How a Whisper Becomes a Roar
Recently, Kirsten Olson posted about the influence of the Gates Foundation in getting messages of education reform spread through paid bloggers and investing around $500,000 in spreading these messages. Please read her very important post, We’re Not Getting Paid. Kirsten also points out that at the Cooperative Catalyst we aren’t getting paid for our voices in the education transformation debate. We blog about education transformation because we are passionate about children worldwide become lifelong learners. We have a vision of schools supporting curiosity, creativity, play, and collaboration. However, our messages of education transformation have not spread as much as those sponsored by The Gates Foundation, the media, and politicians.
Current Education Roarers
The reality is that the media and politicians have a firm grounding in marketing and have the money and connections to spread their ideas. They know how to persuade their audiences into supporting their policies. They may only be a few compared to educators but clearly these advantages provide them with the ability to be heard by audiences worldwide and implement various education policies. They spread their messages about what education reform should be, which include “firing teachers and focusing on standardized tests.” These
