Sokanu: The Blog

(to see full sized image click here: http://assets.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/national/ed2010-graph.jpeg)

In a previous post on transforming education, we discussed Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory as well as the effects of kindergarten teaching. We began to understand that we need to "transform", not "reform" the education system, starting at the kindergarten level. This is because those who do not build the necessary base at the kindergarten level will always be at a disadvantage, never being able to catch up. One way that we suggested this could change is through teaching based on multiple intelligences.

As we discussed previously, the current system is in dire need of an upgrade, and fast. With people like Michelle Rhee and Geoffrey Canada in the USA, there is a push for major change. But let's take a look at the full sized image from above. This is a graph from The Atlantic, measuring proficiency in math across the world, and then subdivided into American states. The immediate thing that may pop out is: where's the USA? Shouldn't they be near the top? Even with the problems that they are having, they are the most powerful nation on earth, right? Surely on something simple like a math test they would be able to compete at the world stage. But this is not the case. At the top of the list are: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Finland. Each of these nations has at least 20% of their students able to produce advanced level mathematics. Canada is somewhat near the top at 15% next to Japan and Macao-China. And the USA? Down near the end of the first graph at a very poor rate of 6%. And at the bottom? Countries like Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, Indonesia and Columbia all with rates less than 1%. 

Focusing on the USA at the moment, since it has the most press as of right now - let's do some simple calculations. If we assume there are around 300 million people living in the USA right now, and we multiply this by 6% - we can assume that approximately 18 million people in the USA operate (or did in school) at a high mathematic proficiency. Now obviously the number of students taking this test each year is not 300 million, that's the total population. But if we take the students writing and extrapolate to the entire nation, we can arrive at the 18 million. What this means is that the rest of the nation, 282 million, are NOT up to the standards in mathematics. Now proficiency in mathematics does not equal success in life, but it gives us an overview of the issues that the country faces.

The issue with education is focused on spring, as that is when we do the majority (if not all) of our formal education. The issue is that if we don't use the spring season to blossom properly, there will be no fruitful fall. We can never really catch up. And this is why it is so important to nail education. Using the organic example as our base, we must begin to develop individual, unique systems that match students learning patterns. Instead of measuring everyone with the same stick, we need to create separate sticks and measure using those.

Knewton is developing the industry's most powerful adaptive learning engine, customizing educational content to meet the needs of each student. Whereas traditional classrooms and textbooks provide the same material to every student, Knewton will dynamically match lessons, videos, and practice problems to each student's ideal learning arc.

Knewton works by tagging all content down to the atomic concept level. The system further tags the resulting content by structure, difficulty level, and media format. Then we can dynamically generate for each student, each day, the perfect bundle of content based on exactly which concepts she knows and how she learns best.

The second company I'd like to mention is more of a program. It is called School of One, put on by the New York Department of Education. Here is some more info: 

The mission of School of One is to provide students with personalized, effective, and dynamic classroom instruction so that teachers have more time to focus on the quality of their instruction.

To achieve this mission, School of One re-imagines the traditional classroom model.  Instead of one teacher and 25-30 students in a classroom, each student participates in multiple instructional modalities, including a combination of teacher-led instruction, one-on-one tutoring, independent learning, and work with virtual tutors. 

To organize this type of learning, each student receives a unique daily schedule based on his or her academic strengths and needs. As a result, students within the same school or even the same classroom can receive profoundly different instruction as each student’s schedule is tailored to the skills they need and the ways they best learn. Teachers acquire data about student achievement each day and then adapt their live instructional lessons accordingly. 

By leveraging technology to play a more essential role in planning instruction, teachers have more time to focus on doing what they do best - delivering quality instruction and insuring that all students learn.

Their video is here: http://schools.nyc.gov/community/innovation/SchoolofOne/PersonalizedLearning/...

Applying This To Public School: Part Three

In the next part of the series, we are going to explain how we believe the theories mentioned above can be placed into the education system in order to make an impact. The goal, remember, is to not just facilitate success at the top level of students (the 6% that are proficient) but for the 94% that are currently NOT proficient. Thus, trying to figure out how to best implement this system will give most countries a chance to greatly improve the education and knowledge of their students. The macroeconomic impact of raising the proficiency rating even by 1% is massive, and so it is a worthy goal to work towards. 

