Being Institutionalized

While at a meeting this week, the speaker noted that as the organization we are a part of grew, it became more institutional in the way it managed tasks. He also opined that this was not necessarily a good thing.

The parallel to education revealed itself immediately. As the education system has metastasized towards amorphous entities with increasingly narrow goals, teaching practices have become standardized, even scripted in many cases. The narrow goals result in what I like to call the 'franchising' of education - the same experience for every student in every place.

This works well with hamburgers. A Big Mac in Philadelphia tastes the same as a Big Mac in Riverton, Wyoming. But does the same hold true for education? No - because the ingredients are too different. Students in Riverton would likely have an understanding and appreciation for the outdoors that Philadelphia students might lack. And in Philadelphia, students have access to an arts scene that would be foreign to kids in Wyoming. Within any classroom, you will find students with different experiences, enthusiasm levels and learning styles. Squeezing them all through a narrow set of goals reduces education to a matter of least common denominator - the bare minimum that must be mastered rather than taking advantage of the multiple gifts that students come to school with.

The least common denominator, the standardization of the experience reflects the institutionalization of education. Students, parents, teachers and schools need more choices, developed with the best interests of all in mind. This means more local control, more choices, and validation of the belief that there are many ways to be productive in this world.

Would more choices be tidy? Certainly not. But it is hard to argue that there are not already plenty of messes to clean up. I would much rather see achieving maximum potential as our goal, rather than settling for minimum standards.