from Wrench in the Gears
March 21, 2018
No, Ted Dintersmith is not coming to save our schools, because to him
they’re obsolete. Last week Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post pitched
Ted Dintersmith’s new book “What School Could Be,” and many ed-activists ate it
up. I thought by now a “philanthropic” white male technocrat investor with
absolutely no teaching experience coming on the scene to tell us how to fix our
broken-on-purpose schools would be met with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Dintersmith might say what we want to hear. His pitch might validate our
concerns about punitive high-stakes standardized testing and the psychological
damage caused by developmentally inappropriate education standards. He may
criticize AP classes and the College Board; but if it sounds too good to be
true, it probably is. Consider his quote from a recent EdSurge article “the
focus should really be on funding schools the produce future entrepreneurial
adults, instead of entrepreneurial adults today funding obsolete schools.”
Dintersmith’s is the face of Ed Reform 2.0. The new paradigm for education
he envisions replacing our “obsolete” schools with is one where:
Competency or mastery-based
education is the norm.
Skills are uploaded to online
portfolios via apps.
Mindsets and habits of work are
tracked.
Children teach one another.
Students are expected to be “in
charge” of their learning.
Teachers become “mentors;” or
are even replaced by volunteers.
Out of school internships are
prioritized.
Instruction may be outsourced to
community or work-based organizations.
Students are expected to have a
passion and a pathway to the workforce.
With such a model, bricks and mortar schools and certified teachers could
wither away and eventually disappear.
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