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Important Points

• Many countries are lagging behind when it comes to proficiency
• Even those who are succeeding are still "failing"
• We are all being measured with the same stick
• Humans are not robots, we evolve organically
• Thus we need to create individualized learning
• Some companies are attempting to break into this process right now.

More Reading

• http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/12/your-child-left-behind/8310/
  
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arthur-e-levine/the-school-of-one-the-sch_b_288695.html
  
• http://www.knewton.com/adaptive-learning

In the heyday of the psychometric and behaviorist eras, it was generally believed that intelligence was a single entity that was inherited; and that human beings - initially a blank slate - could be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way. Nowadays an increasing number of researchers believe precisely the opposite; that there exists a multitude of intelligences, quite independent of each other; that each intelligence has its own strengths and constraints; that the mind is far from unencumbered at birth; and that it is unexpectedly difficult to teach things that go against early 'naive' theories of that challenge the natural lines of force within an intelligence and its matching domains. (Gardner 1993: xxiii)

There was a great post in The Atlantic last week about what is currently happening with the American university system and why it is taking a turn for the worst.  It was written by Andrew Hacker, who is professor emeritus at Queens College in New York and Claudia Dreifus, adjunct professor at Columbia, and is a fascinating look into what is really going on in the higher educational system.  They are both co-authors of the book Higher Education?, a look at why most university systems are failing. 

Along with that, as you know, I am a big fan of Ken Robinson.  If you haven't yet checked him out, please do so by going to these links here, here and here.  He is an advocate for transforming the current education system in order to better suit the multitude of different talents that individuals have.  He has always said that what we need to do is "transform" education, not "reform" it.  I agree.

This is not going to be an education-bashing series.  I think education is one of the most fantastic things available to mankind.  That is why you see so many philanthropists trying to implement some form of an educational system in places that need it most.  The ability to learn and gain knowledge from the world's smartest people, in a safe and closed environment, is one of the most amazing things that we have available to us today.  That is, if that's what people use it for.

But over the last couple of years, with the economic collapse and the rush for more and more people to get a university education, some people have taken the time to look at what education is really providing for todays young people. However, education doesn't start in university, as we all know, it starts in kindergarten.  And in certain parts of America, it is becoming competitive to get into "proper" schools for kindergarten.  And so with that we start our journey.  In kindergarten.  Using the fascinating research done by Howard Gardner, we are going to take a look at how we can possible implement the theory of multiple intelligences into our school system.

Howard Gardner & Kindergarten 

Ah, kindergarten.  Remember that time?  You had no worries whatsoever.  Your biggest priorities were not sticking a crayon in your classmates face and making sure that you took a nap.  No financial worries, no understanding of macroeconomic conditions or the type of education you are getting.  This innocence is what makes children amazing creatures.  It is the view of ourselves before the harsh realities of the world get to us.  

The problem with being innocent, however, is that your neural pathways have not yet formed in the analysis and decision making fields.  Sure, you know that no means no and getting yelled at is bad, but what about the type of learning you are receiving?  If you think I am overanalyzing this, talk to the parents spending lots of money making sure their child gets into the "right" school.  It's unbelievable.  And now we have kindergarten graduations.  Amazing.

The learning that children receive at an early age is crucial to their development later on.  We have all heard of the building blocks theory.  If kids don't learn the basics of math, writing or reading at an early age, they are only going to struggle later on.  It's like a giant snowball, or wooden wheel.  Once it picks up, you better have a good base under you or else you are in big trouble.  This is where Howard Gardner comes in.  

Quoting from a previous post, these are the basic forms of intelligence as laid out by Multiple Intelligence theory:

• linguistic intelligence (mastery of words and languages)
• musical intelligence
• mathematical intelligence
• spatial intelligence
• kinaesthetic intelligence
• inter-personal intelligence (relationships with others)
• intra-personal intelligence (knowledge and understanding of the self)

What Mr. Gardner has produced is not only really interesting, but potentially groundbreaking for the education system. Now granted, it will take a lot of effort and political change to make any difference on a mass scale, but we can at least start to think differently.  The idea that children mature at different rates in terms of their intelligences is highly thought provoking.  We used to think that if a child did not learn math and numbers properly when they were young, they were destined for a "different" kind of life, where college and trades would be the only option.  Now we can understand that the child is simply maturing "slower" in the mathematical intelligence field, yet may be light years ahead in the spatial and musical intelligences.

