Some interesting resources on ideas for 'fixing' education vis-a-vis the future of work.  The first, which shows the issues facing Europe (very similar) can be found at The Future of Education: Realizing Learner's Potential Across Europe.  Click on Download to peruse the report which is very informative both in style and substance.

The second resource is the recently published Brookings Institute/Brown University report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning ? 

I don't know if I'm just seeing more or if I'm just more aware, hence seeing more, on education, but these are worthwhile to review - 

 

In today's WSJ, Bret Stephens clearly states the underlying Israeli-Palestinian problem that most people think is solvable...but I do not.  The issue is existential, not territorial, as he points out, and it always has been and always will be.  Let me quote from the article:

So it would be a splendid thing for Israel to tear down its settlements, put the settlers behind its pre-1967 borders and finally reach the peace deal with the Palestinians that has been so elusive for so long. Except for one problem: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn't territorial. It's existential. Israelis are now broadly prepared to live with a Palestinian state along their borders. Palestinians are not yet willing to live with a Jewish state along theirs.

The Palestinians view all of Israel as settlements, not just Gaza and the West Bank! That's why when in 2000 ( Barak) and 2008 (Omert), when incredibly generous (I thought unreasonable) offers were extended to the Palestinians, they refused.  They want it all with no Jews present anywhere (hummm, where have we heard that before?) - to quote further:

Then there is the test case of Gaza. When Israel withdrew all of its settlements from the Strip in 2005, it was supposed to be an opportunity for Palestinians to demonstrate what they would do with a state if they got one. Instead, they quickly turned it into an Iranian-backed Hamas enclave that for nearly three years launched nonstop rocket and mortar barrages against Israeli civilians. Israel was ultimately able to contain that violence, but only at the price of a military campaign that was vehemently denounced by the very people who had urged Israel to withdraw in the first place.

As it happens, I supported Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, bloody-minded neocon though I am. On balance, I still think it was the right thing to do. By 2005, Israel's settlements in the Strip had become military and political liabilities. But there is a duty to take account of subsequent developments. And the sad fact is that the most important thing Israel's withdrawal from Gaza accomplished was to expose the fanatical irredentism that still lies at the heart of the Palestinian movement.

The withdrawal exposed other things too. For years, Israel's soi-disant friends, particularly in Europe, had piously insisted that they supported Israel's right to self-defense against the attacks on Israel proper.  But none of them lifted a finter to object to the rocket attacks from Gaza, while they were outspoken in denouncing Israel's "disproportionate" use of retaliatory force.

So, how do you negotiate a peace-treaty, a co-existence, with a party that, to quote their main financier, wants to wipe you off the map - not just your occupation of territory, but your existence?  We've been through this before, in fact, I lost 90 members of my family to someone who wanted the same thing, and we ended up with WWII.  How come such a little piece of land, with so few known natural resources, has troubled the world for almost 4000yrs when there are so many other 'richer' places to fight over? Hummm

 

Drew Carey, a native cleveland-o-phile, has partnered with Reason TV to do a series on Cleveland .  It's worth seeing.  Episode 2 is on fixing the education .  They go to Oakland to look at what's been done there that has worked in a demographic similar to inner-city Cleveland and then go to Citizen's Academy , a charter school in Cleveland that is making a difference.

There are caveats - these schools have much more autonomy than non-charter public schools, which we know, and the teachers have much more autonomy as well - partly because of how the schools are run and partly because they are not part of the teachers' union.  While their pay is less than in the public school, their autonomy is increased - which just goes to show that money is not always the primary motivator (read Dan Pink's DRiVE ) 

While many have said this for years, I think the US public education is reaching the tipping point: Central Falls, RI,  Kansas City, revisions to No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, etc.  Several issues seem to be  culminating to create some time of change:

• It's abundantly clear that, in generala, the current public education system isn't working; in some places it does, but there are more where it's an abject failure;
• Funding via property taxes is not ‘fair/equitable' and viewed by some as unconsitutional;
• Public education isn't teaching the skills necessary for our kids' to create future meaning and wealth; see www.slideshare.net/jbrenman/the-future-of-work-2361479 - our kids need skills beyond critical thinking, they need to think laterally, paradoxically, learn to fail fast, learn, apply, challenge status quo;
• Public education isn't even teaching the basics (reading, writing, ‘rithmatic) for many, let alone the future of work.

Why? There are lots of reasons, but I think a huge one is the breakdown of parental involvement.  When education is not viewed as important, or even understood, at home, parents don't encourage, require, support learning at home early on, it's an uphill battle.  Another big reason is a combination of the lack of teacher prep in how to engage kids' minds and hearts and keep order in the classroom without requiring all the kids to be on Ritalin along with unions that can't accept what's happening around them, trying to preserve the status quo.

I am blessed to be able to send my kids to a school that is preparing, encouraging, and enabling them to succeed in the future of work.  Lake Ridge Academy (www.lakeridgeacademy.org ) , an independent school, teaches kids, from Kindergarten on, to think critically, laterally, challenge the status quo, question (and find the answers themselves instead of being told), try, fail, learn and apply that learning, and do it all over again in a safe environment.  Teachers thrive on the success and insights of their students.  In 1^st grade, 1 of my son's friends brought in a toad on Monday; that week, the teachers made all the math, social studies, music, language arts, reading, art, drama, even french class, revolve around toads and frogs.  This couldn't happen in public school.  My 7^th grade son and 4^th grade daughter already envision the future of work for themselves.

There are pockets of this type of education in the public arena, but very rare.  I am accused of being part of the problem because I've chosen to take my kids out of the local public school...it is easier to blame others instead of tackling the politically incorrect, highly controversial issues that are destroying America's public education system. 

Jefferson stressed public education as a way to create good citizens. Citizens! In order to sustain democracy, good, learned citizens were required.  Others thought a united society would help prevent poverty and crime.  By the end of the 1800's, the rise of the Industrial Revolution, free elementary public education was available for almost all children.  Many public schools were funded by factories who needed workers (cheap labor = kids).  Public education focused on producing factory workers, not white collar workers. 200 yrs later, how different is it, really, honestly?

I don't have a lot of answers, and the ones I have are not universal.  But I believe this problem is at the root at so many others - the economy, health and healthcare, ethics, innovation, etc.  It is fundamental, and if it is not addressed, all our other systems are vulnerable and our solutions mere bandaids.  Is our country ready, and able, to truly address the hard issues, hard truths and move forward?

We all know these have been some very very hard economic times, and we have seen the duplicity, blatant unethical and immoral behavior from Wall Street to Main Street.  These are the brazen acts that make the headlines.   But, given the precariousness of jobs, the fear of losing a job, from the C-Suite to the line, how many good people have felt their ethics and values  compromised? 

While Mary Gentile has been doing her research on Giving Voice to Values for several years,  it may be most pertinent now.  Her recent article in HBR (March issue) provides some practical ways to handle increasingly challenging situations at work.  I was very blessed to have only had 1 significant challenge to my values while at AT&T,  and management that supported me.  But that was 20yrs ago.

We are living in a uncertain, changing, exciting, demanding, and for some, scary times.  Holding our ground remains critical, but not easy.