Of Roses and Radishes

In times when we are working through an economic downturn, we have the opportunity to do some self reflection and some system-wide reflection to see where we are being efficient and where we might be able to trim some fat.

In education, where funding is often set to “just enough” anyway, we have the opportunity to turn ourselves into a well-oiled machine that uses just what we need and no more. This philosophy is also in keeping with our celebration of Earth Day yesterday—how can we thrive on the planet and use just what we need?

One way to analyze, is to look at our objectives and determine what the best way to meet those objectives is. Let’s assume our primary objective is to educate our population in order to create a vibrant, well-adjusted society. With that objective in mind we need to look at the needs of each individual learner. How do we best address the personal needs of each learner so that they blossom into the vibrant individual that supports a well-adjusted society?

We can liken the process to a garden. We address the watering and daylight needs of each individual flower and plant to meet its needs. We do not care for the rose the same way we care for the radish and yet both require care and feeding and both contribute to the beauty of our garden.

So how do we address the individual needs of learners in a traditional system where we ask each learner to meet the same set of standards at exactly the same time? In other words, how do we start taking care of the roses as roses and the radishes as radishes?

For starters, we acknowledge the benefits of having a diverse student population. We begin to break down the walls that are instituted by defined grade levels, score cards, and set standards. We listen to both the learner and to our own instinct as to what is best for each individual. We create environments that are conducive to self-directed learning and provide resources that address various learning styles and passions.

If you know of environments in K-12 or higher education that approach this vision, I would love to hear from you! We want to make sure that innovation continues even as we move through the current downturn towards a bright future. Please use the comment field or email me at woulfe@comcast.net