Minor Thoughts from me to you

Rethinking School

My opinion on American education is simple: it's outdated. We haven't changed the way we've done school in over 100 years. Society, technology, and knowledge have all changed considerably during that time. I think it's time that we took education apart, reexamined it closely, and figured out how to educate a new generation of children. We should use everything we've learned in the past 100 years about the science of education, about science itself, and about the value of technology to rethink how we teach.

Of course, that's made more difficult by attitudes likes these.

Hot classrooms, some infested with wasps; sections of the three-level school unreachable by elevator; a roof in need of replacing.

Some look at the Primary Center here -- built in 1918 -- and see a deteriorating school building that is expensive to maintain. Others see an irreplaceable example of Wisconsin Prairie School architecture that should be preserved.

The building is a community asset -- whether it is used as village offices, a community space or housing, said Kurt Nowka, a Mount Horeb resident who describes himself as a preservationist. "People have come to Mount Horeb because of (its) character."

One of the teachers, at least, has some common sense.

"My thought is that it is not an appropriate place to teach," said Colleen Mize, who has taught first and second graders at the Primary Center for about six years. "It's so old, it's hard to keep up."

She also points to deteriorating carpet, classroom temperatures that can stay in the 90s and wasps in some of the classrooms.

"Research shows that children do better in an environment that is nicer," Mize said. "I just think something needs to be done. I don't care what they do, but I don't think it's a proper place to house little children."

She's absolutely right. But as long as people who have no stake in education -- preservationists, for instance, can wield political power over a school, who cares about the children? They should be honored to be learning in such a historic location!

When I said, above, that "it's time that we took education apart" what I really meant was that "it's time that we let education entrepreneurs take education apart". No referendum or school board will ever come up with the right way to teach children. But entrepreneurs might. A more market oriented school system would allow parents to pick and choose where their children attend school, how they're taught, and who their teachers are.

Wouldn't that be better than leaving the decision up to Kurt Nowka?

This entry was tagged. Wisconsin