Teachers & Principals, we need to have THE talk.
The business model of education has not evolved in over 200 years.
We continue to have classes of 20+ students being taught prescribed curriculum by one teacher.
Students receive little, if any, one-on-one time with educators, despite the fact it has been proven that we learn best this way (duh!).
Schools are filled with absolutely phenomenal teachers who just aren’t given the resources to crush it, and even without those resources, they still do an exceptional job and often do crush it.
The responsibility is on the leadership at schools to recognize the importance of personalized learning and help push towards it. To empower students.
Yes, it is a risk.
Yes, it is still outside the box thinking.
Yes, it is hard.
But the best things always are. I have actually written about this in the past…
Over the last year, I have welcomed the opportunity to work with progressive teachers and principals at schools who understand how GradeSlam is working hard to democratize education and transform the way students learn. Is it perfect? Not yet. But it consistently improves. These individuals inspire me and remind me how what we do is so damn important.
Investing in personalized learning initiatives sends a message. It tells your teachers, parents and most importantly your students that you are truly a student first institution.
We are all responsible for the education of our children. (The US government spends 500B a year on public education, so it definitely touches us all).
Changing the model of schools will be tough and won’t happen overnight, but we all need to recognize the problem and take steps towards fixing it, one baby step at a time.
Our students need teachers and administrators that are excited by this opportunity. If you are doing awesome things at your school or are interested in doing some awesome things around TRUE personalized learning, comment below and I will personally reach out and speak to you to learn more about your school.
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Philip Cutler is the Founder & CEO of GradeSlam. He is also the the Executive Director of Laurus Summer Camp and City Councillor in Westmount, QC.