Education Reform

This roller coaster ride we call curriculum reform offers ups and downs, twists and turns, and often brings us close to where we began though certainly not along the same path nor in the same condition.  Some educators ride the rails of reform without any movement at all, as if totally unaffected by the ride.  Others enjoy, in fact embrace, every twist and turn of reform, learning and growing from every challenge set before them.  Is our roller coaster about to take another turn?

Clearly, the vast majority of students still attend public schools.  However, alternatives are offering students and families the education they seek.  Virtual schools, now available in at least a dozen states, offer courses for digital natives such as computer programming, web design, game design, and e-commerce as well as global languages such Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and Arabic.  Do a quick search on virtual schools to see the myriad of resources available.  They aren’t riding the same old roller coaster . . . they are remodeling it!   Creative curriculum design might be hastened by some good old fashioned competition.

To ensure that my intent is not misunderstood, I know that many on our roller coaster are ready for reform.  In fact, I know of many teachers, many classrooms, many schools, and even districts, where amazing teaching and learning happens every day.  The infusion of cooperative learning, community service, multiple intelligences, problem-based learning, interdisciplinary learning, and others into standards-based instruction seems to be a harbinger of change in the making.   As we face the ups and downs, twists and turns, often created by the politics of educational reform, as future curriculum leaders, we must seek to keep our “riders” as our primary focus.

This video doesn’t use the roller coaster analogy, but you’ll get the point . . .  “Building a dream, that’s what we do.”  Watch for the “little kid” . . . he is our “rider.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2zqTYgcpfg

 

References:

Layton, L. & Brown, E. (2011 Nov. 26).  “Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value.”  The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/virtual-schools-are-multiplying-but-some-question-their-educational-value/2011/11/22/gIQANUzkzN_story.

 

Welcome to Beyond Classrooms!

Beyond Classrooms is a blog for discussion about instructional strategies that go . . . well, beyond classrooms. For all of the years I was in the classroom, I told my students that what I was teaching was only important if it took them beyond the four walls of my classroom. I had to revise my statement when I moved into a classroom with an entry hallway, and a gifted student pointed out that I had more than four walls! Today, more than ever, teachers need to be in discussion with one another about what is working and what is not. Teachers in classrooms, teachers at home, teachers in churches, teachers online, teachers who volunteer . . . teachers of all kinds need to share. We can no longer operate in isolation. The educational system, instructional strategies, and classroom management tools that were effective fifty and even twenty years ago will not work today. The digital natives of today are simply not wired the same way we were. They can’t change, and we find it difficult to change. What can change is how and what we teach. Let’s share . . . beyond classrooms!

Why Now?

Why is change so critical right now?  Why is our dialogue concerning curriculum that extends beyond classrooms critical right now?  Regardless of your age, how much has technology changed during your lifetime?  Can you imagine how much it will change during the live of our students?  Have you seen the statistics lately?  It’s staggering!  Shift Happens . . . with or without us.  We need to be a part of it . . .

Check it out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp_oyHY5bug&feature=related