Classrooms are outdated
My youngest son just recently graduated from High School and a lot has changed since I went to school. When I went to school there was no Internet, computers were in their infancy, and if you wanted to learn something you would be heading to the library to do it through books.
Now with AI and Wikipedia I can find things out in a fraction of time that I could in the past.
I don't have to read a book about plants I can just take my phone into the woods and take a picture of a plant, tree or shrub. Instantly I'll know about what is growing on my property. In that way learning has changed so very much.
Unfortunately, the school system hasn't really changed all that much.
No child left behind
One thing that is very evident now is the "No Child Left Behind" strategy. It is great in theory that no child in a certain grade is left to fail and all the children progress at the same pace. Unfortunately that means that classes are often "dumbed down" so that everyone gets a pass. My son found this out very quickly and put in zero effort. Still got good grades but he found class optional as he could skip, watch a 10 minute YouTube video and learn just as much if not more in a fraction of the time.
As a result my son was often absent from class. When he was in class he rarely paid attention. Now that he is at University his words are often along the lines of "Grade 12 failed me so badly".
But the other half of the "No Kid left behind" is that children aren't failed if they don't grasp the concepts. Children aren't kicked out of school if they are disruptive, rude, or generally obnoxious. After all, every child has to need get an education no matter how awful they are. Again, that comes at a cost. Teachers are far less respected now than in the past and the classroom is a much less hospitable place.
Merit based school in a Mastery based society
To make things even more dated the current school system treats children as "workers". Their job is to learn what they are given and repeat that learning back to the teacher. The better they listen and perform the tasks they are given the better they score on their exams. If you are an obedient little parrot who does what you are told and catches on quickly you get good grades. If you don't, well, then your grades will be poor.
That's an excellent system if you are training people to work in a factory, crew, or other old time job. The best workers there are those who can do what they are told and repeat the company motto. In that scenario an "A" Grade student will likely be an "A" grade factory worker, or office worker, or so on.
But increasingly today is a Mastery based society. I expect a Doctor to be competent and master being a Doctor. As a Pharmacist myself it doesn't matter whether I was top of my class or the bottom. Once I assume the title I'm paid the same as I have the skills required to do the job. The same goes for electrician, plumber, nurse, accountant or, well, most other jobs out there. Mastery of what you are doing is often required to be employable.
In school you can get by with 60% and kind of understand the topic while in real life you better actually be competent!
Schools as daycare for kids
Unfortunately, people tend to stick to what they know and the school system is no different. It is a convenient place for people to park their kids at school while they go off to work. Now with many families having both parents work its a cheap form of daycare so the adults can go off to work.
Indeed it is important that children learn skills so that they can function in this world. However, being able to recite information back and pass a test with 60% really isn't the way to go in my opinion.
I'd much rather have a mastery based system. Rather than get a grade in a certain level of English, I'd much rather children master basic, then elementary, then advanced reading. Prove they have mastered each step and move on. Rather than have them continue through year after year of math, have them master one part then move on.
Ideally I'd love to have children choose their own learning path with basic building blocks required to do more advanced topics. Example: Can't study history without first being able to read. Can't study cooking without first learning basic math and fractions. Mastery does take place at different rates between different students though. How do we accomodate learners of all levels into a school structure?
A Learning Place instead of a classroom
I'd much rather see "classrooms" done away with. Why keep a bunch of students together based solely on their age? Every student is different with different goals, dreams, and learning aptitude. Why now switch those classrooms to learning areas?
Image source Dall-E
Make it comfortable and informal for children to learn what they want, as they want, just as long as they are working towards mastering different important or useful skills.
Rather than have a teacher dictate what today's lesson is, let an AI set the pace based on the students desired learning outcome. With AI, YouTube, and the Internet children can learn almost anything without a teacher present. If every student set their own learning objectives they could learn what they want when they want to learn it. Have the school set the minimum standards and a progression to various different levels but let the student choose their own learning path.
In the past that just wasn't really an option, however, now it is becoming increasingly easy. As long as the technology is there.
But what about teachers? Do I want to get rid of them?
Absolutely not. However, rather than have them give out lecture after lecture and do activity after activity with the group, change their role. Have them be the guardian of good behavior and the sentinel watching against doom scrolling, gaming and other things that keep people from learning. Have them be a mentor to talk to children about their learning path giving them ideas on how they could progress. Have them be the fixer of technology and wirer or cables who makes sure that things are working as they should.
A new way of grading students
I'd much rather see the top student being the person who had actually mastered the most material. I'd much rather see that every student graduate and actually know basic life skills like reading, writing, mathematics, financial literacy and cooking. How do you determine between the best the worst? The best students have the most masteries. The poor students master the fewest masteries.
But at the end of the day, even those students with the fewest masteries will have mastered the basic skills. No more people graduating from high school being either unable to read or unable to do basic math.
Of course, I doubt anything like that will ever happen, but if I ruled the world I think there is merit to people truly mastering skills and using technology to do it rather than just figure out how to do well on a test and parrot answers back to the teacher. Have students learn how to master a skill on their own rather than learn to follow a teacher.
I'd love to get other peoples opinions though.
Feel free to leave comments if you are so inclined.
Thanks for reading.