Much of the discussion around education reform is centered on how to transform failing schools into good schools. I agree that we should focus on providing a good education to all kids.
Here’s the problem - I don’t think good schools are actually good! The problem is that we’ve set the bar for “good” too low. Getting good standardized scores and attending college is not what we should be aiming for.
Why do I say that? Most good schools squash intellectual curiosity. They atrophy the trait that kids need most to succeed in a modern economy.
I went to a highly-ranked public high school, was an A student, and walked out with zero interest in learning. I did what I had to do to get the grades. It was only after a few years away from formal schooling that I rediscovered that learning is actually enjoyable.
I think it’s possible to have kids come out of high school with their intellectual curiosity intact - e.g. they voluntarily want to learn something! Crazy right?
Yes, teenagers are also interested in sex, drugs, and rock and roll (or whatever the modern equivalent - likes, Drake, and smartphones?). But I don’t think they mature out of the interest in learning that they all start out with in elementary school; we slowly bleed it out of them, day by day, forcing them to learn material they’re not interested in through the dullest possible methods.
Sure, what is called a good school today is better than a bad school, and I’m grateful I attended the former over the latter. But we can achieve far more than what most good schools deliver today. (1)
Instead of test scores and college attendance, I’d optimize for the following:
Nourishing curiosity.
Mastery of key skills and knowledge.
Confidence in their ability to learn anything.
Connection to mentors and the broader community.
How would I get there? I have some ideas, but maybe more important than the ideas are the approach. We’ll start with culture, much like KIPP and Success Academy did. Our culture will be one of relentlessly experimenting and iterating to build a school that delivers on the above goals. We’ll track other innovative schools and borrow whatever works.
School Design
Here is where I would start:
Incentives and motivation. Hey, I’m trained in economics, so you shouldn’t be surprised I start with incentives right? In my school, kids would have a core set of skills they have to master and then once they’re done, they get to choose what they work on. If a kid knows that today they’ve got to figure out multiplication of fractions and then they can get back to what they’re interested in doing, you’ll see motivation shoot through the roof. See my observations from AltSchool for a similar idea.
Learn how to learn. We talk about how in the modern world the most valuable skill is learning how to learn. But what is often missing is what exactly does “learning how to learn” entail?
There’s an old adage in filmmaking - show, don’t tell. I’m a fan of the growth mindset, but we need to stop telling students about it and have them demonstrate it to themselves by experiencing rapid learning. There is a whole toolkit of techniques our students will master:
How to practice. Students will choose from a variety of hands-on projects and learn deliberate practice (see here for some background). These projects are where they are going to discover how much they can learn. They’re going to go from zero to expert on at least one skill while they’re in school.
The students get to choose what interests them - whether it’s sports, music, art, whatever. Then we use deliberate practice to show them how far they can go. You love basketball? Ok, we’re going to show you how good you can be. Get ready to work your ass off. Skateboard design? Ice sculptures? Fine and fine. (2)
Imagine the confidence a student will gain in a) seeing their skills go far beyond what they thought and b) seeing how a deliberate practice approach can be applied anywhere.
Where are these projects coming from? For one, the whole school’s operations would be up for grabs. Interested in marketing? Help manage the school’s social media account. Interested in coding? The school website needs some work. Cooking? Hello cafeteria. You get the idea. Beyond the school I’d be looking for heavy community involvement to provide other opportunities (more on this below). I don’t think you can keep kids engaged with purely made-up/artificial school projects. The real-world is fascinating - kids need to taste it earlier.
A quick observation on deliberate practice and the education industry. In professional circles, deliberate practice is a well known method for learning quickly. Yet, it’s mostly non-existent at educational conferences and discussions of K-12 schooling. That seems bananas to me.
Habits. In the age of smartphones the ability to focus and dive deep into a problem is becoming more scarce. One of the primary habits I’d seek to teach is the ability to shut out distraction so that you can “deep work”. We’d also generally teach the power of habit - how changing one habit at a time can be transformational. The students’ deliberate practice project will enforce a habit of daily practice.
Memory. Imagine that your Spanish class started with not Spanish, but some basics about how memory works. You need to remember 1000 words to have basic fluency, so lets talk about the most effective ways to remember those words. These memory techniques are well established, yet we don’t teach them! Why??
Focused and diffuse modes of thinking. When should you bear down on a problem and when should you take a break?
How to study. Another area where we know a lot and yet students rarely hear that re-reading their notes or highlighting their books are a waste of time.
Exercise. Research shows that exercise and healthy brain development go hand-in-hand yet we’ve cut back on recess time! What!? Kids should have multiple breaks throughout the day to get outside and exercise.
Sleep. Another area where research clearly shows that students do better if they sleep more. Our school’s start time will be set to enable as much sleep as possible. If kids need a nap, that’s fine too!
Do less of the traditional curriculum, but do it to mastery. If we’re doing all this hands-on stuff, clearly we need to cut back somewhere. I’d make a lot of what we consider traditional schooling optional. There are fundamental skills every person needs to succeed - basic math, reading, writing. So we’d spend more time getting students to master things like using percentages and writing well. We’ll experiment with how to get to mastery in as little time as possible. I think incentives/motivation is a great starting point - I’d add these three tactics:
Hands-on, engaging curriculum. Textbooks are soul-crushing. Lectures are boring.
