While contributing to a #mnlead Twitter chat, participants quickly came up with 26 myths about learning. Limited to the usual 140 characters, this kept the explanations short, concise. Certainly, this is not meant to be an exhaustive list (we did this in 10 minutes) and there may not be universal agreement on "myth status."
“What did I do wrong?”
Handcuffed, trapped in a car disappearing into the night, this was the question posed to his abductor.
You did nothing wrong, Jacob. You did nothing wrong.
You didn’t know that vile, depraved evil exists and stalks the most vulnerable. Proof came again yesterday as a sexual predator and murderer confessed in graphic detail how he abducted and killed eleven-year-old Jacob Wetterling almost 27 years ago in rural Minnesota. Hearing this brought tears and took breath away in the same moment.
Over the years, Jacob’s story would surface now and then with new leads but no results. Through it all, Patty Wetterling, Jacob’s mother, and family provided relentless advocacy for Jacob and other missing and exploited children.
Now that our worst fears have been confirmed, what can be learned?
The adult world is addicted to grades. Subsequently, so is the child world. There is little else in formal education so firmly entrenched and supposedly irreplaceable as the A-F (but no E) system.
A few examples.
Many educators have stories to tell when the end of a grading period nears. Students begging for grades. Parents begging for grades. Parents offering major external incentives to children like money, technology, even cars for top grades. Plenty of crying, anger, even low-level threats in the teacher's classroom and principal's office.
What should future schools look like? What will be most valued and important? What should we study? What is the purpose of education? Every school, district, community should be asking themselves these and more questions. From my perspective, we can't possibly answer these questions in the same way we have for the past 20, 50, 100 years. There will be different opinions and strategies but we must all dream, debate, and then do school different.. Here are my essential components to successful schools of the future.
Imagine having conversations with renowned educational experts such as Ken O’Connor (@kenoc7) or Rick Wormeli (@rickwormeli2) or Douglas Reeves (@douglasreeves) along with educators from around the globe on important topics of the day. Would you consider this experience to be valuable professional development? Did I mention it is also free?