Here is a letter I sent to the Alberta Government's Minister of Education. If you are interested give it a read and make a comment below. It is a little long (me long winded...hard to believe I know), but I would be interested in your thoughts...

Dear Minister,

Although growing up in the information and digital ages affords incredible opportunity, I would argue that there is an expanding divide between our education systems—including the public schools that make up their foundation—and the skills, values and attitudes our young people need for the 21st century. Our education systems were designed for a different time; an industrial era that called for standardized skills and a significant degree of conformity to the relatively closed norms that directed society. The economy of Alberta, with its dependence on fossil fuel industries, parallels the education system in so much as it too is threatened by forces that are undermining the old-world industrial paradigm. It is time to acknowledge the precarious position we are in and to make decisions that will move us toward (not away from) a sustainable and prosperous future.

Students of the 21st century are empowered by technologies that have given them access to the world via instruments like the internet, satellites, Ipods and cell phones and, as a result, their reality is demanding new skill-sets, including abilities to adapt to change, to be creative, and to be accepting of diversity as our world becomes more interconnected. I have witnessed my students, and my children, struggling to stay engaged in schools that cling to antiquated structures and practices (rigid timetables, traditional subject areas, standardized testing, and out-dated physical spaces) that fail to meet the expectations and needs of 21st century learners. Schools, in large measure, remain places where students are asked to turn-off, unplug and disconnect from their digital world. Arguably there has long been a challenge to engage students at school (I would be naïve to think otherwise), but the job is substantially more difficult when young peoples’ reality outside of school is increasingly disparate from their reality in school.

If indeed there is a technological gap, then education shouldn’t be playing catch-up. We need to provide our students, teachers and schools with at least the same level of technology the private sector and corporate world benefit from. The cost would be substantial, but so too could the potential gain. One simple idea I have posited for some time would see students and their families, as well as teachers, be given tax incentives so they could write-off computer and software purchases. If we offer tax write-offs for businesses investing in technology why would we not do the same for teachers, parents and students? I give credit to the Alberta Government for having the vision to create infrastructure like the SuperNet, but there is still much to be done. I believe that every student in Alberta should have a laptop (or other electronic device) on their desk that will wirelessly connect them to the world. The vision is certainly within the technological capabilities of our time, there simply needs to be the political and economic will to make it happen.

Students need open-ended curricula that empower them with critical and creative thinking skills; the era of content-based curricula that ask students to memorize facts, only to be regurgitated on standardized assessment tools, are out-dated. Students need to be challenged to develop their creativity and their capacity to problem solve. I am not implying that students don’t need to possess knowledge; on the contrary, I am calling for the development of a deeper understanding of key concepts and ideas through more authentic and more meaningful teaching and learning contexts. To Alberta Education’s credit there have been some innovative new curricula in our province, but the changes are not keeping pace with the incredibly rapid changes our society and our students are facing. Education critics like Dr. Ken Robinson go so far as to say that our schools, as they exist today, kill creativity and impede a student’s path toward their true talents; a resource we can ill-afford to waste as we endeavor to meet the challenges of our rapidly changing world.

We are not playing in the dark; there are case studies for us to examine and use as models for successful change. Finland, a country of just over 5 million people, has set out on a brave journey of educational reform, resulting in that nation’s system now being ranked as the best in the world by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). A cursory glance at the Finish experiment reveals a clear move away from the industrial model of education, evidenced by: the elimination of standardized testing and a re-allocation of the resources assigned to them, teachers raising their professional status and finding a place amongst the most admired guardians of the society, curriculum being handed over to the schools and teachers who know their students best, and a complete restructuring of what we would consider to be a regular school year and school day. Obviously Finland’s reality is unique to our own, but it stands as an example of what can be done to meet the challenges of our 21st century reality, if there is a will and a vision to do so.

We need government’s, like our students, to think critically and creatively. What about funding the construction of a fourth University in Fort McMurray? We could use the unsustainable monies derived from oil and gas revenue today, to build a foundation for sustainable alternative energy resources of tomorrow. The focus of the institution could be on alternative energy technology; harnessing the creative powers emanating from our reformed education system to position Alberta as a leader in a field critical to the future of mankind. If you want to think about it purely in economic terms, and in a manner that could benefit you politically, there is an incredibly lucrative market waiting to be exploited. People like Thomas Friedman have written extensively about this in books like The World is Hot Flat and Crowded. Friedman calls for his own country, the United States, to take up the cause, clearly pointing out that if they don’t other countries will. Instead of spending billions of dollars on questionable technology, such as carbon capture, that simply prop up and subsidize an unsustainable energy industry, you could re-allocate the money towards a new knowledge and technology based economy in Alberta – call it the ‘New Alberta Advantage’. Why are you wasting billions of new dollars on solutions to fossil fuel industry problems that are band-aid solutions to an industry whose years are clearly numbered? I understand the political pressures associated with such decisions, but I beg you to think and act based on the long-term future of your constituents, not in your own short-term interest and the political pay-off that may result.

Education is the cornerstone of our society and it needs to be viewed as a long-term investment, not a budgetary expense. I acknowledge that such decisions are not politically expedient for those seeking re-election only a few years down the line, but an astute and forward-thinkingpolitician would concede that there is perhaps no more important issue—in terms of sustaining the quality of life we now enjoy—than that of education funding and environmental sustainability. I recognize that we are in extraordinary economic times and to choose such paths and to re-set the course of our province amidst such turmoil would require great bravery. However, the conditions with which we find ourselves serve only to buoy my argument. We cannot rely on the fossil fuels to sustain our future; not only would this be the wrong thing to do ethically—amidst the environmental issues the world faces—it is irresponsible to the long term economic interests of the province and the country.

There is a shift happening and if we do not adapt to the new global realities before us we will most certainly be left behind. Please do not make cuts to education in Alberta. On the contrary, you should bolster the financial commitment to our education systems as an initial down-payment on our collective future. Set a new course for Alberta. Use the revenues of the unsustainable fossil fuel industry demanded by the economy of today, to build an education and technology-based economic foundation for my children’s generation and the generations to come.

Sincerely,

Craig Findlay