ANDERSON W. WILLIAMS
  • Work
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Nonprofit
    • Youth & Education Resources
  • Art
    • 2000-2002
    • 2003-2008
    • 2009-2013
    • Echo
    • White
    • OutsideInsideOut
    • Art is...
  • Books
  • Blog
  • About

A series of classes doesn't make an education

9/16/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I came across the following reflection this week in an article capturing lessons learned from talking with students, in this case about some student survey results:

“(Dr. Deborah Moore) said that in subsequent conversations the youths lamented that “they don’t feel like they have a real school experience; they have more of a series of classroom experiences.” 

This seems like a simple statement, an obvious, if concerning, insight by the students. But, if we take it seriously, the implications are actually quite profound – and are potentially an incredibly powerful place to start if we really want to reform education.

In the true form of a great insight, it generates tons of questions:

Why don’t we talk to students more when we make decisions about them and their education? Why isn’t student engagement fundamental to education reform efforts? Why don’t students ever get to see, interpret, or process the data we collect about them or their schools?

I could go on with the student-as-stakeholder-in-education questions, but I could start to spiral pretty quickly. It’s a bit of a soap-box issue, so I’ll spare you here.

Instead, I want to focus on the bigger question underlying the student insight:

What if we made decisions with the goal of intentionally creating an educational experience for students in our schools (rather than attempting to deliver education to students through our schools)?

The former requires common vision, goals, effective communication, and shared leadership. The latter is easily fragmented, highly variable, and makes it difficult to identify weak leadership.

If we started with crafting the educational/school experience for students first:

Measuring Success: Would we continue to emphasize only the metrics that show whether or not a student has “succeeded” in school, or would we expand to look more broadly to understand how and if a school has succeeded for the student?

Expectations: Would we set and articulate our expectations for students on the basis of short-term metrics like test scores, or would we use these metrics to engage students in creating a vision for what they want their lives to look like in the future and help them articulate how education can help them get there?

Student Voice: Would we still treat the traditional survey as our best (or only) tool for getting student insights or feedback – or might we engage them in building, evaluating, and improving the educational experience through ongoing partnership and dialogue?

Communication: Would we still consider school communication to be those messages from adults to students (or school to parents), or would we systematically integrate students into content creation, communication, and promotion – and not just consumption of school information?

Technology: Would we continue to proliferate classroom-management technologies that teachers choose a-la-carte, meaning students accumulate 5-6 logins and are left to navigate that many technology platforms just to know what’s what for their classes?

There is so much to discuss and so much potentially to reframe and reassess if we apply this student insight and start seeking to intentionally craft a holistic educational/school experience.

While there are many more questions to explore, we do know from these students:

A series of classrooms doesn’t make a school.

A series of classes doesn’t make an education.


​

0 Comments

    Categories

    All
    Art
    College Access
    Communication
    Creativity
    Democracy
    Education
    Entrepreneurship
    Family
    General
    Inclusion
    Leadership
    Learning
    Organizational Culture
    School Climate
    Suicide
    Youth Engagement

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    November 2009

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Work
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Nonprofit
    • Youth & Education Resources
  • Art
    • 2000-2002
    • 2003-2008
    • 2009-2013
    • Echo
    • White
    • OutsideInsideOut
    • Art is...
  • Books
  • Blog
  • About