Squaring the Circle and Circling the Square: A July 4th Wish for Educational Improvement

The two adages in this title involving squares and circles help us think through needed improvement across the educational pipeline that runs from birth through adulthood. The historic meaning and upcoming celebration of July 4th provides critical insights too. Viewed together, they provide a pathway forward. We can improve educational outcomes with squares, circles and independence.

Squaring the circle is an ancient phrase with roots in geometry where the goal is to convert a circle into a square with minimal steps; it has come to mean, “doing the impossible.” The circle getting the square has its origins in an American television game show Hollywood Squares where right answers got a circle in a human tic-tac-toe game where celebrities were in stacked squares; it has come to mean, “scoring a point.” Among the many meanings of July 4th, a truly American tradition, is independence – celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the 13 Colonies as they separated from Great Britain. 

It is fair to say, regardless of one’s political persuasion that our educational system can be improved; we may differ on how to make needed improvements (including importantly and preliminarily what those improvements should be) but make no mistake about this: we are far from being satisfied that we have a quality educational approach for all children and adults in the United States. And, we need quality educational outcomes to insure that jobs of today and tomorrow are filled with qualified workers, that our communities thrive and that our citizenry participates in our hard-fought Democratic process – a process for which we have risk and continue to risk life and limb. For those of us who get Baby Boomers, we want to make sure the next generation and the generation after that inherit a world of which we can be proud.

The task of educational improvement, though difficult, is not impossible, particularly if we are willing to accept the fact that change is not immediate and some improvement is better than no improvement. This means we need to honor our victories – even small ones – as they move the proverbial needle. We can “score points” even when total victory is still far off. So, rather than being discouraged that we cannot move the needle 179 degrees, we should take some comfort in moving it 5 or 10 degrees consistently and with quality.

And this is where “independence” comes in: we need to be willing to breakaway from what we have done in the past and try new things with regularity and with pride. Like our predecessors fighting for freedom, we need to fight for change. For example, we need to consider new ways in which technology can create personalized education for both children and adults in ways we may not even have imagined. And we can’t be scared. We need to reflect on a broader definition of who counts as an educator, freeing ourselves of the notion that the only educators are those who are certified teachers or professors with doctorates. We must recognize that our best thinking comes when we are bold, when we move outside our comfort zone, when we think outside the proverbial box (square) and bend and meld solutions that work for our diverse students of all ages and at all stages. 

In other words and to return to squares and circles, we need to stop trying to square the circle and circle the square. We need, instead, to value both the square and the circle and work with them to improve their size and shape and capacities. To do that, the square and circle need to be thought about initially as independent of each other. Instead of banging heads and trying to convert circles into squares and squares into circles, let’s work to enhance each shape and those enhancements can take many forms. And, instead of forcing squares and circles into each other, why not figure out how best they can intersect – like a Venn diagram and then leverage those touch points? Finding good fits is better than forcing or wedging pieces together. There’s value in another old adage: you can’t put a square peg in a round hole.

As we celebrate Independence Day, let’s ponder how we can free educational improvement from existing constraints to enable change – using squares and circles and triangles and rhombuses and parabolas and three dimensions and technologies – to enhance the lives of us all. 

That’s a July 4th wish for which firework displays would be truly warranted.

Note: A special thank-you to MW who reinforced for me the value of writing and how writing can indeed produce change and action; writing is one vehicle for having a positive influence.