Everyone Wants to Reinvent Schooling Part One By: Anthony S. Pellegrino

“Image a new generation of American schools that are light years beyond those of today…{we must} unleash America’s creative genius to invent… the best schools in the world,…to achieve a quantum of learning….assume that the schools we inherited do not exist.” This was the utopian goal proposed by the American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC), which was part of President Bush’s American 2000 education strategy in the early 90’s. President Bush was quick to echo, ” Think about every problem, every challenge we face. The solution to each starts with education. For the sake of the future–of our children and the nation–we must transform American’s schools.” Noble and ambitious.

Every president including current President Clinton seems to have the panacea for reinventing schooling. Each president sets up a new task force and pumps in billions of dollars, but somehow the utopian goal keeps eluding us. What is the problem? Why are we not getting closer to achieving it?

In the next few articles I will discuss what I feel are several basic reasons why we are not getting closer to improving our educational system. On the contrary, we are alienating the people we need most to help us achieve these goals. Instead of working on improving relations with teachers and principals, our front line troops, who deal directly on a day to day basis with our children, we shun them aside and go merrily on our way feeling that we know the solutions better than they. Our thinking is that if they were doing a good job, children would be better educated. How shallow and ridiculous this thinking and how dangerous this path is!

Seventy years ago Thomas Edison had similar dreams of transforming instruction. ” I believe,” he said, ” that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks.” Many thought that it replace the teacher as well

How often have you heard this type of remark with each new invention? I must have heard it at least a thousand times since the popularity of the computer. Everyone predicts that it is destined to end the role of teachers in the classroom and perform other magic tricks bringing us closer to utopia. Textbooks and paper will become unnecessary. But I am ahead of my story.

Americans admire inventors and entrepreneurs, and some hope for technological solutions to educational problems. When radio appeared on the scene, it too was heralded as the answer to supplanting the teacher. Faith in electronic pedagogy has returned again and again.

Let us examine some of the innovators who are trying to revolutionize education. It is a good thing what they are trying to do, but we must understand that their motives are not always as altruistic nor as philanthropic as they may appear on the surface In fact many of them are causing more damage than good. Therefore we must become acquainted with who they are and their goals.

Innovators proposing or supporting major reforms have usually been persons outside the public schools–technocrats, university professors, salespeople with products to push, politicians intent on rapid results before the next election, foundation officers, business leaders, and the like. Everyone is an instant “specialist” on education.

These innovators considered educational institutions in low regard. They did not believe it was that hard to educate children. Major changes were not really that complicated. The first stage in reform was to convince citizens that the present system of schooling was inefficient and anachronistic, and irrational. Bash the bureaucrats, blame the teachers! (To be continued)