No More Schools

We now have a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to step back and consider the intellectual development of our population. The matters bringing this opportunity to us are:

• The Pandemic forces us to reconsider all of our population interactions
• The education facilities shutdown offers us the opportunity to search for new ways
• The relationship between people of color and all authorities needs to be redefined
• The Race Riots force us to really look at economic and technology discrimination
• The world economic challenges, including completion, require a better understanding

To picking one item from the list - schools defined by historical standards are no longer appropriate and require rethinking with the following questions:

• What is the best way to educate infants?
• Beginning the third year, how can we begin to deliver better education based on expert understanding of the differences in children and differences in beneficial education?
• "Grade Schools" should not have grades. This is a constraint that is more troublesome than effective. Grades may optimize teaching resources but may constrain imagination in learning.
• "Middle Schools" whisper the reality of puberty, but could address the social change with far more imagination and effectiveness.
• "High Schools" with an apparent 4-year requirement feature superior education for some and feature ways to pass the time for others that don't appreciate "superior education".
• "Four Year Colleges" amazingly can train a very large number of programs that coincidentally all take four years!

Taking one of these item, the Four Year College, the challenge should be obvious.  First, lets dispatch with the most obvious.  Why four hears.  Requiring four years to get the diploma (a whole different discussion) is simply smart economic decision making for the colleges. Institution requires four years for all disciplines, and pads the curriculum as needed with "core" requirements or "required electives" to generate guaranteed income. "I've completed all the required courses but don't have enough hours to graduate". 

To cut straight to the recommendation of this blog: Colleges and Universities should be able to issue certificates regarding course completion. Organizations which ultimately hire an individual should confer the title of accomplishment and qualification based on real life accomplishments. Yes, this is suggesting that an apprenticeship program and levels of expertise based on demonstrable experience should be what makes a doctor, a lawyer, a mechanic or a sanitation worker. An apprenticeship approach automatically joins institutions of education with commerce, a win-win-win for citizen, education, and commerce.

Wow, that a big change, right?  Yes it is.  But if we consider the situation we are in, we starting from scratch anyway.  Let's make it the best way possible. That way will include;

• How do we expose very young people to variety of life?
• How do we let young people explore options without fear of destructive failure?
• How do we create an exciting environment for team building?
• How we encourage the development of relationships between individuals that are the most expanding whether it is between races, neighborhoods or lovers?
• How do we establish the best way to expose teenagers to broader roles in life?
• How do we really deliver apprentices to all of the career possibilities?
• How do we remake the Department of Education?

Stay tuned.

​Schools。This is the time to rethink education.
• “Grades” defined by age are a false grouping
• Skill sets are tracks of experiences
• Four year colleges are a income generating scam.  How could so many disciplines each take 4 years to attain a certification/diploma?