional career, I’ve witnessed the constant conversation about the “Industrial Age School” and how its design runs counter to the emerging “Information & Interconnected Age.”
Dr. Trace Pickering, co-founder, executive director of Iowa BIG
Schools are designed to Indoctrinate Children.
Each, and every school across the United States indoctrinates children into society. Local, state, and national cultural norms, traditions, and beliefs are introduced, practiced, and communicated to children, deliberately and subliminally. At one time this was a shared responsibility between the home and the school. For the past 20 years ``home” has evolved to include single parents, joint custody, blended families, and children being raised by grandparents. With children spending 8+ hours in childcare and schools, many parents and caregivers defaulted to schools to teach civility and civic responsibilities. The impact of the COVID pandemic and the resulting school shutdowns reengaged home with schools but also amplified political polarization and the questioning of norms, traditions, and beliefs to be taught, stressing home-school trust. This relationship continues to fracture.
What do we want the world to become?
Student experiences in schools can reshape the world. Schools can empower and shape young minds to define what society is and plant seeds for what society could be. What we want the world to become is directly connected to Will Richardson’s question “What is our calling in Schools now?” The answer must be multi-dimensional and respond to the stakeholders JC Bowman identified: child, family, educators, business, government, and society. It also needs to include the examination and evaluation of current structures, protocols, practices, and funding mechanisms for viability.
Mr. Bowman insightfully summed everything up, writing “It is time to ask ourselves, “Why are we, as a society, educating our children?” If we gain clarity on the “Why,” much of the remainder will fall into place.”
