No Room Schoolhouse
“The past is not past. The dead are not dead…”
As our modern society grapples with technology, I am reminded of the parable of the Red Queen from the childrenÂ’s book
Through the Looking Glass. In it, the Queen informs Alice that she must run as fast as she can just to stay in the same place. This metaphor inspired a theory of evolutionary competition between organisms and it describes many peopleÂ’s experience with society. In schools, the Red Queen theory is an especially apt metaphor because the richness of the studentÂ’s experience outside of school can only be maintained inside of the building if the majority of teacher energy is devoted to its maintenance. In the world of standards, tests, learning challenges, extra-curricular activities, etc, it is no wonder why schools are falling behind. The answer to all of this may very well revive and old idea, and perhaps put a new spin on it.
In the pre-industrial western society, a common view of education was promoted by the leading thinkers of the day. Dale Schunk writes in
Learning Theories: An Educational PerspectiveÂ…
“The writings of educational philosophers and critics also helped to establish the scientific study of development and improvement of education. A number of European philosophers, including Rousseau, Pestalozzi, and Froebel, wrote extensively about the nature of children. As their writings became better known in the United States, educators and others increasingly questioned whether U.S. education was appropriate for students. Rousseau (1712–1778) believed that children were basically good and that the purpose of education was to help develop this propensity. Teachers should establish one-to-one relationships with students (i.e., tutor/tutee) and consider their individual needs and talents in arranging learning activities. Above all, learning should be satisfying and self-directed; children should learn from hands-on experience and not be forced to learn. Pestalozzi (1746–1827) emphasized that education should be for everyone and that learning should be self-directed rather than rote—the dominant style of learning at the time in U.S. schools. Pestalozzi stressed the emotional development of students, which could be enhanced through close relationships between teachers and learners. Froebel (1782–1852) believed that children were basically good and needed to be nurtured starting at an early age. He founded the kindergarten (“garden for children”), which reflected his belief that children—like young plants—needed to be nurtured.”
This philosophic approach led to a dominant form of schooling in which small groups of children were taught in one room school houses by a teacher that was hired by the community to instruct students to whatever level of education that they desired to master. Most of the trappings of modern school were missing in those days. There were no age based grades, nor were there high stakes tests, or compulsory attendance laws, but there was a level of quality that far exceeds what we are able to generate now with modern school techniques.
Robert A Peterson writes in
Education in Colonial AmericaÂ…
“Literacy rates were as high or higher than they are today. A study conducted in 1800 by DuPont de Nemours revealed that only four in a thousand Americans were unable to read and write legibly. Various accounts from colonial America support these statistics. In 1772, Jacob Duche, the Chaplain of Congress, later turned Tory, wrote:
The poorest labourer upon the shore of Delaware thinks himself entitled to deliver his sentiments in matters of religion or politics with as much freedom as the gentleman or scholar . . . . Such is the prevailing taste for books of every kind, that almost every man is a reader; and by pronouncing sentence, right or wrong, upon the various publications that come in his way, puts himself upon a level, in point of knowledge, with their several authors.”
When compared to modern literacy rates among the various classes in the West, our modern schools have been failing our children for a long time. Then, when we consider the depth, breadth, liberty of information available to children outside of the school building because of technology, it has become apparent to this author that modern schooling, as we know it, is headed toward a Chixalubian event.
In July of 2010, an educational researcher named Dr. Sugata Mitra gave a TED talk that was posted in September. The link to the talk can be found at this link.
http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html
In the talk, Dr. Mitra demonstrates the self organizing power of children when it comes to their own learning. He shows how a small group of children, using modern technology, teach themselves complex concepts like advanced biotechnology to a degree that is equal to or greater than the best institutions in the West. Further, he shows how the slightest bit of mentoring brings children to even higher levels of achievement. When this capability is available to us now, the persistence of the institution of school, as we know it, is tragic. An entire of generation of children is being withheld the opportunity to experience education in far more effective and efficient way by a Red Queen that has grown too old to run.
The one room school and the world created by our technology have many things in common. I believe they can be combined into a new concept that will become an effective model of schooling in the 21[SUP]st[/SUP] Century. I call this model the No Room School. I will list many of the features of this school below:
1. Small groups – education in the future will be far more intimate then it is now. Students will rebel against the factory approach to schooling because their information life outside of school is so much more frenetic and exciting then the assembly line of curriculum. Teachers will need to know their students more intimately and have even stronger rapport with students in order to draw out those interests and bring out student achievement.
2. Mixed ages – The traditional system of age grading is a relic of the assembly line and it robs students of the chance to interact with students who are younger and older then they are. The kind of social skills that this interaction builds will be important in the future because the interface with technology is so impersonal at this moment. Having a chance to work with students of different ages, is going to develop skills in inter-personal communication that utilize empathy and role modeling.
3. Mentoring – the role of the teacher in this new type of school will be very different then a teacher in a traditional institution. Teachers will mentor a student their learning experience rather than dictate what that experience should be. This doesn’t mean that a student will never be taught anything in a systematic way. Perhaps the teacher or the proxy that the teacher arranges will instruct the student in some subject that they are passionate about.
4. Free access – to information, technology, and experience. Under the guidance of a trusted mentor, a student will have far greater access to resources then they would in a larger setting. Since technology is much easier to manage in small settings, students will have a far less structured and more intimate interface with everything. The student will learn how to develop the discernment they need for 21[SUP]st[/SUP] century learning.
5. A New Philosophy – No Room Schools are going to have to have a different philosophic approach when it comes to learning. Students will have to take principles and apply them broadly in their lives in order to fully embrace the freedom they will have. Principles like Non-Aggression Principles and the Principle of Self Ownership will create a peaceful and responsible climate within the school, preparing students to express themselves in the 21[SUP]st[/SUP] century society.
No Room Schools take the best parts of individual philosophy and combine them with the most modern technology available, creating the most dynamic learning environment in the world. They are unlimited in scope and can take place in physical and/or electronic space. They allow students more freedom to learn and explore their interests then students have had in over 150 years. No Room Schools transform the learning environment to the students needs and truly let the student evolve into the direction that is most inspiring to them. In the 21[SUP]st[/SUP] century there is no room for artificial barriers to learning. Every new gadget breaks them down as fast as traditionalists try to build them. We can take the walls down ourselves, or the students will do it for us.
