CBE and ALEC Preparing Students for the Gig Economy
Pearson of course was ahead of the pack as usual developing a school to labor pipeline that suites the corporate masters. As this blog explains, Competency Based Education becomes the framework for “badges” instead of credit hours and prepare students for career and college which is code for the new “gig” economy. According to Pearson: “Alternative learning credentials including college coursework, self-directed learning experiences, career training, and continuing education programs can play a powerful role in defining and articulating solo workers’ capabilities. Already badges that represent these credentials are serving an important purpose in fostering trust between solo workers, employers, and project teams because they convey skill transparency and deliver seamless verification of capabilities.”http://www.pearsoned.com/education-blog/the-rise-of-the-solo-economy-what-it-means-for-workers-and-credentials/
I could -at this point -just say ’nuff said.
But I won’t.
CBE 101
First, a brief background: Competency based education (or CBE) has been a rapidly developing alternative to traditional public education. While proponents tout it as “disruptive innovation” critics examine how disruptive translates into “dismantle”, meaning that CBE is a system by which public schools can, and will be, dismantled. This is not ancillary. It was designed to create a new privately-run profiteering model by which education can be delivered to “the masses.” Think: Outsourcing.
CBE delivers curriculum, instruction and assessments through online programming owned by third-party (corporate) organizations that are paid for with your tax dollars. Proponents of CBE use catchy language like “personalized” and “individualized” learning. Translation? Children seated alone interfacing with a computer, which monitors and adjusts the materials according to the inputs keyed in by the child. See Newton’s Datapalooza here.
So gone are the days of “credit hours” earned by spending a certain amount of hours in a classroom. Instead, children move at an individual pace detached from the larger group or collaborative learning experiences which CBE pimps try to warn us are ‘keeping certain kids back” from their “true potential.”
The immediate advantages of control and profits for the neoliberal privatizers is quite evident and well documented. SeeTalmage for more on CBE history and my own summary here.
Let’s summarize what the outcomes of the CBE paradigm of public schools will be:CBE and ALEC Preparing Students for the Gig Economy | educationalchemy:
