Furthermore, we have saddled teachers with expectations that they must be experts in rapidly-expanding fields of knowledge and gifted lecturers to deliver their knowledge. And we provide little comfort and support when they fail to live up to the myth. In the last decade we have spent great amounts of energy and resources redesigning, reengineering, revising, reforming, recycling, and reordering a system that no longer works. The emerging transformation in education places learning first, before teaching. Students want to learn.
Students learn differently.
They learn from each other. Postsecondary students need schools that allow them to exit and reenter. All students need a K-90 system, for learning is lifelong and continuous. The system must provide road maps, itineraries, optional routes, tours, rest stops for feedback, opportunities to make new connections, and access to major databases and expert systems throughout the world. They must be allowed to change directions, to move back and forth, to make U-turns for remediation, and to call for assistance when they hit roadblocks.