I talk A LOT about innovation on this site. I think innovation is so important that I incorporated the term into the title of this blog. Today, I am going to share a real world example of why critical thinking and creativity must be cultivated in our public schools.
Folks, the standardized assessment focus is going to fail our students on macro scale if we don’t pivot rapidly to experiential learning. In fact, it already is failing students. Students simply don’t need those test-taking skills after 12th grade with the exception of passing engineering, medical, and law certification exams. Test prep is of minimal value in real life. Many schools systems are pouring vast amounts of education dollars down the drain as the workforce (which students are currently entering) looks nothing like the archaic test prep environment which just they spent 13 years of their lives being immersed in.
I really enjoy good podcasts. My friends often send me great suggestions – they know my tastes. Here is a share of my own. Mike Rowe (of Dirtiest Jobs and Deadliest Catch) interviewed Ethan Thornton of Mach Industries. I am about halfway through this. It is a must-listen if you are an educator interested in learning.
The first thing that jumps off the page is that it is time to get old people out of education Central Offices and put young innovators in their place. Don’t think so? Go listen to this guy. We need someone like him designing lessons and curriculum for our students here in Kingsport. I am not saying innovators will all be young, BUT many of them are indeed young. I can just about guarantee that a Central Office filled with elite, innovative people who are in their 20s or 30s….is gonna run circles around most in their 40s and 50s. Time to get younger and smarter!
Thornton talks a lot about how drones(used in wartime operations) have changed the way war is fought. Rowe reminds everyone that George Washington was in his early 20s when he began fighting as a leader during the French and Indian War of 1755. Thornton talks about near-peer-competition(love that term), asymmetrical innovation, and machine intelligence. He uses terms like institutional confidence – a genre of confidence which I don’t have right now re: education! He talks about Ender’s Game being a favorite book of his. Don’t think kids reading great books(not short texts!) is important? That guy read that book 5x!
When you listen to this podcast, you realize pretty quickly that what we are doing in education is woefully shortsighted when one considers the type of brainpower and creative thinking our country is going to need moving forward. As a final note, Ethan Thornton notes that drone tech often changes quickly on the battlefield in Ukraine. Adaptability and creativity is what separates success from failure along with the ability to mass produce new technology quickly from inception to final product.
The uncomfortable truth here? This is a kid who grew up playing video games, and that maybe benefited him as much or more than anything else he did growing up. Oof. It sure wasn’t test prep.
Enjoy the podcast. It is fascinating.
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