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Blog Education

Good Question!

This will be a short but important post because I’m going to ask for your help (so neeeedy!!). Ok, we just dropped our assumptions and our generalizations about what education is or isn’t; everything we think we know about education is now gone (if you are not with me right now, check out the previous post). Our next step is to fill the void we created! It’s time to begin adding ideas back into the mix. What new concepts, systems, and definitions do we want to attach ourselves to?

Yet, doing this, we need to be a bit careful. We don’t want to just fall back into old routines and settle down with the status quo. So, we need a tool.

Our tool—which will lead us like a compass down any path we choose from here on—is the amazing art of asking questions. Yep, that’s it; but, I’ll take this a little further. There are two main ways we should use our inquisitive minds. Let’s cover them! 

our main tool for discovery of new ideas is asking questions! Our education system needs to be changed and to do that, we need to ask a ton of questions!

Questions of Discovery

The first way to use our spectacular questioning selves is to help us uncover and discover new ideas. It’s the real beginning of problem-solving. What do you want to know about the issue at hand? What details are you curious about? I have been staring at our education system for a decade, so I’m full of questions.

But, today I’m putting the task to you. I want to know what’s important to you. I put this section first because it’s the most significant part of this post. My main goal for writing this was because I really want to hear your thoughts. Maybe you wonder how much math is enough? Who should be allowed to teach in a public school? What’s the purpose of education today? What should it be?

Even for our students, especially those in college where there’s a little more control, it’s good to question and get curious. Why is this class required? I wish we had a class on blank; can we add that?

As I said, I want to know what questions you have. What are you curious about? What makes you angry? Now, turn that into a question. I hope you take a couple of minutes to write out a few q’s and post them in the comments here on my website so we can all learn regardless of social media platforms. What are you waiting for? Share your questions!

our main tool for testing new ideas is asking questions! Our education system needs to be changed and to do that, we need to ask a ton of questions!

Testing With Questions

The second major use of questions is to vet and test our ideas/systems/definitions. All great problem-solving follows the Scientific Method in one way or another. Make a hypothesis (usually in the form of a question). Research it. Test it. Then analyze the results by questioning your data.

Now that we’ve asked a bunch of questions and let our curious, no-longer-bogged-down-by-old-generalizations selves free (deep breath), we need to test these ideas out. As we explore ideas or as someone claims a new truth about our education system, it’s our job to question it. Is it really true? When someone states how our education system is failing because of how our math scores compare to other countries, I’d like to ask several questions. One of which is: are we measuring the right thing? Are math scores the most important metric to compare?

Another important reason to think like scientists here is that—as we fill in the void with new and old ideas—it will be extremely easy to fall back into old habits and assumptions. Naturally. If we’re vigilant, though, in vetting our ideas with further questions, we’re going to make some phenomenal improvements and discoveries!

Ask Away

Before I sign off, I want to reiterate that I hope you post some questions you have. I have a ton in my mind, but I think there are a lot more that need asking, and more perspectives make for better understanding. So, let out your inner rebel, question the status quo, stick it to the man! (Sorry, I just watched School of Rock this week)

I hope you’re all doing well, feeling good, and I’ll be back soon to start diving into some of these questions.

Oh! One more thing. One last… question!!! I’ve had the idea recently to take this journey (seeking new systems for education) and make it auditory. That’s a fancy way of saying I’m considering this as a podcast. Would that interest you? Or, do you like the blog format better? Ok, now… post questions, answer mine, or just say hello in the comments!

If you’re interested in making our education system better for yourself, for a loved one, or just care about our students, then…

Let’s Talk Education

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Blog Education

Education Inertia

Change isn’t easy. We all know this from some personal experience. The deeper that things are engrained in our lives, the harder it is to nudge them around. Habits that we’ve held for years need constant awareness, focus, and effort to change them. Attempting to alter long-held traditions will be met with great resistance.

In Physics, an object’s resistance to the change of its present state of motion is called its inertia. The more mass an object has, the more inertia it has. So, a truck requires a lot of energy to inch it forward from rest, and it takes a lot of energy to bring that same truck to a stop. It is very resistant to changing its state of motion. A bicycle, however, is much easier to move around. This is Newton’s First Law of motion or the law of inertia (follow the link for a deeper explanation if you want—I tried to keep my physics talk to a minimum 😎). 

Inertia… This Way

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Blog Education

A Shining Example: The Dyson Institute

The goal of these blogs is to have a conversation about the flaws in our education system, propose solutions to these flaws, and also find ways to overcome these problems right now. Change takes time, and I want students to be able to navigate around the issues right now. Yet, sometimes change happens before our eyes and it is amazing! No, I’m not talking hypothetical change. I’m just getting to the point of this intro with dramatic flair…

A lot of times, to talk about education, I need to shine a light on what things could be like, or—in my opinion—what they should be like. Then I work backward to help us see where the flaws are right now. Today, though, I get to show you what things should be like, thanks to my favorite designer and inventor, Sir James Dyson. 

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Blog Education Life Design

Electives Just Don’t Cut It

Continuing from my last blog post about getting students ready for college, electives become the next big topic to discuss. Electives are a positive thing. They are one of the primary resources in our education system—from elementary school to college—to expose students to new subjects, ideas, or skills; and to help them discover those passions and interests that light them up. That is the main purpose of electives. To help students explore what’s out there. However, they just haven’t evolved to become as useful as they can be. And so, in that area, electives just don’t cut it… anymore.

So, what are the problems with electives, what are the solutions? Also, stick to the end to learn how all of this can lead to saving big money for college tuition.

Let’s get to it!

Categories
Blog Education Life Design

The Question is, When?

There’s a question I never hear being asked, which I think is an important one regarding the transition from High School to College. The question is, when? When is the right time to go to College? It’s become the overwhelming norm to send our High Schoolers straight to College, that we forget to ask this important question. When is the right time for this student? For you?

The answer should be obvious: not until you’re ready. But, what does it mean to be ready for College, and how can we get ready?