Recently, I read a book by author Tony Wagner titled Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World. The book covers a variety of topics within the scope of what it takes to create students who are innovators, including a look at who our students are today, the teaching practices that we use to teach them, and how our teaching practices are influenced by the college system. For this third post, I wanted to reflect on the third topic mentioned: how our teaching practices are influenced by the college system.
Another important issue highlighted in Wagner’s book is the role that the college system plays in education, both in grade school and beyond. In many schools, college is seen as the end goal for the students, and the courses and teaching methods are designed primarily to deliver college-ready students. As Wagner describes it:
The overwhelming majority of high school students in our country take courses and learn in ways largely dictated by the practices and perceived demands of colleges. Content for state tests...is also substantially determined by the perceptions of what students will need to get into college. What subjects are taught in high schools, as well as the teaching methods themselves, are profoundly influenced by the now near universal mandate that all high school graduates should be “college-ready,” meaning that they have taken and passed all the academic subjects required for admission into college. (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 5, “Rethinking College,” para. 1)
One large problem with this approach is that it focuses on preparing students for a system that they may or may not enter several years later rather than making the learning relevant to the students now. This type of education is preparing students for a very specific way of learning, and in the process, students who do not learn best in this manner are getting shortchanged.
One of the reasons why this approach may not be ideal for students is because the college system often is focused on research and not teaching. As Wagner states, “The simplest way to understand the university is to see that its ultimate purpose is to create and transmit knowledge. Research is the primary means for the creation of knowledge, and courses exist to transmit knowledge and to recruit promising new scholars who will go on to do graduate work and generate new knowledge” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 5, “Rethinking College,” para. 4). By teaching students in secondary school in a manner that is mainly preparing them to enter college, we are teaching them to be part of this system that focuses on research. While this may be beneficial for society because it increases our general body of knowledge, it is doing less to help educate and prepare students who won’t be part of this research system. This strong focus on research also leads to other problems in education, such as the quality of instruction. As Wagner states, “‘Publish or perish’ is the near universal dictum of the postsecondary world—meaning that, to get tenure, you have to publish articles and books based on your research. Teaching ability is rarely considered as important a qualification in most universities’ promotion and tenure policies, and few places exist where college instructors can get help to improve their teaching” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 5, “Understanding Obstacles...,” para. 18). Many professors may be great researchers, but that doesn’t make them great teachers, especially when they have not had any training in methods of instruction. Often, classes are not taught by the professors at all. Many university graduates can relate to the experience of sitting in large lecture halls—often filled with dozens, even hundreds, of students—learning from a teacher’s assistant because the actual professor was too focused on research to be able to teach any of the lower-level courses. Not only does the teacher’s assistant potentially lack the expertise of a professor, but he or she might have even less teaching experience too.
It is true that some thrive in the university system. If one is hoping to have a career as a researcher, there really is no better path. But what about those students who may have a strong passion for a subject or who are particularly inquisitive and tenacious but don’t do well in the structure of the current school system? In the book, Wagner describe such a student and the potential downfalls he might face, stating that “it’s not clear how Zander will gain the credibility he will need to pursue his sense of purpose in the future. We live in a credentialed society—and especially so in the scientific community” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 4, “The Danger of Labels...,” para. 2). Wagner points out that one of the barriers to that student’s success will be his lack of credentials and, therefore, a lack or respect and legitimacy in the scientific community. When the system is based so completely on a rigid academic hierarchy, students who cannot climb this academic ladder—or those who are not willing to play the game—are left with fewer options, and their chances for success in a chosen field are greatly diminished. This is one of the great disservices that we are doing to our students when we model our secondary school teaching around the systems and expectations of the college world.
Wagner, Tony (2012). Creating Innovators (Enhanced eBook): The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World. Scribner. Kindle Edition.
Another important issue highlighted in Wagner’s book is the role that the college system plays in education, both in grade school and beyond. In many schools, college is seen as the end goal for the students, and the courses and teaching methods are designed primarily to deliver college-ready students. As Wagner describes it:
The overwhelming majority of high school students in our country take courses and learn in ways largely dictated by the practices and perceived demands of colleges. Content for state tests...is also substantially determined by the perceptions of what students will need to get into college. What subjects are taught in high schools, as well as the teaching methods themselves, are profoundly influenced by the now near universal mandate that all high school graduates should be “college-ready,” meaning that they have taken and passed all the academic subjects required for admission into college. (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 5, “Rethinking College,” para. 1)
One large problem with this approach is that it focuses on preparing students for a system that they may or may not enter several years later rather than making the learning relevant to the students now. This type of education is preparing students for a very specific way of learning, and in the process, students who do not learn best in this manner are getting shortchanged.
One of the reasons why this approach may not be ideal for students is because the college system often is focused on research and not teaching. As Wagner states, “The simplest way to understand the university is to see that its ultimate purpose is to create and transmit knowledge. Research is the primary means for the creation of knowledge, and courses exist to transmit knowledge and to recruit promising new scholars who will go on to do graduate work and generate new knowledge” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 5, “Rethinking College,” para. 4). By teaching students in secondary school in a manner that is mainly preparing them to enter college, we are teaching them to be part of this system that focuses on research. While this may be beneficial for society because it increases our general body of knowledge, it is doing less to help educate and prepare students who won’t be part of this research system. This strong focus on research also leads to other problems in education, such as the quality of instruction. As Wagner states, “‘Publish or perish’ is the near universal dictum of the postsecondary world—meaning that, to get tenure, you have to publish articles and books based on your research. Teaching ability is rarely considered as important a qualification in most universities’ promotion and tenure policies, and few places exist where college instructors can get help to improve their teaching” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 5, “Understanding Obstacles...,” para. 18). Many professors may be great researchers, but that doesn’t make them great teachers, especially when they have not had any training in methods of instruction. Often, classes are not taught by the professors at all. Many university graduates can relate to the experience of sitting in large lecture halls—often filled with dozens, even hundreds, of students—learning from a teacher’s assistant because the actual professor was too focused on research to be able to teach any of the lower-level courses. Not only does the teacher’s assistant potentially lack the expertise of a professor, but he or she might have even less teaching experience too.
It is true that some thrive in the university system. If one is hoping to have a career as a researcher, there really is no better path. But what about those students who may have a strong passion for a subject or who are particularly inquisitive and tenacious but don’t do well in the structure of the current school system? In the book, Wagner describe such a student and the potential downfalls he might face, stating that “it’s not clear how Zander will gain the credibility he will need to pursue his sense of purpose in the future. We live in a credentialed society—and especially so in the scientific community” (Wagner, 2012, Chapter 4, “The Danger of Labels...,” para. 2). Wagner points out that one of the barriers to that student’s success will be his lack of credentials and, therefore, a lack or respect and legitimacy in the scientific community. When the system is based so completely on a rigid academic hierarchy, students who cannot climb this academic ladder—or those who are not willing to play the game—are left with fewer options, and their chances for success in a chosen field are greatly diminished. This is one of the great disservices that we are doing to our students when we model our secondary school teaching around the systems and expectations of the college world.
Wagner, Tony (2012). Creating Innovators (Enhanced eBook): The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World. Scribner. Kindle Edition.