So how can this affect education?  How can we use the theory of multiple intelligences to create a system that benefits each unique child?  This is something that requires a lot of thought and foresight, yet is manageable.  We will explore this in part two of this series.  In part two, we are going to go over how we can effectively make the transition between kindergarten and the initial learning phase to the more generic public school phase.  

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Important Points

• There is an issue with the current education system
• We need to "transform", not "reform" the system
• The system starts in kindergarten
• In our current system, those who do not build a core learning base at an early age are at a severe disadvantage
• Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences aims to fix this problem
• We mature at different rates in different intelligences

More Reading

• http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm
  
• http://www.howardgardner.com/
  
• http://blog.sokanu.com/how-are-you-intelligent
  

"I never let education get in the way of my learning". - Mark Twain

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Western society as a whole has reached a point where we have developed a very specific formula for achievement in life.  This path has been drilled into the heads of young individuals since their earliest days of school.  Life, according to our world, follows an extremely linear path. Through this linear path our lives are set out for us from the get go.  Any deterrence from this path results in people assuming that we are "weird" or abnormal.  So what is this "normal" linear path?

Traditionally, it goes something like this:

• Go To School
• Go To University
• Get A Job
• Get Married
• Buy A House
• Have Kids
• Retire
• See The World In Your Golden Years
• Etc...

This was a great system in another age, where we needed to pump out individuals to create industry and advance economies at a rapid pace.  That's why we referred to that time as the industrial revolution.  The problem is, last time I checked, we are not in the industrial revolution anymore. We are currently in something known as the information age, due to the internet and the instant access to trillions of pieces of data.

So what's the problem with the linear model?  Shouldn't it still work with today's society?  I mean, come on, university is still the most important thing that a young person can do today, right?  The answer is neither yes nor no.  The real answer is: it depends.

With the information age comes a unique perspective into the world of learning.  No longer are we confined to classrooms with teachers and old furniture to learn. With the Internet, iPads, laptops, smartphones and Kindle's, we can learn from anywhere, anytime. This was not possible even 5 years ago to the same degree.  The amount of change happening is staggering.  But what does this mean for this generation and their ability to learn?

The reason that the linear model depends is because each individual is unique.  Some of us need that structure and tradition in order to get through formal education.  Some of us need more of a challenge in the system, and so we take AP courses and more classwork in order to push ourselves.  Some of us are self-learners and will buck the system and thus will not "succeed" with the linear model.  This is where the uniqueness lies.

But what is the difference between education and learning?  Aren't they supposed to be the same thing?  That's the reason we go to school, right?  With the information age, there is an ever-increasing gap between the need for learning vs education.  Let's look at the differences in detail:

Learning

Learning can mean a plethora of things.  With books, magazines and the internet we can literally teach ourselves anything in the world at an extremely rapid pace.  Want to learn how to knit?  Simply type it into your search engine and boom!  Millions of pages are waiting for you to visit in order to teach you about knitting, one step at a time.  The price?  Absolutely nothing.  Still not convinced?  Want to have something more tangible?  There are thousands of published books available helping you learn to knit as well.

Learning is self-guided.  We learn because we want to.  In education, typically, we learn because we have to. This is a gigantic difference.  This is the differentiator in the information age.  We have the ability to learn things of our choosing, simply by owning a laptop and having an internet connection.  The linear path typically does not allow for learning to dominate.  Learning about something unique is something you do after you come home from school or work.  Usually this is called a hobby.

The reason that the linear path does not work with learning?  Because as humans, we are not linear by nature.  We are an organic, natural species. We grow at our own paces, taking steps in different directions each day.  Each individual person wants to learn different things at different times in their lives.  Sometimes this is through the use of education, sometimes not.  The point is that with the learning method, we cannot paint a line over how we are supposed to learn. 

But how does this differ from getting an education?  What is the difference between our open, organic method in learning and the linear version in education?

