Rick: As you know I'm a scientist (physicist) who is a national K-12 education expert. From that perspective it is a major error to say that "job one for schools should be teaching a broad base of knowledge."
First, you fail to note that this is the current model, which the Left has happily and completely taken over. In other words, the focus on WHAT to think (content; knowledge) is resulting in mass production of propagandized progressive graduates. This is success?
Second, yes there has been talk and promises about Critical Thinking for a long time. HOWEVER, it has yet to go beyond talk and promises. For example, despite what many mission statements say, there is not a single State that formally teaches Critical Thinking. ZERO!
Third, the best option we have for children (who will soon become voting citizens) to separate the wheat from the chaff, is to formally teach them to be Critical Thinkers. No amount of knowledge — especially progressive propaganda — will give them that ability.
For the first time ever, we now have a set of sophisticated K-12 Standards to teach Critical Thinking. This will be done under the auspices of the Science curriculum. A major State is now reviewing this innovative material.
If adopted, this will be the most important change in US K-12 education in at least 50 years.
This is a necessity if we want to have any chance of saving the American Experiment.
Thanks Rick for the thoughtful historical context on 21st c skills. I like " all the paeans to photocopiers and Google elide a simple truth: Students can’t think deeply about nothing. Skills are not a replacement for knowledge; they should be complementary." I'm teaching a course this semester at GMU "How to Get Hired in the Age of AI." I believe one of the elusive parts of this is our inability to elevate 21st c skills to independent credentials, so that you could earn a black belt in communication or collaboration, or even critical thinking. We say our extra curriculars provide this for us, e.g. Debate Club, but those kinds of activities in HS and college are luxuries for many students. Now that everyone gets an A, its hard for employers to discern these skills based on your econ or CS major transcript.
And I vote for frog dissection. It was several decades ago for me, but my frog in 10th grade turned out to be pregnant. A lesson in ethics as well as cell biology.
Thank you for this timely piece. The content students learn becomes the culture and the future they inhabit. I posit that the content neutral/light standards of the 21st Century have encouraged young people to find their content for mastery outside of school. I know way too many young people who can pontificate on the intricacies of their MMO universes and the problems they solve there.
Who knew you were an ‘anti-faxer!’
This is a spot-on piece of work. Thank you for consistently focusing on what’s important.
Rick: As you know I'm a scientist (physicist) who is a national K-12 education expert. From that perspective it is a major error to say that "job one for schools should be teaching a broad base of knowledge."
First, you fail to note that this is the current model, which the Left has happily and completely taken over. In other words, the focus on WHAT to think (content; knowledge) is resulting in mass production of propagandized progressive graduates. This is success?
Second, yes there has been talk and promises about Critical Thinking for a long time. HOWEVER, it has yet to go beyond talk and promises. For example, despite what many mission statements say, there is not a single State that formally teaches Critical Thinking. ZERO!
Third, the best option we have for children (who will soon become voting citizens) to separate the wheat from the chaff, is to formally teach them to be Critical Thinkers. No amount of knowledge — especially progressive propaganda — will give them that ability.
For the first time ever, we now have a set of sophisticated K-12 Standards to teach Critical Thinking. This will be done under the auspices of the Science curriculum. A major State is now reviewing this innovative material.
If adopted, this will be the most important change in US K-12 education in at least 50 years.
This is a necessity if we want to have any chance of saving the American Experiment.
Thanks Rick for the thoughtful historical context on 21st c skills. I like " all the paeans to photocopiers and Google elide a simple truth: Students can’t think deeply about nothing. Skills are not a replacement for knowledge; they should be complementary." I'm teaching a course this semester at GMU "How to Get Hired in the Age of AI." I believe one of the elusive parts of this is our inability to elevate 21st c skills to independent credentials, so that you could earn a black belt in communication or collaboration, or even critical thinking. We say our extra curriculars provide this for us, e.g. Debate Club, but those kinds of activities in HS and college are luxuries for many students. Now that everyone gets an A, its hard for employers to discern these skills based on your econ or CS major transcript.
And I vote for frog dissection. It was several decades ago for me, but my frog in 10th grade turned out to be pregnant. A lesson in ethics as well as cell biology.
Thank you for this timely piece. The content students learn becomes the culture and the future they inhabit. I posit that the content neutral/light standards of the 21st Century have encouraged young people to find their content for mastery outside of school. I know way too many young people who can pontificate on the intricacies of their MMO universes and the problems they solve there.