Friday, January 25, 2013

Chapter 2 Reflection

             Chapter two titled, “No More Cookie-Cutter High Schools, discussed how high school designers and those in control of education must realize that mass produced education is a thing of the past and today’s 21st century students and parents need and want choices in how they want to learn.  In this new information age, choice and customization has become part of everyday life except in our schools.  Schools must be modern to fit in everyday life.  Companies are rapidly changing their approach to how they serve its customers by extreme customization and faster service – why are high schools not doing the same for its customers? 
            Schools must change to meet the needs of the students and the communities they serve.  Chapter two discussed the interesting fact of the breakdown of costs for schools.  Money was concentrated on the building itself to assure it would last.  Now, we realize that the building is temporary and money should be spent on other materials. 
            Chapter two goes on to talk about how the real issue facing schools today is the reluctance of people who are in control of education to change.  Those who are in control need to let go of what they are used to and those who are bold enough to envision a new information age school, must stick to their vision and not second guess themselves.
            My reflection on this chapter is change must happen.  Once communities demand change, the people will vote accordingly.  Modern students need modern schools and modern people as visionaries.

5 comments:

  1. I found the part where you wrote about how schools need to fit the unique needs of the students to be interesting. First of all, every community in each state of the U.S. is very different, therefore it is not safe to assume that all schools across the nations are able to be created to be the same. If companies are changing this trend to customize the needs of their customers like you said, then schools need to as well.

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    1. You know Renee, I was talking with a friend and he made a comment that had me thinking. He said we must be careful not to pattern schools as businesses do. Because everything they do is all about the bottom line of money and we don't want our school to turn into profit making machines.

      What do you think?

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  2. I think the idea of this chapter is great. But is it an easy job to change a school? I don't really know. How can we change "Old School" into "New School"? I think it takes time and efforts to do that, even though parents and students may have their voice saying that they want the school change, but school has their concern about changing and I think we need a really good guideline to tell those schools how to change to fit in this modern world step by step

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  3. In general I agree with your sentiment, but I would caution that we do not know this is the best approach. I think we should try it and see the results. In the chapter I was a little wary when the direct comparison of education to the methods of business. There is good reason on both sides. Churchill once quipped "The greatest argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter." I think it applies here, especially with your point about people will vote accordingly.

    I like the idea of democratisation and allowing versatility and choice in education. But we must be careful, education is about getting people the knowledge and enrichment they need not necessarily what they might want. I partially fear the results of curriculum (especially science) with a more populist approach. I certainly am not advocating elitism or ignoring new approaches, but I caution we should see some of the benefits of what we have and adapt it. Applying many of the business ideas to education could quickly get us an education system that (for example) teaches the Earth is 6000 years old. May quality schools go under and by the time we realise the mistake it may be difficult to correct. Walmart and fast food is a prime example. It is food for thought. We have a natural aversion to the idea of stodgy curriculum handed down from elites, but full democratisation is far more frightening to me when it comes to education. What do you think?

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    1. Hmm, good question. Let me ponder that for a while..

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