Clear Message

In the past few months I had many opportunities to introduce the thinking in this blog to people. Not-surprisingly, it is clear that the initial way the ideas are presented determines the chances for cooperation. If the way an idea is presented appears to clash with the beliefs of the listener - it is difficult to correct the damage and regain the possibility of cooperation. If the idea initially sounds too complex, or if the listener misunderstands anything, it takes great effort to remove wrong interpretations and install new interpretations in the mind of the listener, and often the effort is in vain. Better get it right the first time.

So, here is an attempt to describe the problems and solutions, showing how obvious the thinking is. There are no new ideas here. Just an orderly presentation.

Looking at the education establishment of a state - almost any state - we can see a large organization - tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of employees in large countries: Teachers, administrators, logistics workers, etc. There are many layers of management. There are many departments, divisions and agencies interacting with each other in many jurisdictions, responsibilities and areas of authority. It's a very slow and heavy structure for an organization. In almost every state, the education establishment tries to maintain central control and management through this complex and therefore slow structure. By its nature, such an organization can't respond quickly to changes. This has nothing to do with how wonderful and well meaning the teachers and managers are. This has nothing to do with the exact method of teaching, with teacher training, with the number of kids per class, with the curriculum, etc. A centralized, large and complex education system cannot respond quickly to changes.

Looking around us, in the beginning of the 21^st century, and even in the last few decades of the 20^th, it is clear that the pace of change in society is fast and getting faster: The Internet has already dramatically changed the availability of information, and with it the way we acquire knowledge. Ubiquitous distant communication - through email, cellular phones, twitter etc - has changed the way we interact with each other. Commercial news broadcasting has changed the way we consume information about what is going on in the world. Post modernism is moving us into a different mode of relating to authority. These are just a few examples of changes we can already see happening, all happened in the past few decades. In general, human civilization is changing very quickly, and not showing any sign of slowing down.

Taking these two simple facts: 1. A centralized education system can't respond to fast changes; and 2. Civilization is changing very quickly; the clear conclusion is that a centralized education system can't work for us. This is not being said with any sense of resentment, accusation or even frustration. This is just contrasting the nature of large cohesive organization with the nature of current society. They don't match. There is no point in trying to change the system from within - the system is very good at resisting change. Most large organizations are very good at that. This is what large organizations do by design: Perpetuate themselves. There is no point in incremental changes to the way the education system functions - it's just not the right system.

What type of education system would work in a fast-changing society? A system that naturally tends to respond to varied and changing expectations and demands. A decentralized system with some freedom of judgment and action. A distributed system in constant contact with its surrounding society. The reader can choose - according to their political tendency - to call it a market economy system or a pluralistic system. (In this context, it's the same concept.) Here is the wild idea, followed immediately by an illustration of how it is not wild at all: Let anybody who wants to create a school do it, with the support of the state, and with certain regulation. This may appear revolutionary and frightening, but bear in mind that we are familiar with similar systems that seem to match our needs to some extent. Such regulated free systems include the higher education system, the food industry, the finance industry etc. And before the reader explodes about the current financial meltdown, may I remind the reader that his/her salary probably still goes into and out of the checking account quite regularly. It works. Of course, there are differences between an education system and other market systems. There are many details to be worked out, but these details, however difficult to tackle, shouldn't blind us to the big picture: A centralized education system can't work, and is not a viable option, even as a fallback.

So, the main course is freedom of choice, market economy or pluralism. With it comes a side of regulation. To be close to consensus, the regulation must be minimal - what every school must do, and what every school must not do. The exact details of the regulation can be determined later - why fight now? But an example is in order. As examples for the "must do"s, schools may be required to make sure every student can read and write easily and perform arithmetic tasks easily - math, algebra, calculus etc are optional, and not enforced by the minimal regulation. As an example for the "must not do"s, schools must not allow students to develop the attitude that it's acceptable to victimize others. To be effective, the regulation must also be very strict. A school that doesn't comply with the minimal regulation loses its license to operate, and is forcibly closed.

Another required extension to the basic idea of market/pluralism is that of knowledge sharing and building. Since the basic understanding is that society changes quickly, we need ongoing research to keep up with the needs and to keep up with the different teaching and learning methods that will spring up to try and address the needs and opportunities. Since there are going to be many types of schools using different curricula and different methods, there is a common interest in sharing the knowledge, so failed attempts don't need to be repeated, and so that successful methods can be replicated. Openness to knowledge sharing and transparency will also enable effective regulation, and will allow parents' choice based on facts. The type of research needed here is less theoretical and more applicable than most of the research done in education these days.

Bottom line:

Existing education establishments are large and complex, and they can't respond to fast changes. Society changes very quickly in the 21^st century. Ergo: Existing education establishments can't work in the 21^st century. What can work is a market economy, with a minimal and strict regulation. Ongoing applicable education research will enable an effective distributed system with its accompanying regulation.

By the way: All this will take a few decades.