Understanding the Education System [Trace Pickering]
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The document critiques the evolution of the education system in America, detailing its transition from an agrarian society (1600-late 1800s) focused on identifying individual potential, to an industrial model (1890-1980) emphasizing efficiency and standardization, and finally to a post-industrial approach (1980-present) that aims to foster knowledge and innovation for all children. Each historical context presents different challenges and educational functions, reflecting society's needs and values at the time. The document calls for a collaborative dialogue to redefine education that truly 'unfolds the potential of every child' in today's globalized and technology-driven world.
Understanding the Education System [Trace Pickering]
- 1. UNDERSTANDING THE EDUCATION SYSTEM An overview of the history and purpose of education in America The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 2. EDUCATION AS A SYSTEM • When thinking about any system, it is important to examine that system in light of 4 elements: 1. CONTEXT – what is happening in the environment that is impacting the system and the problems people face? The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 3. EDUCATION AS A SYSTEM • When thinking about any system, it is important to examine that system in light of 4 elements: 2. FUNCTIONS – what is the system designed to produce? What is its vision or purpose? The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 4. EDUCATION AS A SYSTEM • When thinking about any system, it is important to examine that system in light of 4 elements: 2. STRUCTURES – how do we organize the people and “parts” of the system to help achieve our vision? The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 5. EDUCATION AS A SYSTEM • When thinking about any system, it is important to examine that system in light of 4 elements: 3. PROCESSES – what practices and procedures do we put in place to ensure we achieve the vision? The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 6. THE QUESTIONS: What is happening around us? What CONTEXT practices/ procedures do we need? PROCESSES FUNCTIONS What do we want our How do we system to do organize to STRUCTURES for us? get what we want? The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 7. AGRARIAN AMERICA: 1600-LATE 1800’S What is happening around us? CONTEXT The World of America was about: Americans wanted and needed: • Gentleman farmers • A way to secure the republic • Skilled craftsmen • Opportunities for the poor • “Learned” leaders • A small class of educated leaders • Mass of uneducated populace • Masses of people with artisan and trades skills • New governmental form: democracy The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 8. T. JEFFERSON SETS EDUCATION VISION Having a clear understanding of the context of the day, Jefferson, in his notes on the State of Virginia, 1784, articulated the vision (function) of education in America: “To rake the genius from the rubbish.” Agrarian America wanted education to: FUNCTIONS • Give poor kids a chance to show they were “smart” (based on reading, writing, and math skills) and separating them from the masses. What do we • Ensure that America had a small number of want our intellectuals to advance the republic. system to do • Give poor kids an equal opportunity to for us? demonstrate that they were “smart.” • (Jefferson only wanted to find the top 10 students every year.) The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 9. AGRARIAN AMERICA: 1600-LATE 1800’S To “rake the genius from the rubbish” in an Agrarian society, we: • Created one-room schoolhouses • Children of all ages from the community attended • As children aged, they returned to the farm, became apprentices to learn a trade, or continued in school while helping younger children. How do we organize to STRUCTURES get what we want? The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 10. AGRARIAN AMERICA: 1600-LATE 1800’S What practices/ procedures do we need? PROCESSES Practices & Procedures: • Taught basic reading, writing, and computation • Teacher paid and housed by the community • Attendance not required – this was parent choice The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 11. AGRARIAN AMERICA: 1600-LATE 1800’S An agrarian, upstart nation forging a new democracy and settling a vast country, created an education system to help America identify the best and brightest while providing a voluntary, basic education for the masses. This design was well suited to the needs and sensibilities of the time: Economic Political Social Educational The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 12. INDUSTRIAL AMERICA: 1890 - 1980 What is happening around us? CONTEXT The World of America was about: Americans wanted and needed: • Rapid industrialization • A way to “Americanize” the immigrants • Mass immigration • A way to deal with large numbers of children • Mass migration to the cities in the cities • New job – working for a wage • To prepare large numbers of children to • Huge disruption in how people lived become factory workers and worked • To prepare a small number of children to own and manage factories The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 13. JEFFERSON’S VISION STILL HOLDS While the context had dramatically shifted from agrarian to industrial, Jefferson’s vision for education fit well with the needs of an industrial economy: “To rake the genius from the rubbish.” Industrial America wanted education to: FUNCTIONS • Efficiently and effectively sort out the “smart” kids (based on reading, writing, and math skills) from the “not so smart” kids. What do we • Model itself after the factory to become highly want our efficient and standardized. system to do • Prepare masses of children for the for us? standardized, repetitive work they faced in the factories. • Provide basic reading, writing, and arithmetic to the massesproject Understanding the Education System isin society. the Creative Commons Attribution License The so that they could participate