I made it almost through to the month of September before having to write a blog entry on education. I think I could've held off even longer, but I read an excellent article this morning in the Atlantic entitled "The Littlest Schoolhouse" by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I then read an article in The Futurist entitled "Youth At Risk: A New Plan for Saving the World's Most Precious Resource" by Gene Stephens. Both have different approaches on how to get kids back into being active learners; both are excellent. I invite you to read either (or both) the articles; I'm guessing some Googling would bring this to your screens.
To summarize the articles, two things need to be in place for all kids to learn. First you need to make sure that the child's learning style is understood and utilized; we don't all learn the same way. We can't all be taught the same way. It's okay to diversify and let some kids just plop on the headphones and work away at the laptop...they're just wired that way.
Second, we need to have community involvement. Not the type of involvement that sits in judgment of and waits for students to fail; this is the type of involvement that pulls in smart people with futuristic ideas about how kids as adults will be able to be successful in their lives. This takes mentoring, this takes patience, and this takes a sharp learning curve of those involved so they can be helpful. You put all this together and guess what...it works.
We're going to have a tough time helping people get through change on the education front. It's going to be challenging in the least. With added pressures of "making the grade" on a national level, it's going to be sometimes downright frustrating. BUT...it can be done when people think of the future and they think of the individual, not the group.
I see an exciting future...have a fine day.
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