This morning I was having a conversation with several educators from a local district. We were talking about the profession’s somewhat regular habit of considering adaptive problems through a technical lens or, just as often, forgetting to “peel the onion” on education challenges and only considering the first solution we come across. That got me thinking, “What are some of the big areas where it would be beneficial to peel the onion a few additional layers and dig a little deeper into the underlying challenges that face the profession?” Here’s what I came up with.
Solving time issues can’t result in using more time
The inspiration for this piece that I hinted at previously was a conversation about what generative AI can do for us better than we can do for ourselves. One of the areas we highlighted was the ability to provide feedback to more students in a shorter period. For instance, a teacher might use generative AI to provide initial feedback on student writing, allowing the students to revise a given piece before submitting it to the teacher. This sounds like a win-win. Students build their writing skills through repeated practice and revision, and the teacher can get double the amount of feedback in the hands and minds of students without having to review the writing twice. And, on a surface level, it is a win-win. However, as one teacher shared, we can’t confuse not adding more time to our plate with solving the problem of not having enough time to begin with. Her stance was that we need to solve the system-wide stressors that the profession is feeling currently and that the way to give students more opportunities for feedback is by helping educators have more time to do the work they were hired to do. I fully agree with this and know that systemic change takes lots of time, and in the time that change can take, we also have to make sure we continue refining our work, practices and approach.
Bans on anything can’t just be enforced on students
In New York, there is a significant conversation about moving to a “distraction ban” whereby some sort of policy, at least for schools, would be in place to remove electronic distractions so students can engage more fully. I won’t infer much more about this at the moment as I don’t want to pass judgment on any proposals before reflecting on them, and as of the time of this writing, there is nothing formalized to consider. What is worth considering now is that bans generally don’t work if they only apply to one segment of a given community. So, while the bans are being considered as a way to support student engagement, we all know that distractions are not age-specific. A phone is a phone is a phone, and adults are just as likely to be distracted by them as young learners. Does that mean that bans on staff should also be put in place? Maybe. Rather than suggesting that, though, I’m suggesting that when considering bans as a solution to a challenge, we peel the onion enough to ensure that a ban will solve the actual problem, whether it be about engagement, behavior, or something entirely different.
Changing programs doesn’t change systems
One of the biggest challenges our school systems currently face is the slow pace of change. We’ve seen it many times: Our schools are struggling in a certain area, so we have decided to change a program, curriculum, or series of resources. We pilot several resources, consider feedback, and decide to switch. We see some progress quickly, but then we stall and potentially see a decline in student results. After a few years of this, we decided that the program wasn’t delivering what we thought it would, and we prepared to explore other program options. And the cycle repeats. We’ve spent significant amounts of money, invested substantial time, and frustrated significant numbers of people. If we peel the onion a bit, we will recognize that the problem isn’t always with the program (though it can be the culprit occasionally). Instead, the problem is that change is messy and takes significant time, usually more time than we feel it should take. Working through the perils of change requires a different set of skills than picking a solid program, not the least of which is the patience and persistence to keep working and the ability to reassure all those who need it throughout the experience. The program might be the surface problem; the process is the underlying challenge.
Peeling the onion never makes a problem easier. It regularly makes the problem more difficult. What it also does, which we need now more than ever, is help us identify the real problems that we need to be putting our resources towards solving. When we successfully identify those actual challenges and ultimately solve them, we create significant benefits for our students, staff, and systems in ways that can never solve surface-level problems. What education issues are you peeling the onion for? I would love to hear how you identify the challenges that matter most.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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