A Youtube of Kaizen in action - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EedMmMedj3M

Applying the Japanese Philosophy of Kaizen to School Reform
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-lynch-edd/kaizen-school-reform_b_989788.html

Is it Time for Six Sigma in Education?
http://rube.asq.org/edu/2012/05/six-sigma/is-it-time-for-six-sigma-in-education.pdf

And background info on Six Sigma - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma

I have an idea that popped up in my head while reading Tom’s article. A master binder of notes for the classroom, so students in the K to 12 grades can have a model of notes of what notes should look like for studying purposes. For students who are absent, can obtained a copy from the master blinder, instead of depending on other students for notes, and more importantly, the students can get back to learning as quickly as possible. The main purpose for the master binder are for the students with weaker reading and writing skills, who inevitably stopped learning in the classroom at some point, because the students can’t keep up to the writing of notes and listen at the same time. The weaker the writing skills are, students stopped their learning in the first 10 minutes of the lesson.

I discovered this fact, in the files of LD and dyslexia research, to which I began to understand my kid was telling the truth when she said, she wasn’t learning anything at school. The first time she said that was back in grade 1, and yet the giving of notes as a guide to students at the beginning of the lesson, is not the norm. Reasons given, its an unfair advantage, and students will become lazy. The teacher would rather have the students to stopped learning and disengage from the lessons, then to provide notes for the students to follow along.

Another idea that popped up in my head, is the mentioned of color coding. Colour coding is very effective for students and their notes. Its all about the organization of notes, that makes it easier for students to effectively organized their notes and other materials. When I was writing the notes for my youngest child, since her writing ability was not up to speed, at the back of each different colour binder, I had the help pages specifically to the subject, If it was math, it was the how-tos and if it was French - the how-tos in conjugating verbs and vocabulary. In the second last section of the binder, it was labelled - THE MUST LEARN section. A series of major topics and sub-topics with dates, to help my youngest go quickly back to the main body of notes by using the guide of dates. I found it to be a very efficient method that aided my youngest to studied on her own, without me nagging her.

“Most of the investment and efforts expended in our schools is waste. We teach stuff that the kid already knows, or we teach it and the kid doesn’t learn - both of which are waste.  We have layers of managers who contribute negative value, and processes that waste time.” I agree with the statement, and I would think most parents who have children with learning difficulties would as well. Just think how wasteful and time consuming for the classroom teachers, if all the students had reached mastery in the grade before, and if the students were taught the basics including note taking.

POSTED ON BEHALF OF DOUG

This is 100% against what schools are about for most people. Within the public school world, biz and the right have always tried to impose ‘social efficiency’ and wondered why they meet so much push back.

It is because, labour, minorities, and other oppressed groups reject social efficiency and instead want ‘social justice’.

Back as far as the 20s it was called Taylorism after FW Taylor.

Testing and all of the garbage that goes with it all fits under this rubric.

I love that first video - it’s a perfect accompaniment to the article I pointed to.

Nancy makes a few excellent suggestions, but more importantly she identifies processes that are NOT working or that can be improved.  Kaizen teaches us to notice these faulty processes, and then leads us to the source of the problem in order to fix them.

Doug is right about Taylorism, but holds a common misunderstanding about Kaizen, which is exactly the opposite of Taylorism.  Taylorism is associated with the production lines at GM and Lucy’s famous episode with the chocolates.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NPzLBSBzPI

Kaizen is built on two principles: continuous improvement, and respect for people. Toyota is the best-known practitioner; both their practices and the resulting quality of their products are in sharp contrast with GM. 

Our elementary schools are built on Taylor’s principles, with ‘batches’ of students being moved relentlessly through a standardized learning process based on their age, and then tested at the end.  Each day is marked out with the ringing of period bells and shuffling from class to class.

A problem with citing ‘biz and the right’ is that most businesses are terribly run.  GM’s strategy is to bash at their unions and rely on periodic government bailouts.  In the 2009 auto sales downturn they ruthlessly laid off thousands of unionized workers, in spite of being provided with a bottomless trough of public money.

Although hit with the same downturn, not unionized, and not bailed by the government, Toyota didn’t have a single layoff.  They set up training classes for their idle ‘associates’, and when sales still had not picked up, sent them out to do community work. http://www.workforce.com/articles/toyota-idles-factories-but-can-t-lay-anybody-off  The Toyota employees helping the food banks in Nancy’s video are probably part of that project.

