A Fundamental Redesign of Our Schools

A Fundamental Redesign of Our Schools

A FUNDAMENTAL REDESIGN OF OUR SCHOOLS

I climbed the hill leading up to one of my favorite coffee shops in Seattle this morning to enjoy a coffee while taking in a phenomenal view of the city on this beautiful day. As I took a seat on a bench, I noticed there was a woman on a conference call sitting on the bench next to me. She'd put the conference call on speaker, so I could hear everything being said.

My attention wavered between appreciating the gorgeous day and listening to her conference call. It didn't take long for me to realize that the woman's call was among educators participating in what sounded like a virtual staff meeting. The voice leading the call was talking about the challenges of opening the school back up in the fall. There was also talk of the ways students were coping with being at home all day, and how educators could leverage their knowledge of trauma-informed strategies to help students engage with learning until everyone could meet back up at the physical school in person.

Overhearing this woman's conversation got me thinking about some of the conversations going on in the education world about what it will be like to open back up after COVID-19 is no longer such a threat, and, maybe more interestingly, if this might be a huge opportunity to fundamentally shift the way we do things in education.

While I find the prospect of huge shifts exciting, I also find them concerning. Naturally, different people have very different views of how schools ought to shift and for what purpose. Every crisis also presents opportunity, and whether we make the most of the opportunity depends on whose voices are heard and the incentives that motivate them.

I thought I'd take a moment to weigh in here about where I'd like to see education go, and the pitfalls I think are inherent in some of the more powerful currents of thought regarding a post-COVID reopening of schools.

If you don't know me, let me lay out my bias right here at the beginning: I believe the purpose of school is in supporting young people specifically, and our society generally, in growing into something more evolved, aware, and in touch with our environment and CONTINUE READING: A Fundamental Redesign of Our Schools