What to keep, throw, and grow...

"The Little House" vs Educational Institutions



It's difficult not to recognize similarities and differences between this movie and education- from the the pendulum swing and initiatives short lived, standing firm when others are pushing, the disconnect between between form and function, that 'progression' is inevitable, not progress...

How can we use what we 'see' to reflect on our own institutional choices? In other words, what is 'it' that we hold onto so dearly? What are we unwilling to let go even in the face of overwhelming evidence?  What practices, issues, ideas are archaic in nature, ridden with  'experience as evidence' beliefs (see Jan 22 blog post), that permeate our school? What norms are simply vestigial organs of a time past and need to be removed, rather than just ignored? In the most simplest of terms: What do we keep? What do we throw? What do we grow?

What is our obligation as an institution to insist on learning-within-this-century? Schools don't run by a single stakeholder. We all bear responsibility to look at our work critically and to recognize when it's time to shed old practice based on sound evidence and to rebuild new practice based on sound understandings. This will take hard work and the commitment of many but the potential for such efforts are indescribable. How cool is that?

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