I want you
to imagine what would happen if a student’s report card were organized by
critical skills, not subject matter. Students would be assessed on their
progress on the 5 C’s: collaboration, communication, creativity, critical
thinking, and citizenship. Suppose subjects, content, and standards were a
means of enabling students to make progress on the critical skills with the
appropriate steps taken to ensure students were exposed to important areas of
content. Imagine that each student’s progress was evaluated with constructive
feedback to enable students to create craftsman like work through multiple
drafts. I can imagine students discovering their gifts and talents given this
type of learning environment, and then setting out on a path across a broad
range of careers.
I fully
recognize the importance of exposing our students to the fundamental building
blocks, important concepts, historical figures and events, and inspiring
literature. However, to my knowledge, no one has come up with what content
knowledge is absolutely essential. Our students now live in a world that is
globally competitive and rewards excellence and punishes mediocrity. Young
people pursuing a career for which they have no passion will certainly find
themselves unsuccessful, unhappy, or both. Our goal at all levels should be to
expose students to a wide array of pursuits and assist them in finding their
gifts, talents, or passion. When I enter a kindergarten class, I see kids full
of curiosity, exploration, and passion. But unfortunately, it’s a rare high
school student who demonstrates any joy for something related to his or her
education. This is the real issue. A student in high school who is just going
through the motions and “playing the game” at school is a young adult who isn’t learning or developing
skills to be prepared for college, career, or life.
As we
implement our strategic plan, which includes the 5 C’s and deeper learning
opportunities, students will be getting an education that will prepare them for
their world after high school. They will be learning how to learn. And just
because students and teachers may be having fun at school shouldn’t cause you
to conclude they are not learning. While this might sound too ambitious to be
achievable, it is in fact, possible for students and teachers to experience a
learning environment in which standards and content are covered while
developing the critical skills our children will need to succeed.
Every Child,
Every Day.
