Why We Need More Kids Riding Bikes into Walls

The trailer for “Waiting for Superman” (the whole movie which I have resisted seeing in an effort to vote with my dollars) has a great clip of someone riding a bike into the side of a building in an attempt to land on the roof of said building.  Meanwhile the announcer has mentioned that school kids in the United States trail in every category of performance except one: confidence.

The clip of the guy riding the bike into the side of the building makes confidence seem like a bad thing.   I wholeheartedly disagree.  We need more kids riding their bikes into the sides of buildings.  Let me explain.

It is critical for the success and survival of our nation that we continue to innovate.  Bill Gates, Mark “there’s-a-sucker-born-every-minute” Zuckerberg, the Walton family and all the other billionaire pseudo-reformers would agree.  Their fortunes were all based on innovation and having the confidence to see these innovations to fruition.  

No doubt there was some self-deception going on as well.  Studies show that motivation and confidence are rooted in our ability to self-deceive, to make ourselves think that we are the best, that we will succeed.

High-stakes testing and the competitive nature of current pseudo-reforms have killed the creative and project-based style of education that makes confident innovators of our students.  We just have a lot of confident test takers (and stunt bicyclists).  To increase science and math performance (an objective of the Obama administration), do not make a more rigorous test, but allow for students to experience a more natural flow of investigation and learning.  This will only happen if the reigns are loosened on teachers who are currently saddled with standards covering a wide range of content and high-stakes tests that do not foster innovative and creative curriculum. 

So, while a good dose of self-deception may have helped make Bill Gates one of the richest people in the world, this same self-deception is hurting American education as he and others promote pseudo-reforms that do not serve the system of public education as a whole.  Wake-up and reclaim public education!  Believe me, you have the confidence to do it.