Thought Provoking Comments

In last nights class, there were several comments made that left me thinking. For the purposes of this blog, I am going to give the comment and then provide my sequence of thinking surrounding the comment.

The Education System is the R&D of the economy.
This is scary if you think about the tools we are using to research and develop. Are the tests we are using to drive the R&D measuring accurately what we should be assessing to enhance our product or outcomes? When I look closely I am driven to the conclusion that the current accountability model would not effective in measuring whether or not our students are being (in a sense) "produced" with high quality models of instruction.

Is what we are researching (through all of this testing) driving our development of the system. Again, here I say NO! We do not use the current state and national assessments to drive instruction or policy. They have become something that is done out of mandate rather than for informed growth. If we are going to increase development should we not have a system that researches effectively? What would that look like. With R2T on the horizon we may be forced to move in that direction...the big question is will it be more of the same or will we actually be inventive?

Is there a problem with education? There is a problem with testing, unions, and accountability.
Patrick challenged me to think with this question. When we say education, is that not all encompassing? Apparently not. If we begin to separate education from the confines of testing, unions, and accountability we are left with learning. This is where our efforts should be focused; for learning is the true product of education.

I am not so sure that these three aspects of the system will ever completely go away, in fact it appears we are moving in the opposite direction. However, maybe we can shift these entities to also focus on learning. If the testing was individualized and all encompassing, if the unions shifted their narcissistic focus, and if accountability was embraced by all stakeholders, we may be able to stretch the system to center around the fundamentals of growth and development that most call learning.


We need to change how we think as leaders. We need to challenge our belief systems.
We spoke in class about the fact that most of what believe to be true probably isn't. I thought that this quote fit almost perfectly with our "think out of the box" theme. In a sense, our beliefs keep us in our box. The often inhibit our ability to go beyond our comfort zone, and try something new. Sometimes our beliefs keep us from questioning and from being critical thinkers, especially surrounding issues that we are emotionally tied to.

I find that recently I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and to challenge my beliefs about the cyber world I have kept myself limited within. Last week I published my first You Tube, made a movie using iMovie, posted a blog, and chatted in a Wiki! WOW! I was stretched significantly, and will continue to shift my belief system through the remained of both this course and my tenure in education.