Friday, February 12, 2010

Change

For some reason I just realized that my job isn't about technology.  Nor is it about education, per se.  Its really about change.  I guess on a subconscious level, I knew this, but I just now verbalized it for the first time.  My job is really about getting educators, and thereby education, to change.  The technology and instructional coaching that I give teachers isn't really about the technology or the instructional advice.  Those are just the mediums to getting to the bigger picture--that the institution we call education must change.  We are a 100-year-old institution that has only remotely changed in that time, although the rest of the developed world has changed constantly and in an on-going fashion. 
Specifically thinking about change, I think I spend most of my time trying to convince our staff (and really anyone who will listen) that there is a level of urgency that we must adopt if we wish not to fall further behind other nations out-distancing us with their levels of education.  I know it is a systemic problem as well, as other countries value teachers, and education in general, more than we do.  As one example, in some countries teachers are given up to 25 hours of professional development time each week to home their skills and practice their lessons.  In other places, teachers are paid on the same level as engineers (while I know no one enters the profession for money, it helps to attract the best and brightest when the pay scale is high).
So, knowing these facts and realizing that my job isn't about technology and teaching as much as it is about change, maybe I should make sure that I'm sending this message to more than just teachers and administrators as well.  I think our policymakers should be getting this message as well.  I wonder if they are?

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