Thank God for Salman Khan!

BREAKOUT TIME FOR BC ?

Newt Gingrich endorses Khan Academy and a new American Federal legislative proposal to fund pilot projects in 5 states to adopt “blended learning” projects.  He gives all the right reasons for his own endorsement — personalized attention to students missing fundamental steps, technology harnessed to aid the educational mission, etc. 

Now, to catch up with BC, you know that state, I mean province, which is perpetually in EDUCATION WAR mode?  We’re still in strike mode since June with no end in sight. 

The Minister of Finance (note:  Finance, not Education), de Jong, has announced that if the strike carries on till usual school start in Sept, a program would kick in to provide parents of 12yrs and under public school students $40 a day to “utilize that money to acquire tutoring for their children, they can use the money to explore other educational opportunities as they see fit and for some parents, it’ll be basic daycare.”

Of course the usual polarized back-and-forth.  A few parents are saying YES, we could use the help because day care will be hard to find and fund, and YES, tutoring costs thousands of dollars, etc. 

This trial balloon was not just a spur to get negotiations going — stalled for weeks (but now with an August date scheduled) — there are some good basic GOVERNANCE principles involved in de Jong’s statement. 

1   Quite rightly, this was a Finance matter, not an education matter.  Taxpayers in the province provide dollars for education to happen.  Who better than Finance to distribute the money to qualified clients and provide accountability for the money?

2   Of course, the payment will follow the child, as it should, and parents would be held responsible, as they should.  It is parents who choose, and sign in their children, to the school or their choice — even if the choice is slim and mostly government schools.

3   This is devolution in practice.  Let those closest to the action administer and manage their education.

4 This was an opportunity to consider different methods of delivery — starting small schools, teacher coop schools, Free Schools.  My ideas on “deschooling” and free schools are on my blog http://www.parentsteachingparents.net/2014/08/education-debit-accounts-setting-the-scene/

5 Radically new innovative models can be considered, especially with the perception that the present system is seriously dysfunctional, wasteful and outmoded. A comment on our CKNW radio station says that the Khan Academy idea makes our present approaches DINOSAURS.  See the last comment by Dale (left coast) http://www.cknw.com/2014/08/01/breaking-bargaining-to-resume-in-bctf-dispute/

Kahn is steering things very much in a valid direction. If 90% of rote learning is transferred to intelligent machine delivery, the most important human to human component of education remains to be orchestrated by the teachers in the classroom.

Suffice it to say,  masters need only apply.  What a joy it would be, if it could be so…Sooner rather than later the integrative side of the mastery certification will be layered into the teacher training process…which ultimately will make the foundational, certifiable elements of mastery very transparent.

Scarey stuff for associations and institutions who have chained themselves to 19th century methodologies for teaching and learning.  The value add component of classroom teaching has got to adapt to both the students and the available resources and their associated affordability…or in other words the relevance of the investment in relationship to the outcomes.

Funny Sal Khan doesn’t think so. He says what he does is in no way to replace the teacher which he never sees happening but to supplement the work of the teacher.

Keep dreaming.

I hope be does replace teachers, because, in most cases, his curricula is by far better than what kids are getting nowadays in school.  It’s shocking what these kids nowadays don’t know.  The Khan Academy and other online courses will give our kids a chance to compete in the global economy.