Education Reconceived
By: Jessica Margolin
Tags: Education Reform, User Experience, Edtech, Education

From my blog, originally published in 2008

Vancouver Island University https://www.flickr.com/photos/vancouverislanduniversity/6144073907/

Jamais Cascio, a compatriot at Institute for the Future, recently gave a Keynote on the Future of Education at Moodle Moot. His talk covered quite a bit of ground, some of which is fairly disconcerting, as the implications in some cases are of “disruption” in its most negative connotation.

As I listened to his talk, I found myself wondering what the call to action is for educational pedagogy.

The Student as the Customer

This is the result, informed in large part to formalize the learning well-educated children get at home, and to ensure basic relevance for the job market and life, upon graduation. The idea is that the topics below would be the core subject areas, rather than English, History, Math, Science, Language/Culture, and PE.

12 Years to Learn Adulthood

Imagine the most basic components taught to small children building to the most complex for high school students.

I grouped all the liberal arts “common knowledge” courses into one bucket, but I expanded the bucket. Similarly, I grouped science and math into one bucket, but added experimentalism. I divided both the sciences and the arts into two parts: theory and practice.

Beyond that, I added the deal-breaker topic of learning skills, which includes conflict resolution and emotional intelligence, two things that are absolutely fundamental to maintaining an effective society (and so of course we never teach them in school…(!))

Equally important is the ability for people to manage their physical and emotional well-being. For kids, the biggest issue is usually how to manage their stressors, so instead of Physical Education (and drug/sex education) alone, this example integrates those topics into a larger curriculum of stress management.

(1) Learning Skills. (Learning how to learn and interact)

Personal organization, study skills

Personal emotional intelligence

Project planning

Conflict management

(2) Science.

Science

Experimental Method & Problem Solving

Math

(3) Technology Practicum. (Remember: 2008!)

Privacy and Security

Typing, Search Skills

Social media

Business tools (Writing, Spreadsheet, Presentation)

Drivers’ training and public transportation

Home technology (safety, money, financial systems)

(4) Communication.

Media

Languages

Logic

(5) Human Context.

History (from various locations and perspectives)

Geography

Civics (American)

Anthropology

Sociology

Philosophy

Appreciation of arts and music

(6) Stress management.

PE

Meditation

Emotional well-being

Food selection/preparation

Practice of crafts (wood, sewing, food), arts, and music

This is just a first pass, based on my experience via educational philanthropy.

Needless to say, this is rather different from the current pedagogy. If you’ve never looked into it, but are interested, here are the California Content Standards. I realize we’re in a period of tightening conformity, so I have little hope that this kind of instruction will transform our disintegrated public schools. However the point of moodle and other software is to provide ad hoc and open lessons available for those who choose to take them.

UPDATE: Over the last decade we’ve seen conformity increase, and that may continue. However, coronavirus has brought a unique moment where we can identify the “essential services” of schools, component by component, looking at the needs of the students who will eventually be adults as well as the society into which they matriculate to best prepare them for the future.