It's all Apples and Oranges for Teachers

The current cast of education reformers , the billionaire pseudo-reformers and the disconnected political elite, love to compare the American education system with those of various foreign nations. That is fine, as there is much to be learned from this comparative study.

The problems arise when we attempt to take bits and pieces of one system and incorporate them into our own different system. A system, by definition, implies an entirety of parts working as a whole. Yet, the system does not function as a whole when the parts do not mesh. It becomes an apples and oranges thing.

A recent study released by Harvard suggests that our “college for all” model is hurting some of our students who would benefit from an alternate pathway (see the Sir Ken Robinson video in my prior posting). The study and its implications was well summarized by this article in the Christian Science Monitor.

The article states that 40-70% of students in some European nations opt for a career technical pathway. “In Finland, where income class is the least predictive of achievement among OECD countries, 43 percent of kids at age 16 opt for a three-year program that mixes work with learning and moves them to the labor market,” states the article.

This is of interest because many of the pseudo-reformers have highlighted Finland as an example of a successful system (see my article Fakes, Finance, and Finland). They mention a system of standards and accountability, but among the things they leave out, is that Finland offers valid and accepted alternate pathways for students to follow.  This is an integral part of providing an equitable education system and meeting the needs of all students.

Think of the student buy-in and affirmation (a la Sir Ken Robinson) a system like this can generate!

In my small California district, funding has all but dried up for career technical education. There are no alternative pathways. So while we are being pushed by the pseudo-reformer movement to be more like Finland in some ways, these reformers are stripping other programs that would complete the system. The reforms are myopic.

We are left with disparate parts that do not mesh. Apples and oranges. We are expected to educate students with differing needs in the same manner.  That is unfair to the students.

As a teacher, I appreciate receiving the occasional apple and even an orange, but I don’t appreciate when the two get confused. So, keep your apples and oranges straight and reclaim public education!