"A Hole in the boat is a hole in the Whole Boat"

Recently I was honored to participate as a panelist discussing the topic of Education in America. The audience was a mixture of private and non-profit chief executive officers from the Nashville area. The topics included fiscal constraints, promises of technology, alternatives to traditional educational delivery models, Charter schools, athletics, vouchers, and the future of education.

Comments and remarks on these topics varied, as one would expect.

I did make the opportunity to ask the audience to reflect and write what they believed to be the purpose of education. After a few moments, I asked the audience on the count of three to verbalize their purpose.

After the audience spoke, I turned to Dr. John McLaughlin, Executive Vice President of Research and Analytics, Education Services of America and asked, “Could you discern a clear message, a clear purpose?”

He smiled, laughed, and said “no”.

I went on to offer that for the past decade possibly longer, we have not had a clear aim or purpose of education. The purpose of education has been debated from time eternal. As the audience demonstrated, there is not clear agreement on the purpose or aim of education. As such, it is not surprising that there is conflict within and between all expressions of community – towns, counties, cities, states, regions, schools, school systems, and etc.

The lack of agreement is also center to the funding of education.

The absence of a clearly defined purpose is, in part why education is defined by a single metric – a test score.

As I provoked the audience further, I asked them to write down their high school grade point average (GPA.) as well as their Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score. As they did I asked, what were the skill, knowledge, and experience sets that have caused them to be successful today. Did their GPA or SAT scores reflect these?

My point was that the habits or disciplines of learning are more than a GPA or SAT score. What was it about the education that many received in the 60’s and 70’s? What was it about learning to use our minds well, learning to relate, and learning to decide that allowed us to become who we are today?

This age of accountability as defined by test scores is actually very dangerous and only stands to get worse.

Without a clear purpose or aim of education, creating a generation or two of learners that can take tests but can’t create, innovate, or use their imaginations to solve real life, real world problems may be just what the policy makers envisioned for the future of Americans.

Had I been a little more thoughtful in my remarks, I would have used this vignette from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland between Alice and the Cheshire Cat.

Alice asks, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don't much care where--," said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

"-- so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

We have for almost four years been redefining, repurposing education in Anson County. It starts first with a clear aim, clear purpose that goes far beyond a test score. Building the capacities in our learners with the enduring skills, habits and disciplines of learning requires relentless pursuit of the basic skills to be sure. However, we must remind ourselves that the basic skills and proficiency are merely the starting line not the finish line. We must stay the course!