Bailey Baughn

Professor Reinard

Professor Carney

IDC-201

April 16, 2020

Most Likely to Succeed

Reflection

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday we rob our children of tomorrow.” This quote

by John Dewey that Greg Whiteley started his film with really resonated with me. We live in a

world that has evolved over the years so why has our education system stayed the same? Back in

1892 when the Committee of 10 created our nation’s curriculum it worked. Student’s were

taught the same relatively small set of skills to make it in the factory world. It was difficult to run

a factory if everyone was taught different skills and different ways of doing things. So people

were taught the same skills that had to be performed a specific way. But in today’s world, that

doesn’t work anymore. Those skills that were taught back then, our workforce today no longer

values. New skills are demanded to survive in our society.

We lie to children every time that we tell them that all the lectures, standardized testing,

and worksheets will be worth it in the end and will shape you into who you are as an individual.

We have put this idea into a child’s mind that they have to memorize the facts in order to pass

the test, in order to get into college you have to have passed the test, in order to get a job in the

real world you have to have gone to college and obtained your fancy degree title. The truth is,

just because you go to college and graduate does not guarantee you are going to find a job.
About 4 years ago I worked with this woman at an elementary school. I absolutely loved

working with her, she loved the students and was great at what she did. She was in her late 40’s

and always joked about how she could be my mother based on our age difference. What I learned

over time is that we both did the same job but one of us had a 4 year degree and one of us did

not. She had received a degree from a 4 year university and still ended up doing the same job as

me without a 4 year degree. She was still making payments on her college loan 20 some years

later. According to the video, 53% of college grads are jobless or underemployed. What high

schoolers really need to consider is the career pathway they are choosing before attending

college. Is this degree really going to be useful in my future and what kind of job is it going to

get me?

Larry Rosenstock CEO of High Tech High, talked about when he was teaching students

to build things in class. If kids actually believe that they are going to use a particular piece of

information in the real world to better themselves they are going to be more eager to learn. Larry

believed that if he taught the student’s the formula that would help them create better tables and

chairs they would use it and be more likely to remember how to use it for the next piece of

furniture. I can’t tell you how many times in high school I said to myself, “when am I ever going

to use this?” And truthfully, I don’t ever remember the teacher explaining to me how I was going

to use the skill in my future but the fact that I needed to know it for the test. A family member of

mine used to work in construction and when I watched him remodel my parents kitchen after

years of not doing construction, I was absolutely amazed that he remembered which pieces of

wood went where, what size nails to use, what angle the wood needed to be cut, how long/how

wide the wood needed to be for the beam, etc. When I asked him how he remembered it all he
really didn’t have an answer, it just came natural to him. Those skills were taught to him and he

was taught how to apply those skills, not just memorize them. He didn’t just learn to memorize

how to read a layout plan he was taught how to analyze it, use problem solving skills, and math

skills to create it.

I loved learning about High Tech High. What a cool school, I honestly did not know a

school like this existed out there. I found it interesting when the first day of school Mr. Aguirre

told the kids to set up a socratic seminar based on lines and x’s drawn on the white board. The

looks on their faces were like “um what?” They were completely lost. Finally when they were set

up for the socratic seminar he initiated the discussion by asking them to choose a picture they

liked and talk about it. No one spoke up and everyone again looked confused. I remember

reading about this in Andreas Schleicher’s World Class book. In traditional schools kids are

taught one way. They are taught to stay on task, to sit quietly at their desks, raise their hand, only

talk when called on, to follow the curriculum, etc. So when Mr. Aguirre asked them to not raise

their hand and actually speak to one another without looking to him for the answer, they did not

know how. But this is not their fault. In the World Class book, we expect a child who falls

behind on a subject to take initiative to get notes and teach themselves when the whole class is

already on the next unit? Kids are not taught these skills so why are we expecting them to

perform skills they don’t have. I never had a discussion based class until 11th grade in AP world.

