Are you a farmer?
The most valuable resource in a school is not the Chromebooks, iPads, textbooks, programs purchased, etc. The most valuable resource in a school is not inanimate; it is human. In his “Bring on the learning revolution!” TedTalk (2010), Robinson states that “Human resources are like natural resources. They’re often buried deep. You have to go looking for them. You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves.” In our current education system, we don’t give a lot of credit to our human resources. Teachers are given a curriculum, standards, and materials at the minimum. Some are forced to administer common assessments or even deliver the same lesson on the same day as their grade level. It’s a system where students are accustomed to sitting and listening as content consumers, and teachers provide instruction that ends in a summative assessment, hopefully with engaging activities in-between that involve various learning modalities and instructional technology. Robinson is correct; human resources are the most valuable component of education, and they are not used to their fullest extent.
Our current learning environments are factories that send students through grades K-12 with the hope that everyone goes to college afterwards. This model wastes money and potential while forcing people into careers that they endure rather than enjoy. Robinson (2010) claims that, “Life is not linear. It’s organic.” Students should not be forced through these learning stages when that is not how learning works. I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was in third grade. I loved school and graduated salutatorian of my high school class. The pressure of the linear track kept me in all advanced placement and honors courses, some of which I did not need for my future career, but I was forced into this because of the system. Teachers said I was “too smart” and “wasting my potential” if I became a teacher. They would say, “Well, there are other ways you can work with kids that will utilize your potential more, like being a pediatrician.” Regardless of my intense needle phobia, this profession was not my passion. My passion was inspiring young minds, not healing physical ailments. Is it a selfish decision to choose your passion over something you could excel in that helps others? Is that a waste of potential and intelligence, or is it knowing your authentic self?
Schools need to revolutionize the current factory model and completely redefine the educational system as we know it. Robinson (2010) suggests an agriculture model. A factory puts everything inside a box, tapes it up, and sends it off; a farm allows each plant to grow on its own with support from the farmer. The agriculture model creates personalized learning opportunities that cater to each individual student’s unique needs. Robinson (2010) says that teachers need to “create the conditions under which [students] begin to flourish.” Teachers provide the tools, but students create their learning. The world is personalized every way you turn. Chick-fil-A allows me to order exactly what I want online, make any special requests to change my meal (extra pickles, please), and then calls me by name when my order is ready. Amazon allows me to search for my needs and wants, make a wish list, and make purchases of my choice. Imagine if Amazon wasn’t concerned that I needed paper towels and decided to send me toilet paper instead, saying that it will still work but just differently. That is what we do to our students when we don’t use personalized learning. We force toilet paper upon them when they really need paper towels; we don’t consider their personal needs, just something that will work for everyone.
Our teachers deserve more. They deserve to be respected as valuable resources. Our students deserve more. They deserve to be flourishing plants, growing at their own pace on their own terms. So, how do we plant the seed?
References
Robinson, S. K. [TED]. (2010, May 24). Bring on the learning revolution! [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I
