What is School?

One day I was once asked to answer these questions...

"Share your thoughts about the notion of schooling. Through the advent of the Internet, how has the notion of school changed? Consider the adaptations necessary for schools, teachers, and students. How do you imagine this will continue to change? After reflecting on these questions, write your own definition of "school."

A simple and superficial definition of "schooling" is that it is a process of developing a set of skills.

How has the Internet changed our notion of school? Well, the Internet has altered our senses as it relates to perceived limitations of various cognitive and physical functions in time and space, as it relates to the acquisition of data and information.

As an example, 20 years ago I would have had absolutely no clue as to how to find information about the basics of "militant Islam." I would assume that I would have had to get in my car and drive to various physical sites, where I would have to ask complete strangers in the hopes of finding someone that I could ask about "militant Islam."

So, time and space placed limitations on my abilities to acquire the information that I desired and deemed relevant to my specific needs.

Today, I would go to Google, Yahoo, or one of the multitudes of search engines, and type in "militant Islam" in the text field and select from a myriad of options. Time and space are no longer a hindrance to my desire to find and learn "data/information x" within a particular context.

As it relates to the question of how will schools, teachers, and students have to adapt, I find several interesting possibilities. However, even before discussing this cultural evolution, a more practical question to ask is "What's the purpose of school? What's worth learning" (Plato's Republic). However, I shall digress. At this point, I’ll offer a simple definition simply for the sake of this particular exercise…

School: A "place" where one develops skills to help live a good life.

Obviously there are numerous debates to be had as it relates to what skills one should acquire and develop. Also, as a good Socratic would question, who gets to define the simple meaning of the word "good?" Does the state, the individual, or the family get to define this particular word? Again, for the sake of this exercise, I would take the Socratic view that “good” is “…all words and deeds which lead to the betterment of an individual and others around them, or at least does no harm.” With all that having been said, let’s look at the nature of the education establishment within our current society, as it relates to the question of how schools will “adapt,” then make mention of the cultural evolution technology has wrought.

Since I would argue the perceived failings of the public school system is due to the backwards approach the education establishment has taken in its perceived importance to our society.

Again, of all the major professions within our society, the schools are always the most backwards and passive. In medicine, new research leads to new methods, which in turn lead to new expectations within our society. In law, new precedents lead to “new” or evolving societal expectations as it relates to reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, immigration status, etc. In the military, certain aspects of basic training are being revised due to the “new” or evolving fighting conditions within Iraq and Afghanistan. Again, this is leading to new expectations within our society of what a soldier, marine, airman, or seaman is.

However, in the United States public school system, there is this entrenched belief that the school system has all the answers and the students must submit or suffer according to what the school system believes should be important to society. In so doing, this leads to a disconnect at times, between the schools and the communities they are theoretically to serve.

In some communities “school” means different things. As an example, where I teach, my students are the sons and daughters, for the most part, of lower “middle-class” laborers. These are guys and girls who like auto shop, wood shop, and if we had it they would most likely excel at metal shop, electrical shop, and the other trades.

In fact, at our school we have a “construction team.” Its teacher, has been recognized by the state of California as one of the most innovative teachers in the state. The team consists of over one hundred students, who actually go out in the community, on their own time, willingly, and construct various “public works” projects around the community. Projects such as doing home repairs for lower income homeowners, pouring concrete at a private construction site, and building wheel-chair access ramps to those who need it around the community are just a few of the projects. In fact, there was some “build a dollhouse” competition, god knows where, and one of “our” students spent 6 months designing it, constructing it, and finally displaying it. I mean this thing was 6 feet tall and about 10 feet wide, it had two stories, it had electrical, and it had furniture. This thing was “tricked out.” He won first prize. He earned a $1,000 scholarship. Then someone purchased it from him for $2,500. He also failed my history class and two other “important” academic classes.

I talked to him about his plans for the future. He’s going to work for his uncle’s construction company. He figures he knows how to write his name, he knows not to stick his finger in the electrical outlets around his house or in public buildings, he knows to look both ways before crossing the street, he knows he’s not allowed to rob banks or commit murder, he can read and write simple sentences, he can count up to a trillion if he had to, he can do simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and does daily in wood shop (yes, he failed Algebra II). Yet, he’s been put on “academic probation” and threatened with being “kicked out” off the construction team if his grades don’t improve. Amazing!

He said if that happens he’ll drop out, get his GED, and go to work for his uncle.

The point of this is that for some the public schools are not working not because the teachers are bad (some are), the parents don’t care (some don’t), or the students don’t care (some don’t). The reason why there are issues within our society is that the school establishment doesn’t get it. The schools are there to serve the society. Just as the law, medical, and military establishments are designed to serve society. The schools should not make demands of the market that the market does not wish to meet.

So, before we start addressing how “technology” will lead to the evolution of a “new and improved” school system, let’s look at the issue of community relevance and the concept of the school reflecting and representing the needs of a particular community.

Now, how does the “technological” evolution of our society potentially impact our schools, future teachers, and students?

It’s simple, as the iPhone and Rock Band generation grow up, they will become the future teachers. An understanding of how data is acquired and how information is harvested from that data will naturally evolve, and a new “paradigm” of “what school is” will emerge. Nonetheless, I would argue that 25 years from today, or 100 years from today, the basic underlying foundation of "what school is," will be similar.

School: A "place" where one develops skills to help live a good life.