Education

Let me start by saying that education is a good thing for the right people.  This is not an education-bashing post at all.  The fact of the matter however, is this: that education offers a certain path for a certain type of person.  If you want to become a lawyer, doctor, accountant, researcher, manager, etc... you need to go to school.  The way that the world works is that you must have that educationary requirement in order to progress to the first level of a career.  Most professionals need traditional education to progress to their first level and then continue onwards.

Then again, most professionals will follow the linear path.  And there is nothing wrong with this.  The problem comes when a lot of creative, organic individuals go through education, hating it, because they were forced to.  Instead of taking the opportunity to learn about things that they love, education forces them into a straight line. They learn because they have to, not because they want to. 

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In the information age, there are no rules.  We can learn instantly and abundantly, without the aid of a classroom or teachers.  There are both positives and negatives to learning by yourself rather than in a structured environment.  But what it comes down to is the person that you are.  Uniqueness is the most important thing when it comes to learning.  By determining what career path you will follow and the way you best learn, you can then decide what path you will go down.  Just remember, that path is not linear, it is organic.

As a nation, we have adopted a model of judging people quickly and immediately as to how successful they are. That model is education, or lack there of. Very often in business or dinner parties, conversation can quickly turn to level of education.

"Where did you go to school?" one person may ask. "I am a Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/Oxford 1997 alumni" responds the individual.

Immediately, as if that person has said the magic words, he is immediately given an immense amount of credibility. People automatically assume that he is successful, regardless of the field he is in. Now, if he mentions that he works for an investment bank such as Goldman Sachs in New York City, people's eyes begin to widen. He is the definition of success in the Western world. Well educated, established in a world class city and has a well paying job is the perfect combination. That individual at the dinner party will have to work really hard to ruin his reputation.

Let's compare that to another individual. A person may ask the same question, "Where did you go to school?" Except this time, the second individual answers, "I didn't go to university, I actually moved to Paris to become an artist" The immediate reaction now will be "Uh huh", and the conversation will move on. That second individual at the dinner party will have to work really hard to improve his reputation.

Why is this? Why do we measure people's level of success on where they went to school? Isn't it about the person and their unique happiness? While it may seem not, that is because most people assume that there is only one type of education in the world. We begin to believe that intelligence is defined by education. Of course, this is not true.

In fact, we believe that there are three levels of education: 1. Formal Education 2. Self-Taught Education 3. "The School of Hard Knocks" By separating education into three types, we can directly define what each of them represent and how people fit into each one. Let's take a look at each in more depth and try to understand where people go wrong in judging people's intelligence based on level of education.

1. Formal Education The most common form of education in the Western world, formal education is the process of going from elementary school --> high school --> bachelor degree program --> and possibly a graduate degree. While going through this process, the students make connections, join extra-curricular activities and prepare themselves for the workforce. After going through high school, students can choose to go to college (usually for more hands-on education) or a formal university (usually more theory and academic work), depending on the career path that they have chosen.

Formal education is perfect for students that want a professional career, whether wanting to become a lawyer, accountant, doctor, psychologist, project manager or something similar. In order to become one of these professionals, very often a bachelors degree is not enough, a graduate or doctorate degree is needed. At the top of the mountain of formal education is university professors, who almost always require a PhD and teaching experience. What about the rest of the students? What about those students that want to become entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, artists, dancers and other things that are not traditionally taught by formal education? Should they still go through formal education just because the system says to? This comes down to what is known as the "hierarchy of subjects".

As a culture, we have a predetermined list of subjects that are deemed more important than others. At the top are math and science. In the middle are the languages and social sciences, and at the bottom are the arts. Dance is hardly ever included in a list of academic subjects, and visual arts and music are just above that. Why is this? Why, in formal education, do we treat math and science as the be-all-end-all? The system was built in the Industrial Revolution in order to produce educated individuals for the workforce. Today, those who want to be educated into a formal professional can get their degree, but what about the rest of the professions?

2. Self-Taught Education The second kind of education is not that well known. I believe that in the coming years, self-education will become ever more important as more and more people get generalized degrees, and inflationary education sets in. Self-taught education is simply learning from books, seminars, mentors and the internet under one's schedule and time. Most great musicians, artists, athletes and entrepreneurs go through this method in order to become the best in their field. That painter that I referred to at the beginning of this article would have been self-taught through books, the internet and mentors she may have met in Paris. She is learning more than the majority of people do in a lifetime.