I froze up and didn’t speak in the first discussion. I did not know how to act in that type of

classroom format, I was not used to it. But skills and knowledge that you obtain from discussions

are so important. Being able to collaborate with peers and have a real conversation about a topic

is such an essential life skill. What I found was interesting was that 50% of those that attend
High Tech High are considered low income students. In order to attend, kids have to enter a

lottery and are accepted according to their zip code. The demographic make up duplicates those

of any other schools in the area. There are no bells, there are no “class periods”, and subjects are

combined. Referring to Salman Khan’s book, The One World School House, when teaching it

should be considered to “emphasize the flow” of a subject or topic. To understand the ways that

one concept relates to another and how those concepts relate to all subjects. For example, we

learn genetics in biology but we learn probability in math. Even though, like Khan said, “one is

really an application of the other”. However, the standard approach to classroom teaching does

not include this method. Two male teachers teamed up to teach their students. They both taught

different subjects but what was taught in one class was essential information to know when

learning in the other class. They made the information flow through different subjects. During

one class you came up with a theory and in the other class you actually built it.

From a teacher’s standpoint what I found fascinating is that teachers who worked at High

Tech High were on 1 year contracts that could be renewed every year. There in no tenure.

Teaches at High Tech High are given full autonomy over what they want to teach and how they

teach it. Some people think “well how are the kids all learning the same information that they all

need?” Well they’re not. The teachers are accountable for teaching what they think the students

need to learn and what is best for them. We also have to remember that these teachers aren’t

tenure and they only have 1 year contracts, they have to prove that they are doing their job. How

well a teacher is doing their job is not determined by a multiple choice standardized test. It’s

determined through the eyes of the parents at the exhibition night. What caught my eye but was

not exactly discussed throughout the video was the classroom climate. A lot of classrooms
provided natural light, lights were dimmed, some classrooms provided flexible seating, kids were

up moving around the room. And even the teachers were sitting at the tables with the students,

sitting on the counter, talking casual walks around the classroom, sipping their starbucks. Not

once did I see a teacher stand at the front of the room and lecture to the students. A lot of people

think that learning is best in a classroom where kids are sitting working quietly at their individual

desks. This is not the case. Learning takes places where there is lots of movement, lots of noise,

and lots of activity. Overall, it gave me the idea that the learning environment was very positive

and comfortable.

Education is all about the skills that we need to be successful independently. It’s

important to teach those skills such as being self aware. When Samantha spoke out about being

shy and she wanted to fix that the teacher asked her how she identified that within herself, what

is the process that she is going to use to fix it and gain confidence, and explained how important

it is to learn from constructive criticism.

High Tech High used project based learning and focuses on student centered learning. It

teaches students how to work together and make decisions. They can’t make decisions sitting in

rows and being told what to do all the time. Making up their own play involved the student’s

collaborating, making decisions, problem solving, taking leadership, and creatively thinking.

This is where the parents get worried that they are not learning content. Parents are concerned

that because there are no grades, homework, or testing that they are not learning. They are

concerned that if teachers are not teaching specific content how will they get into college? Are

they still going to be learning the curriculum that they need to pass the SATs? A SAT tutor

informed us how he prepares his students. He basically tells them to think predictable, black and
white. The SAT is a predictable multiple choice, factual, test. There is no area for creativity and

this test tells nothing about citizenship readiness or the character behind the test taker. But

today’s students have been drilled with the fact that they need to pass the test. The “pass the test”

mindset is based on memorization, remembering just enough to get through the test and then it is

gone. The teacher gave the students in his class two options, would you rather me teach you how

to ace the test or would you rather me teach you skills that will help you later in life. I actually

was not shocked when the majority of the students said they wanted to ace the test, “I want to ace

the test to get to college and get a job.”

Those that will succeed in life are those who are resourceful, resilient, willing to learn,

and those that will continue to learn. High Tech High is teaching students more than just content.

They are strategically teaching students the content that they need to succeed in the real world. If

you can’t explain to a student why they are learning it, then why are you wasting your time

teaching it. We must be able to teach skills to students and teach them how to apply those skills

in everyday life. We need to teach with a sense of purpose, not just to push kids through the

system and teach them to memorize information that means nothing to them.