As I sit here rebuilding our website from scratch (it’s a long story!), I am thrilled to see the many people who are interested in my TEDx Victoria talk, “Education as if People Mattered.” And not just because I want to feel popular, based on a lot of “likes” and retweets. I am thrilled because of two things:
1. People are interested in education.
2. People are interested in seeing mainstream education change.
Despite all the money and energy that goes into our education system in BC and beyond, much of the talk about it is political. I understand this completely, as education is probably one of the strongest political tools there is; and it is also, more importantly, the clearest measure of the priorities of a society. So when that measure of priorities does not seem to match the ones that are inside our heads, it is time for change. This is not a bad things, and it need not be a tumultuous thing. We change our system all the time. The difference this time, I think, is that we are looking to a whole new version of the system, and not just a minor tune-up.
We know so much more about learning now than we did when our system was first conceived about 150 years ago. We also know more about how to treat one another as human beings in a peaceful world, with higher expectations for good behaviour and lower tolerances for bullying, manipulation, and ethnocentricity. I believe we are ready to make the shift. I see it happening already, and it will only grow. I have heard people say that a revolution is too scary, and that change is best made slowly, one element at a time. I disagree.
While I understand the sentiment, I also know that, if we are really talking about paradigm change, it is impossible to change just one or two elements at a time. The education system is an eco-system. A complex and intertwined network requiring complementary and simultaneous change if any change is to be made at all, and certainly if that change is to be sustainable. Otherwise, our single new elements almost always get translated into a version that is diluted and that fits the current cut-out through which all things must pass. it is only when concurrent, mutually-supportive elements are introduced simultaneously that the new system can survive as such.
I am not, however it may appear, asking for the whole province to change at once. That would be silly. I do think, though, that whole schools and possibly even families of schools and districts can change all of the necessary elements within their respective jurisdictions, paving the way on an “as-ready” basis.
Here is a link to my TEDx Victoria talk from November 22, 2014
This is a start to what takes a lot of time to explain and to digest. More soon!
Jeff