Our current education system IS a business, although not run for shareholders.  The school boards are textbook monopolists, maximizing profit in protected markets.  But they doesn’t have to copy the failing GM model of business.

All that from Kaizen in action, where simple efficiencies are opposed by the education stakeholders based on some old war of the education forces in Dewey’s time. http://books.google.ca/books?id=nznv9mDKv-sC&pg=PA167&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f;=false

The gist can be found on page 153 where social justice is being redefined by the neoliberalism ideas and concepts to pushed for education policies that promotes social efficiency.

What is social efficiency?  Depends on the source, and for simplicity a three part blog that would help to understand why Doug is against social efficiency but not against social justice. In theory, he should be against both or he should be for both of them, but what do I know as a parent. I like the simple concept of educating each and every child to their full potential, that respects and honors the individual child and his ability, by respecting their choices within a high system of efficiency, to extract the most from the scarce resources at hand.

Social Efficiency In Education…Part 1
http://3rseduc.blogspot.ca/2011/03/social-efficiency.html

There is even a Social Efficiency Theory.
http://schoolandsociety3013.blogspot.ca/2007/02/social-efficiency-theory.html

The saner papers are in public administration field.
“Balancing the Four Es;
or Can We Achieve Equity for
Social Equity in Public Administration”
http://www.naspaa.org/jpaemessenger/Article/VOL17-2/06_17n02_norman-major.pdf

However, not too crazy over social equity based on equality of opportunity, which is the present optics found in any public school administration and operations. “Social Equity - In calling for the inclusion of social equity as a pillar of public administration, the scholars at Minnowbrook argued that it is not sufficient to have economical
and efficient government services if we don’t also consider who is being served at the same time. As Frederickson wrote in an essay almost 10 years after the first Minnowbrook conference, “the most productive governments, the most efficient
governments, and the most economizing governments can still be perpetuating
poverty, inequality of opportunity and injustice” (2010, p. 48)” 

It goes on to say that there is no clear definition of social equity but to keep it simple it is defined under the parameters of “the end of goal of either maintaining or creating a “level playing field” or equality of opportunity”

Neither is there a clear definition for social justice, but in Wikipedia it is described as an education philosophy that strives to give the opportunity for more equal resources for all groups of students, based on gender, race, income class, disability and sexual orientation.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_for_social_justice

Another paper - Teaching for Social Justice and K-12 Student Outcomes: AConceptual Framework and Research Review
http://www.academia.edu/1567631/Teaching_for_Social_Justice_and_K-12_Student_Outcomes_A_Conceptual_Framework_and_Research_Review

Who knew, that the public education stakeholders are against efficiency in the schools, but I supposed it must be a given, since there is no uproar over the costs of installing a pencil sharpener for $165. Given that, no wonder there is no uproar from within the public education system of the dismal education futures of children with lower proficiency levels in reading, writing and numeracy. In order to employed social justice instruction and its philosophy - the children just has to pretend that they are on equal footing with one another.

No efficiency is required nor needed, in the alternative reality of social justice based on equality of opportunity. ERGO, the academic outcomes of students are irrelevant and therefore cannot be used as accountability measures and formulate education policies based on the academic outcomes.

By the way the Kaizen methods, can be seen in real time as efficiency methods for immediate results or outcomes, and whereas social equity and social justice outcomes can only be seen in the far away future. Its absolutely horrifying when education decisions and policies are formulating based of social justice principles. The students who need remediation are tossed technology gadgets for accommodations, but are denied the education services that would truly aid the student because it is seen as an unfair advantage and upsets the balance of a fair playing ground in the inclusive classroom.

I once read, that the social justice being practiced in the schools, is just a version of pretending that the children are little adults, with the identical belief systems of the educators. I am inclined to agree with the statement, considering that mastery of subject material has taken a back corner to the social justice principles of equality of opportunities.

My children bought me a book last year deliberately chosen to wind me up it was,
“The curiosity of school” by Zander Sherman. 

The book explored in historical context from the mid 19th century on the purpose of schools.  Sherman argued convincingly that schools were created to turn students into human capital (soldiers, workers, menial labourers that would keep the entitled and well compensated capitalists in Bentleys and Mercedes).  It is a damning examination of formal education goring many sacred cows including the sentiments posted by your guest blogger Mr. Berend.

cheers.  Mirka