Good Enough Isn’t

As a long-time principal, I hear parents and community members saying, referring to our schools, “it was good enough for me, it is good enough for my kids.” Unfortunately, that is not true in this rapidly changing world.  I heard this statement at a workshop years ago, I paraphrase, ‘we need to teach our kids for their future, not our past.’ There is content and strategies that are still valid and helpful for the future like collaboration, knowing facts that help us problem solve, writing, etc.  Consider some facts do change with new information.  Newton was taken as the gospel until Einstein came along and found special cases that didn’t align with every rule. With scams, promoted by technology, why aren’t we teaching digital ethics.  Teach kids how to know if something is true or not.

A friend and colleague in New Zealand is an expert in teaching strategies and recently wrote this article.  I think it is time start to reframe what the future learners will need for a better life.  Business is already dealing with VUCA (volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity). How will schools respond to prepare our students to add value to this environment.  It is time we start preparing students for a future that we can’t describe or know.  As Neil Postman wrote years ago, “Children are messages we send to a future we will not see.” 

Let’s keep what is important (integrity, being open to consider more possibilities, etc.), which I call the meta curriculum and start creating young people who will lead us to navigate an  unknown future.  I encourage you to read Karen Tui Boyes article below.

The System is Still Failing Our Students: It’s Time to Teach Them How to Learn