Tom Friedman Gets It Right For The 578th Time

Extending from his excellent flat world article (excerpted from the current best-selling book), Tom Friedman had a couple of excellent observations on education in his column Friday.

Not being an educator, I can't give any such advice. But my own research has taught me that the most important thing you can learn in this era of heightened global competition is how to learn. Being really good at "learning how to learn," as President Bill Brody of Johns Hopkins put it, will be an enormous asset in an era of rapid change and innovation, when new jobs will be phased in and old ones phased out faster than ever.

O.K., one ninth grader in St. Paul asked me, then "what courses should I take?" How do you learn how to learn? Hmm. Maybe, I said, the best way to learn how to learn is to go ask your friends: "Who are the best teachers?" Then - no matter the subject - take their courses. When I think back on my favorite teachers, I don't remember anymore much of what they taught me, but I sure remember being excited about learning it.

What has stayed with me are not the facts they imparted, but the excitement about learning they inspired. To learn how to learn, you have to love learning - while some people are born with that gene, many others can develop it with the right teacher (or parent).

This is not news for those of us making careers in education, but it is great that a prominent columnist is recognizing the fact that we are being out competed in a major way. Students that enjoy learning are going to be the people that allow the United States to continue to occupy an important position economically and financially in the world.

Learners often become innovators, and the culture of innovation in our public schools is not advancing on a par with what is going on in the rest of the world. We now spend a great deal of time and a large portion of our educational resources on testing students, and teaching them in ways that allow them score highly on tests. This seems to be a substantial sacrifice as part of an effort to make education more accountable. Students feel the pinch at testing time, and also when they are pushed through courses rapidly just to get them to the next course. Teachers often don’t have the opportunity to involve students in the activities that would foster a love for learning. They are often so pressed for time trying to cover curriculum so students can (hopefully) score on tests, that they can’t demonstrate the love for their content area, and education overall, that drove them in to this occupation in the first place.

This another case of our educational priorities being screwed up. Unfortunately, we may not know the whole cost of this faux-pas until our country has climbed down the economic ladder far enough that we can’t do anything to rectify the situation.