The Beginning of Something New

I've been thinking about starting an education blog for quite a while now. However, I've been struggling with exactly how I want to approach it. Education is such a massive topic. There are so many different issues involved that it is easy to lose focus sometimes. On the one hand, I don't want it to just be a place to rant and rave about the shortcomings of our current educational system. On the other hand, we can't talk about the future of education without thinking about areas that are in urgent need of transformation.

I have titled this blog "The Future of Education" because I have come to believe that one of our greatest roles as citizens of this country is to envision what we believe education needs to be, and focus our efforts on making that vision a reality. Every citizen, especially educators, needs to realize that we create the future. Since it doesn't yet exist we have a great opportunity to make it as we wish. That is powerful stuff! But it's also a great responsibility that we carry to be well-informed and open-minded enough to consider all of our options.

As an educator, I constantly hear uninformed (or misinformed) people making comments on the current state of education. And even worse, many of those individuals are actually the ones making educational decisions that are adversely affecting future generations of citizens. It seems to be more and more common for people to blame teachers for everything that is wrong in education. I heard it asked somewhere recently, "Why does America hate its teachers?" I've been pondering that question ever since. Indeed, I think that is the same quandary which has driven many would-be educators into more respected fields.

Although I agree that much is wrong with the current educational system, I will also tell you that a lot is right. Much of that doesn't make it to the media, but it's not all gloom. But at some point, we all have to get on the same team and think beyond our own individual interests in order to transform education into a form that is best for everyone. I hope the blog sparks conversations and initiates actions. Afterall, talking the talk is only important if we also walk the walk.

I think it's safe to say that the schools of the future aren't going to be anything like the schools the current generations graduated from. We'll change by design, and lead the way to our own vision or we'll change by default as technological and social changes drag us along leaving a messy trail of worn-out practices and ideas in the wake. The good news is that we have a choice, and we have time (but not much).