available under Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 14. INDUSTRIAL AMERICA: 1890 - 1980 To “rake the genius from the rubbish” in an Industrial society, we: • Designed school around the factory model of efficiency and standardization: • Batch kids by age and treat them as products. • Simplify and standardize the work of teaching by separating out subject areas and topics within subjects (math – algebra – algebra II) • Create tight, unwavering cycle times that would determine who could keep up and who was “defective.” (13 years, 180 days, 7 hours, 50 min) • Institute tests and exams to inspect the quality at the end and to “sort out” the bright from the dull. How do we organize to STRUCTURES get what we want? The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 15. INDUSTRIAL AMERICA: 1890 - 1980 What Practices & Procedures: practices/ procedures do we need? • Taught basic reading, writing, and computation. • Developed curriculums and syllabi to ensure everyone was exposed to the same material at the same time. PROCESSES • Focused on memorization. • Instituted strict behavior, discipline, and attendance policies. • Used “grades,” like the meat packing plant, to label the products. • Improved the “aptitude” and “intelligence” test to more efficiently sort and select the children. The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 16. INDUSTRIAL AMERICA: 1890 - 1980 An industrialized, bustling, growing superpower, America created an education system to help fill the factories, employ millions, and do so efficiently and with high standardization using the best mechanical systems thinking of the day. This design was well suited to the needs and sensibilities of the time: Economic Political Social Educational The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 17. POST-INDUSTRIAL AMERICA: 1980 - PRESENT What is happening around us? CONTEXT The World of America is about: Americans want and need: • Rapid globalization • To stay competitive in a post-industrial world • Mass immigration • To prepare large numbers of children to • Technological explosion creating become knowledge, high-technology workers highly connected/networked society • To prepare large numbers of entrepreneurs • New jobs – work shifting to jobs and innovators. requiring more mind than body • To solve the economic disparities plaguing • Huge disruption in how people are the country. living and working The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 18. JEFFERSON’S VISION NO LONGER VALID While the context is quite similar to the shift seen from agrarian to industrial (mass immigration, migration to cities, new ways of working/living) it now demands that all our children learn and develop to a high degree. The “tried-and-true” vision to: Our new vision is to: “Unfoldthe genius from the rubbish” “Rake the potential of every child.” Post Industrial America wants education to: FUNCTIONS • Effectively and efficiently help all children learn to a high level. • Prepare masses of children for the highly What do we contextualized and intellectually demanding world want our they face. system to do • Go beyond the old “basics” to ensure that children for us? are lifelong learners and knowledge seekers. • Provide avenues for the disadvantaged to realize the “American dream” The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 19. POST-INDUSTRIAL AMERICA: 1980 - PRESENT To “unfold the potential of every child” in a Post-Industrial society, we must: • Design school around the learner: • Organize children by what they know and can do. • Integrate subjects to help students understand the inter-relationships of the subjects. • Create fluid, flexible structures that allow the student to move through the system at the pace best suited for them. • Engage the larger community in connecting and learning with children. • Allowing children’s passions and interest help drive their learning. How do we organize to STRUCTURES get what we want? The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 20. POST-INDUSTRIAL AMERICA: 1980 - PRESENT What Practices & Procedures: practices/ procedures do we need? • Develop individualized learning plans for each child. • Develop assessments to determine what a child needs and if they have achieved the learning level to move on. PROCESSES • Focus on inquiry and integration of subject matter. • Allow student passion and interest drive learning. • Develop teams of teachers who consistently interact with one another and students to create and plan – providing a model for the behavior demands of the age. The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 21. POST-INDUSTRIAL AMERICA: 1980 - PRESENT A global, networked economy is driving a new American economy based on innovation, creativity, and knowledge. In order to continue to be a significant force in the world, America must employ millions in a new knowledge-based economy by ensuring that all children learn and develop to their maximum potential. This design is well suited to the needs and sensibilities of our time: Economic Political Socially/morally Educational The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 22. We seem to be stuck here, arguing over which factory-age solutions we should try without fully understanding the implications of the context we are in and the new functions we need education to perform. What is happening What CONTEXT around us? practices/ procedures do we need? PROCESSES FUNCTIONS What do we want our How do we system to do organize to STRUCTURES for us? get what we want? The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering
- 23. EDUCATING IOWA • So. . . Will you join us in conversation and dialogue to help ensure our great state is asking the right questions and solving the correct problems? • We look forward to you joining our network of people passionate about education and interested in helping define what an education looks like that: UNFOLDS THE POTENTIAL OF EVERY CHILD The project Understanding the Education System is available under the Creative Commons Attribution License Creator 3.0 Copyright 2012 by Dr. Trace Pickering