1-1 tutoring time. If our goal is mastery as fast as possible, the research shows this is the way to go. Yes, I know 1-1 tutoring doesn’t seem possible to scale - but with technology I think that’s solvable.
Students teach each other. Teaching is a great way to master a subject and it also enables more 1-1 tutoring time.
Do survey courses on other topics, going deeper is optional. Think biology, chemistry, physics, advanced math, creative writing, government, history. For example, I’d have something like a foundations of science class who’s goal would be the mastery of the basics of all of biology, chemistry and physics. Goal here is two-fold:
Let students taste a variety of subjects to determine if they want go deeper.
Cover the “must have” knowledge that allows you to confidently navigate the intellectual world - evolution, cells, atoms, gravity, government structure, important historical events, etc..
Community. There is a great opportunity here to solve two problems at once.
Problem #1 is that modern society lacks community. We used to have churches and the rotary/elk/masons/shriners/lions clubs. For many people, those have gone out of style, but haven’t been replaced by other ways for communities to come together. I think people would be excited to be part of schools - to help kids learn and grow - but you have to give them a path to do it. Parents would play a much bigger role in my school than a traditional one. But I’d go beyond parents - I’d be heavily recruiting from the community to get involved.
That leads to problem #2 - that I don’t think you can deliver schooling effectively with just full-time teachers. If I want kids engaged and curious, I need them exposed to people from different backgrounds and experiences. I need opportunities for them to do hands-on projects in the real-world. I need mentors. If a kid loves cars, I need a mechanic in the community willing to have a kid learn in his shop.
Mentorship. All these hands-on projects and community involvement open the doors for natural mentorship opportunities - maybe it’s a parent, maybe it’s an older student, maybe it’s someone from the community.
Add the “missing” core skills to school. Beyond the mastery of the core math, writing, and reading, I’d advocate for some practical skills to help students navigate the world. How do we have time to learn the English monarchs but not this?
Careers and educational choices. First and foremost, students need guidance to help make the next decision in their lives - what career to pursue and how to get there (college, etc.). Students should know what types of jobs there are and what they involve. Take “career day” type of material and multiply it by 10x. Students should understand the various types of schooling options and what the trade-offs are in terms of cost, average salary of different majors, etc.
Personal finance. Stop playing the stock picking game and hammer home compounding returns (both on debt and investment), index funds, how credit works (credit cards, mortgages, credit reports), and what sort of budget they might have depending on their career choice.
Nutrition and exercise. Does it bother anyone that we feed our kids total crap in the cafeteria? Lets use lunch-time and gym-time to go over the habits that lead to long-term health. Students should know how to choose and cook healthy food and build a workout routine.
Economics. The economic way of thinking is fundamental to making good personal decisions and being an informed citizen. We’ll cover the key ideas of micro and macroeconomics.
Travel. Travel goes hand in hand with curiosity. I’d seek to infuse as much exposure to other cultures and places as possible. Don’t think busloads of students visiting a museum. Think a small group of students who are interested in cooking visiting a local chef.
Character and mind. We’ll go over the basics like a how to talk to an adult (e.g. look them in the eye, don’t check your phone while they’re talking). We’ll introduce some of the basics for a healthy mind - mindfulness, journaling, etc.
Everyday skills. How to change a tire, hang a picture, unclog a drain, perform CPR, etc. I’m in Maryland so crab picking will also be taught.
Curriculum design. Textbooks are boring and unlike anything you use to learn outside of school. The right materials can make a subject come alive. Take my field - economics. Imagine being introduced to inflation with this video. Compare that to a typical textbook treatment. Those sorts of materials are out there - The Big History Project, the Love of Reading course from Success Academy, etc.
Additionally, in the real world you don’t get “the single answer” in the form of a textbook, but we have to deal with differing takes and opinions - how does one sort through it all? Part of learning how to learn is navigating the internet and the world of books, and thinking critically about the information you’re receiving.
Forget grouping kids by age. Skill level and interest will drive how kids are grouped.
Student Outcomes
Imagine at 18 years old walking out of school with the following:
At least one skill that you’re REALLY good at - you’ve experienced what deliberate practice can do and are confident you can do it again.
A love of learning - you have several topics you’re eager to explore.
Deep knowledge of what school and career options you have, and how to navigate the pros and cons of your next step.
A handful of mentors who you feel comfortable leaning upon.
Mastery of math, reading, and writing.
Understanding of personal finance, economics, and personal health.
Mastery of the “self”. How to use habits and deep work. How to overcome digital distractions.
BACKGROUND ON MY SCHOOL PROJECT
This post is the first in a series on developing a new type of school. Below are the follow-ups. If you’d like to get notified of new posts, sign up below.
Design Questions. I put on my skeptic hat to identify all the ridiculous assumptions and unanswered questions behind my dreamy vision.
Building a Curriculum Around Deliberate Practice. How to do it?
My Deliberate Practice Experiment. How I picked a skill and a coach to experience deliberate practice first-hand.
Notes
1. There are some exceptions here. See my list of innovative schools. To be clear, I stand and applaud those like KIPP or Success Academy who have successfully provided a good education to kids in the roughest of neighborhoods. The work they've done is amazing and there are few organizations I can say do more on a daily basis to improve the lives of others.
2. Yes, I know this seems operationally impossible to pull off - designing deliberate practice structures and coaching for each student is nuts. No, I don’t have the answers on how we’ll do it. But it’s what kids need, so we’ll figure it out.