Educational System: Blow It Up And Start Anew

As the privatization and school improvement industry ramps up, everyone needs to think about the assumptions embedded what’s being presented. Whenever an edublogger starts talking about organizational change, as I have here, my brain glazes over with the futility of the mere suggestion. So, please excuse me. What I propose is that the “end users” begin to recognize the persuasive techniques that are being used to marshal support for various recommendations, and to feel free to stick an oar in the water every now and then as the opportunity arises to make something good happen, or to learn something that nobody else can tell us. For me teaching is a form of inquiry.

Emphasis Mine

Borderland » Blog Archive » Diagnostic Intervention

Doug Noon's Borderland blog makes for interesting reading. He discusses the limitations of textbooks as a classroom base, but argues effectively that teachers still have to provide the support to make it work, if it can work at all. Read the entire article; it's worth your time.

His final paragraph (above) Doug states the frustration of organizational change. Many edubloggers agree with his sentiment including me.

SO HERE'S MY PROPOSAL:

Why doesn't the group of international edubloggers of note stop what they are doing now, and become the faculty and staff of the International Online School of 21st Century Literacy (IOS21CL).

Here's the faculty.

IOS21CL Director - Scott McLeod
Technology Coordinator - Miguel Guhlin
Information & Media Coordinator - Doug Johnson
International Human Network Coordinator - Vicki Davis
Asian Coordinator - Jeff Utecht
European Coordinator - Ewan McIntosh
Australian Coordinator - Tom March

21st Century History Instructor - David Warlick
Read/Write eBook Literature Instructor - Will Richardson
21st Century Science Instructor - Brian Crosby
"Even Newer" Math Instructor - Darren Kuropatwa
Educational Futurist - Karl Fisch

Note: Due to the exponential growth of information in the 21st century, material prior to 09/11/01 (when USA fell asleep and missed the flattening factor of world economics and education) is unnecessary.

Students (okay parents) would have to pay tuition. But they could use the vouchers they receive because their children's schools did not make Adequate Yearly Progress under the NCLB law. International students would qualify for a scholarship - because they score higher than US students already.

There must be a board of virtual education. Regardless of the industry, boards function as the body which plays the role of the skeptic. Therefore I would nominate Tim Holt and Gary Stager. Tim's first order of business would probably be to fire my faculty because they are white males with the exceptions of Vicki and Miguel.

::Must stop - cheek hurts from tongue pressure::