“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage… Unless we can make the philosophic foundations of a free society once more a living intellectual issue, and its implementation a task which challenges the ingenuity and imagination of our liveliest minds, the prospects of freedom are indeed dark. But if we can regain that belief in power of ideas which was the mark of [classical] liberalism at its best, the battle is not lost. ~F.A. Hayek, Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, p194
If children are allowed free development and given occupation to correspond with their unfolding minds their
natural goodness will shine forth. ~Maria Montessori
There are certain moments in my life where I feel like the world is telling me something. Times where so many of the conversations I have , ideas I am thinking about and articles I read converge, that I can’t help but listen. This is one of those moments.
We all know that how we educate children needs to change, that the public school system is not “working”. (I go further, and believe that it is inherently incapable of providing a truly valuable education that respects the individuality of the child.)
Most of the discussion of education has been negative statements, statements of what we don’t want. So what is the vision? What do we want out of education? What would be the very best outcome for society?
Now I don’t presume to know the Answer, but I will propose an answer (and I am curious to hear what you think!): We want innovators. We want creative problem solvers, critical thinkers. That is where the continued progress and prosperity lies. We want people who see a problem, and are empowered to fix it, or at least give it an honest try. We want people who see a need, and want to fulfill it. We want entrepreneurs. This call is universal. It goes beyond industry and sector, it reaches the very source of prosperity for all people, in all countries. A country of inspired innovators is a country of prosperous, perhaps even happy, people. The wonderful Maria Montessori said in chapter one of her book, The Absorbent Mind, “If help and salvation are to come, they can only come from the children, for the children are the makers of men.” The next question becomes what is the best way to develop the habits and insights of those “makers of men.” How do we inspire that wonderful quality of “tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”? Again, I do not presume to know the Answer. It is and always will be an evolving process but I have some ideas…
My current work is inspiring. I am honored to be in the company of a man working towards this: my boss, Jeff Sandefer, is an entrepreneur who, in addition to his many other contributions towards the cause of liberty, is making huge strides in how we approach higher education. The Pope Center for Higher Education put out an excellent article today regarding his prediction of the collapse of the US higher education system. As I work with him to develop a primary school curriculum we are making progress towards changing the very model of elementary education. Exciting times.
Here you will find an excellent speech that he gave on education.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
I think two conditions must exist in an environment (such as a school) if that environment is to cultivate innovators. First, the environment must be small enough that a beginner can have an impact on it. If a person feels like no matter what he does he won’t have any impact, even if he has good ideas, then why bother try? In a small environment the actual impact made by individuals can be demonstrated every day — that’s one of the obligations of a teacher in such an environment.
Second, the environment must have enough stability and continuity to be able to tolerate failure. There must be overlapping layers of support and interaction, such that when one person’s (student’s) project fails, it won’t bring the system down. Such conditions are most likely to exist in a relatively stable community with good institutional memory — not the kind of stability that enforces stasis, but rather the kind of stability that can fill in around temporary gaps (because it recognizes them as temporary). The contrasting case would be a community where everyone is new, all procedures must be invented from scratch, and no one has any experience of what works and what doesn’t — that’s a plan for anxiety, conflict, and instability.
At the university level, I’m an advocate for the decentralized residential college model — a model of organization that provides exactly these conditions. By creating a collection of decentralized, cross-sectional, semi-autonomous communities, we empower students, minimize the effects of failure, and and maximize the potential for individual creativity.
Here’s an introduction:
http://collegiateway.org/foundations/
Montessori’s a chick! I had no Idea. I mean, I knew she was italian.
I really like the quotes, particularly the MLK one. It’s a call to action and a call for responsibility. One of the greatest things about a free society is the responsibility that each one of us has for the justice of the system. Entrepreneurs are at the forefront of the search for justice. MLK was a social entrepreneur, while someone like Whole Foods founder John Mackey is a more traditional one. When I think about how much more choice and information we have when it comes to food, I immediately think about Mackey and Whole Foods and all the other stores that have popped up with similar efforts. I don’t, like some, think about government regulators or advocacy groups. I don’t look to some far off institution or bureaucrat to fix the problems I see around me. Which brings me to your point about prosperity. I completely agree that the engine of prosperity is critical thinkers, problems solvers, doers; in short, entrepreneurs. We have a long way to go; I wish you luck.
Rachel,
I agree that the current system is broken. And I believe fostering the entrepreneurial spirit is good, but I think expecting the kind of ambition and “self-selling” which necessarily accompanies the critical problem solving from all students is absurdity. I don’t think that is what you are advocating, but it seems like we need alternatives for students who want to learn how to feed the existing positive models instead of constructing new ones. Not everyone innovates, nor should they. We should be empowering people but there doesn’t seem to be justification for only empowering those who are changing things, some of our existing problems have resulted from preferring change without benefit. If you raise up a whole generation of innovators there will not be enough workers, and then you will simply have a series of changing plans and one man armies. Just rambling now… but I think you see what I’m trying to point to.