I attended the BLC08 conference in Newton, MA, this week. People have asked, “How was it?” It was so good, I had to leave early. Let me explain.
Typically at an education conference, I consider myself lucky to happen upon one or two good presentations. However, at the BLC08, each keynote was riveting, each presentation stimulating. I had so much material to reflect upon, I stopped attending the workshops so I would have time to reflect. I will expand upon these reflections over the next couple of weeks, but to get things started…
A theme throughout the conference is that we need to totally redesign schools for the 21st century. We can’t be satisfied with tinkering around the edges, employing the latest fad. We must start over. In my opinion, an important implication of this is is seen in the construction of schools. I have watched as a number of nearby communities have made enormous financial commitments in building large educational edifices that resemble shopping malls. They are loaded with the latest technology and comforts, and will be long outdated before they are paid off. Schools need to be lean and flexible, not large and static, both in terms of their physical existence as well as their curricula. We accompany these structures with ponderous bureaucracies to manage them. Schools must be designed, in all aspects, to embrace change, not stand against it.
A total redesign of schools is a most laudatory ambition. Ideally, the redesign will be along the lines discussed in the novel, The Twilight’s Last Gleaming On Public Education, which possesses many of the elements commonly found in just about every school system throughout the United States. This intriguing, socially relevant, and enlightening story discusses the potential, challenges, and obstacles that currently litter the public education landscape. You may view a portion of this fascinating story online by contacting the publisher at http://www.Xlibris.com, clicking on their Bookstore link, then Searching by title. Check it out for yourself, then compare to conference presented ideas. Do you notice a trend?
Thanks for the heads up. I enjoyed the excerpt (pp. 29-31). You’ve done a nice job of identifying many of the problems in our school systems today. An area which you mention that was not covered in the conference I attended is funding. The current system is often based on property tax and is slowly breaking the back of the taxpayer. It also leads to great inequity in funding, with wealthier communities able to put more money into schools than poor communities. I believe we have to rethink school funding completely.