The Future of Education and the Social Learning Model

In their article, “Schooling as a Knowledge Profession,” Jal D. Mehta, Louis M. Gomez, & Anthony S. Bryk point out various flaws with the current educational system in America, the greatest of which being that we are still operating within a paradigm that mirrors the antiquated trends of the industrial age.  This is a system under which there is a superintendent who oversees the workers, and when there is a problem with productivity, that superintendent is responsible for solving the problem.

Such has been the system of education in America wherein there is a school board that hands down a method of education and teachers who are obligated to comply with these methods.  The problem with this system, as Mehta, et al., have indicated, is that there is simply too much distance between the school boards and the students.  Oftentimes, they haven’t the slightest idea of what educational methods actually work.  In light of these facts, the educational system until now has been more based on theory than practice: that is, we use methods that we think should work, and not what we have proven to work.

The authors of this article, and many others, including those of us at Eduplanet21, have begun to reconsider the model of education used in this country.  Instead of the outdated industrial model, they propose what they call a “social learning model.”  Mehta, et al. put it best: “What’s distinctive about this model is its emphasis on seeing schools less as implementers of programs from above, and more as coherent learning and problem-solving organizations that analyze and address problems of practice.”

Within this system, educational reform will no longer be in the hands of those who do not spend time in the schools, but instead it will come from a diverse network of minds both outside and inside the school, owing to the possibility that effective reform could come from anywhere.  Mehta, et al. conclude their article by saying, “in the world we envision, researchers, practitioners, and commercial partners will enter into a new and vibrant partnership where each contributes its distinctive expertise.”

Indeed, the future of education reform will most likely not come from a source that we expect.  With this in mind, the new social learning model will be a most valuable asset to the American educational institution as we move forward.