The Hidden Agenda Behind 21st Century Learning
Public-private partnership is strangling our
education system.
Posted Sep 30, 2015
How has our public education system gotten so off track?
Source: yanlev/fotolia
High-stakes testing,
obsessive data collection, and lofty promises of technology’s potential to
“revolutionize” education are contributing to ever-increasing amounts of
school-based screen-time. The invasion is occuring with
complete disregard for what it taking away from in terms
of basic developmental needs, as well as for screentime's negative influence on nervous system health. Health and
development risks aside, research
suggests computer use in schools drags down test scores(link
is external).
Why collect copious amounts
of data if the process of data collection itself negatively impacts student
performance? Or the ability to acquire real-life skills? Not surprisingly, when
education policies are ineffective and impractical but
continue to move forward like a freight train, what’s typically
greasing the wheels is--you guessed it--money.
This month's post is
by Tara Ehrcke(link is external), a high school
math teacher and public education advocate in British Columbia. I
highly recommend reading the more complete article found here(link is external), as Ms Ehrcke manages to
paint a disturbing but clear picture of the complex public-private
relationship that’s placing a stranglehold on public education in the
US and Canada. Below are snippets of her insightful commentary:
________________________
A false narrative about our
schools is spreading through the education community and the public at large.
Apparently, with the turn of the clock and the dawn of a new century, our
schools are suddenly inadequate. As Canadians for 21st Century Learning
and Innovationarticulates the issue, “public
education in Canada must be transformed to position Canadians for success in
the knowledge and digital age.”1 The Partnership for 21st Century
Skills puts it this way: “Every child in the U.S. needs 21st century knowledge
and skills to succeed as effective citizens, workers and leaders.”2 A
common turn of phrase is that we must leave behind the “factory model” of
schooling and embrace the technological change of the new century.
A peek beneath the surface
reveals that the drive for change and the changes sought are not new, necessary
or unique, but in fact familiar — cost cutting, privatization, and
restructuring public education around technology. Despite the promises, 21st
Century Learning will not bring “success”. The crisis of “factory schooling” is
manufactured. And the proposed solution — radical technological transformation
— has the potential to damage our schools while diverting public money to
corporate profit.
Not surprisingly,
technology is almost always identified as a component of 21st Century Learning.
But this isn't simply adding new technology to aid in the delivery of
curriculum or to allow new teaching methods. It is not a matter of adding a few
computer labs or replacing textbooks with eBooks. In the 21st Century
Learning model technology defines the learning methods. It is absolutely
backwards - rather than pedagogy defining if and what technologies are used,
instead, it is technology driving the choices for learning. As such, it is
fundamentally different than the type of technology integration we've seen in
the past. It is also, ironically, antithetical to a student-centred or
personalized approach because the technology is driving decisions, not student
needs.
Whole books have been
written on the degree to which technology should or shouldn't be in our
schools, but we can consider just a few statistics to get a sense of where 21st
Century Learning advocates would like to take us. A paper by CISCO provides a
helpful chart documenting what media consumption Dutch teenagers do
during an average day(link is external).
The question CISCO asks is,
"How can traditional modes of classroom instruction engage and inspire
students when life outside the classroom has changed so dramatically? In 2007,
teens in the United States spent 40 percent of their media time on cell phones,
the Internet, and games, up from 16 percent in 1998. For many learners, class
is the only time in their day when they completely
‘disconnect.’”3 Rather than question how much is too much technology, this
technology company wonders how we can increase the screen time of teenagers by filling in the one relatively
screen free time - school. Meanwhile the Canadian Pediatric Society [and
the American Academy of Pediatrics] recommend a two hour screen time limit
for children. Significant social issues related to screen time include obesity, mental health and even changing brain chemistry for younger children.
To sell more IT products,
the 21st Century Learning advocates create a need for those products. No longer
should schools spend their resource and IT budgets only on textbooks and
computer labs. Anytime, anywhere, collaborative, integrated, blended learning
requires a massive infusion of new IT products.
Considering just one
corporate player, Pearson, we see the objectives identified in this report written by Donald Gutstein (link is external)for
the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation:
“According to investment
research firm Sanford Bernstein & Co., Pearson is pursuing three
growth strategies. First, the company is investing in content and
technology to increase its market share of the education industry.
Second, the company is restructuring away from the FT Group and
reinvesting the proceeds into the high-growth areas of emerging markets
(Brazil, India, China, South Africa) and consumer—rather than publicly—financed
education. The third strategy is new, and Bernstein predicts it
will ‘revolutionize how education is delivered to students around the
world, starting with the United States.’ It is an ambitious attempt to
further commercialize education by claiming its products and services
will raise student and teacher performance while at the same time cutting
spending. If successful, Bernstein argues, ‘it would make every teacher and
school student in the United States a potential customer’ by
‘personalizing education in U.S. schools through technology and best
practices.’”4
Pearson appears to have the
US government firmly in its corner with the
launch of the ‘Digital Promise’ announced in 2011. Digital Promise, “will work
with leading researchers, entrepreneurs, and schools to identify and spur
breakthrough learning technologies that deliver the best results for students, parents, and teachers.”5
Without doubt there is a
place for technology in schools and classrooms. It is also likely that new
technological developments can provide useful tools to enhance learning. Online
and blended models certainly have a place to address issues such as geographic
distance and schooling in small communities with few children.
What is troubling is that
rather than a broad discussion about the potential new uses of technology along
with the potential risks and pitfalls, the dialogue is one-sided and
misleading.
___________________
You can read the full
version of this article here(link is external), and read more of
Tara Ehrcke's informative blog posts at www.staffroomconfidential.com(link
is external)
For practical help
with managing school-based screen-time, see chapters 5 and 11 of my new
book on screen-time and mental health: Reset Your Child's Brain(link is external).
Notes:
1. Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation (2012). “Shifting Minds: A Vision and Framework for 21st Century Learning in Canada” [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/shifting-minds-a-vision-and-fram...(link is external)
1. Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation (2012). “Shifting Minds: A Vision and Framework for 21st Century Learning in Canada” [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/shifting-minds-a-vision-and-fram...(link is external)
2. Partnership for
21st Century Skills (2012). Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/(link is external)
3. CISCO (2008).
Equiping Every Learner for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship/socio-economic/docs/GlobalEdW...(link
is external)
4. Gutstein, Donald
(2012). “Pearson’s plan to control education: Report to the B.C. Teachers’
Federation.” Retrieved from http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/Issues/(link
is external)Privatization/PearsonGutsteinReport.pdf
5. The White House,
Office of Science and Technology Policy (2011). 21st Century Learning: A
Digital Promise [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/(link
is external)blog/2011/09/16/21st-century-learning-digital-promise.
