Effective Education

Effective Education

Maybe no one writes it more elegantly than Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica in Creative Schools.  They write –

Effective education is always a balance between rigor and freedom, tradition and innovation, the individual and the group, theory and practice, the inner world and the outer world.

Before educational reformers and standard setters go off half crazed with enthusiasm for the latest thing – the latest fad, the latest “revolution,” perhaps they should do some reading and some thinking.

It seems we are all too prone to move too quickly into educational reform without fully considering and laying the groundwork for what we want that reform to become.  Robinson and Aronica write it so well – that real reform is about finding the balance between all the elements of what it means to be educated.

And almost all of the time, their frame of reference has to do with high school or secondary education.  It is unusual that higher education has somehow escaped the throes of unbridled reform efforts – though in many cases higher education might be the best place to test reform efforts.

When we experiment with educational reform, we must always be aware that we are experimenting with the education of adolescents.  To do so in an unbalanced way is irresponsible.

Robinson is right – let’s find the balance between the movements in education reform, remembering always that a sound and solid education is the best preparation.