And though I feel that some part of my mind is always spinning around innovation and education, this book and Seth Godin's Stop Stealing Dreams have taken my thoughts to a new level.
Case in point...
Watch this cool video:
the old man and the sea from Marcel Schindler on Vimeo.
Under our current system of education, here's how The Old Man and the Sea is usually graded:
- Was there a clear thesis?
- Does the thesis maintain focus?
- Were there well-chosen details that ensure clarity and add interest?
- Was there an interesting, thought provoking introduction?
- Were there well developed, illustrated paragraphs?
- Was there varied sentence length and structure?
- Was there precise and interesting word choice?
- Was the style appropriate for the subject and audience?
- Were there grammatical errors?
Here's how I would like to see my child assessed:
- What was the most surprising thing the student learned from this?
- What would the student have added if they'd had time or resources?
- What would they have eliminated?
- Was the student agile & adaptable?
- Did they show initiative and entrepreneurship in assessing and analyzing the information?
- Did the student show perseverance and/or a willingness to experiment?
- Did the student take calculated risks? Did they tolerate failure?
Anyone can do a Google search on Hemingway and The Old Man and the Sea... but only a life long learner can bring dreams to life.
Dreams are difficult to build and easy to destroy.
As Seth Godin says:
The future belongs to the impatient. To those who refuse to wait and will take things into their own hands, build their own value, and produce that which others will gladly pay for.
You can't change the mission of education without also changing the method.
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