My modest proposal is to take that Gordian knot and cut it into 2 pieces. The people who are included in each piece will then take on both roles; that is, the people deeply knowledgeable about learning will start schools, run education systems (that they create), and set policies for those systems. The people who set policy will continue doing what they’re doing. They’ll continue to hire TFA (and other non-teacher-prepped) teachers, and run their schools that way. They should be thrilled because their employees will be cheaper.
I laughed out loud when I read your comment. Part of me really likes this idea. I’d be pretty sad for the students who end up in the schools that Team “Knowledgeable About Learning” would not be running, but within a generation, I hope, we’d see school systems being mostly run by people who are more likely to be knowledgeable about learning.
Of course, what I meant was that many students are already in Team “policymakers not knowledgeable about learning” schools, not the hypothetical new ones.
I think you could easily find some doctors who could say the same thing about medicine as my claim… maybe it IS field dependent as whether it is critical that the policy makers actually understand the field in which they are setting policy.
Mike Thayer says:
My modest proposal is to take that Gordian knot and cut it into 2 pieces. The people who are included in each piece will then take on both roles; that is, the people deeply knowledgeable about learning will start schools, run education systems (that they create), and set policies for those systems. The people who set policy will continue doing what they’re doing. They’ll continue to hire TFA (and other non-teacher-prepped) teachers, and run their schools that way. They should be thrilled because their employees will be cheaper.
Then we’ll see which school system people prefer.
January 29, 2014 — 5:46 pm
David Wees says:
I laughed out loud when I read your comment. Part of me really likes this idea. I’d be pretty sad for the students who end up in the schools that Team “Knowledgeable About Learning” would not be running, but within a generation, I hope, we’d see school systems being mostly run by people who are more likely to be knowledgeable about learning.
January 29, 2014 — 5:51 pm
Mike Thayer says:
Well, many students are already in Team “KAL” run-schools, so I doubt it’d be any worse for them. But the payoff could be huge.
Just call me “Mr. Marketplace of Ideas” 🙂
January 29, 2014 — 8:34 pm
Mike Thayer says:
Of course, what I meant was that many students are already in Team “policymakers not knowledgeable about learning” schools, not the hypothetical new ones.
Dangit. Midterms have fried my brain.
January 29, 2014 — 8:37 pm
Daniel says:
I don’t that really is a problem in education. No more so than in any other field. That’s also how we make transportion or labor policy.
January 30, 2014 — 9:59 am
David Wees says:
I think you could easily find some doctors who could say the same thing about medicine as my claim… maybe it IS field dependent as whether it is critical that the policy makers actually understand the field in which they are setting policy.
January 30, 2014 — 10:15 am