What are the downsides to going with this method? Well, unless you are quite structured and have a love for learning, it can be difficult at times. In formal education, we are used to the structure of predetermined classes, bells to signal the end of periods and set timelines for each day. With self-taught education, we must set our own schedules, be motivated to learn and discipline ourselves to put in the necessary amount of time to make it work. This becomes very easy if you love what you do. Basketball players that want to improve will gladly go out to the court and shoot hoops for three hours. If we analyze this activity, it is self-teaching because it is improving their muscle memory, abilities and intelligence about the game. To the basketball player, it's just fun. It doesn't feel like learning.

To the up-and-coming musician, playing the drums when he gets home is not a chore, it's a gift. He loves playing his drums day and night. (mind you his family may not like these drums day and night). To the drum player, self-education is something he loves to do. The same thing can go for entrepreneurs. How many stories have you heard of entrepreneurs choosing to forgo formal education in favor of self-teaching? With the power of the internet, we literally have any piece of information that we need at our fingertips. And if you don't like the way that it is presented online, there are millions of books, magazines and audio files available to purchase. Some great websites for online video learning include:

• FORA TV
• Academic Earth
• Big Think
• TED

Academic Earth actually includes some full courses at some of the top universities in the world (Havard, Yale, Stanford) that you can listen to online. I am currently going through the psychology course at Yale right now, all for free. There is no better time in history to get a self-taught education. However, there is still another class of education that we sometimes refer to as "the school of hard knocks".

3. "The School of Hard Knocks" Many times we read stories of businesspeople or actors that don't go to college, don't self-educate continuously and yet still become successful. Why is this? Those people have been through the school of hard knocks. Another way of putting this is education on the fly, or building a plane after jumping off a cliff. No matter what you call it, usually it's a long journey. Many people that are successful did not start out with this burning vision of success in their minds. In most cases, they just started working at a job and began to grow.

I like to use the example of the restaurant owner that started as a dishwasher 20 years ago. When he was just a kid, fresh out of high school (sometimes not even) he simply needed a job. So he got one as a dishwasher at the local restaurant. Unlike most kids that get a job, however, he began to notice the inner workings of the restaurant. He began to observe how the the food was ordered, all of the prep work that went into dinner service and how the waiters and managers interacted. What started out as a job soon became a free education (that he was actually getting paid for!). Soon, he moved up to bussing tables, working late into the night. Keep in mind, however, that he made plenty of mistakes along the way, and this is a lengthy process. However, fast forward 20 years, and that same individual now owns his own restaurant. By graduating from the school of hard knocks, he knows what to do, what not do to, and how to run a restaurant properly.

The same story is applied over and over again in business. An entrepreneur one day has a brilliant idea that pops into her head. She decides to quit her job and dive full bore into this venture. She has no previous business experience, no contacts and no capital to get started. But she is an entrepreneur, and she will do whatever it takes to succeed. She will go through the school of hard knocks for years before she finally has a company that is profitable, successful and creating jobs around the world. A great story that outlines this is the story of Five Guys Burgers And Fries.

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So what have we learned from examining the three different types of education? Well for one, we must observe that one is not better than another. Just because someone decides to go through the formal education system does not make them any more intelligent than someone that decides to open up their own art studio. There are millions of different ways to learn a plethora of activities, and there is no set path to success. Education is completely personalized to the career that you want to achieve.

Here is a great quote to illustrate learning: "For learning to take place with any kind of efficiency students must be motivated. To be motivated, they must become interested. And they become interested when they are actively working on projects which they can relate to their values and goals in life" - Gus Tuberville, President, William Penn College

When you become interested in what you are working on, it no longer becomes work. It becomes something you love to do. Learning should not be a chore, and neither should education. You should learn because you want to, not because you have to. Finding your passion is the key to doing this successfully. Intelligence is not determined by education, because as we have learned, there is more than one type of education. Each type is unique to the career path and the individual taking it. In the end, education is just a means to an end, with that end being success. Success in any field, in whatever way you define it. Remember, success is just another word for happiness.