This was a great talk that I attended at Harvard Ed School. There are some key lessons to gleam from the medical field that Atul Gawande explains Educators could learn from.
Professor of surgery at Harvard (so you know he's got a shit ton of other stuff as well).
Gawande tells a compelling story about a girl with cystic fibrosis, failed by the medical system. His story telling ability is captivating with an ability to have us hanging on every word.
This girl was not taking her medication. By telling her story we learn that teaching needs to be like his story of the girl. Teaching is not just school it is life, a process more complicated than the greatest graduate courses can teach, or the most experienced practitioner can diagnose.
There are two reasons we fail at what we set out to do. (1) Ignorance-the knowledge is not there (2) ineptitude- knowledge exists but failure to intact properly.
Tennis players. Even the greatest tennis players, people in the top pantheon of their profession continue with a coach. Why are academics not raised in a sports model where coaches are present, why do do accomplished violinists not have coaches as tennis players do.
Atul then goes on to say that he is not in support of the current merit based education profession. Fire the worst, incentivize the best is a carrot and stick model that Mr. Gawande does not see as a success. Instead, coach them. This harkens back to the talk by_____ where we see in international education of Finland, bad teachers are coached and counseled out of the profession. Counseling out, opposed to firing, opens the door to individuals to find another niche of education they may better be suited for than teaching, but still able to make a difference.
Stepping away form this talk I am hopeful for the future. As a young man the world is full of coaches to help me along the way. And then, when I have plateaued it will be time to join their ranks, as a coach myself. And from there, a new view of the profession cyclically returns to a renewed passion for the field and a return to practice in some way or another.
Professor of surgery at Harvard (so you know he's got a shit ton of other stuff as well).
Gawande tells a compelling story about a girl with cystic fibrosis, failed by the medical system. His story telling ability is captivating with an ability to have us hanging on every word.
This girl was not taking her medication. By telling her story we learn that teaching needs to be like his story of the girl. Teaching is not just school it is life, a process more complicated than the greatest graduate courses can teach, or the most experienced practitioner can diagnose.
There are two reasons we fail at what we set out to do. (1) Ignorance-the knowledge is not there (2) ineptitude- knowledge exists but failure to intact properly.
Tennis players. Even the greatest tennis players, people in the top pantheon of their profession continue with a coach. Why are academics not raised in a sports model where coaches are present, why do do accomplished violinists not have coaches as tennis players do.
Atul then goes on to say that he is not in support of the current merit based education profession. Fire the worst, incentivize the best is a carrot and stick model that Mr. Gawande does not see as a success. Instead, coach them. This harkens back to the talk by_____ where we see in international education of Finland, bad teachers are coached and counseled out of the profession. Counseling out, opposed to firing, opens the door to individuals to find another niche of education they may better be suited for than teaching, but still able to make a difference.
Stepping away form this talk I am hopeful for the future. As a young man the world is full of coaches to help me along the way. And then, when I have plateaued it will be time to join their ranks, as a coach myself. And from there, a new view of the profession cyclically returns to a renewed passion for the field and a return to practice in some way or another.
Outside coaches are often looked at as Police. Culture of America is to yell when mistakes are made. How do we change this?
Paraphrased: "Basketball coaches have the power to bench a player, but their decitions are backed by the audience. In other words, thee bball coaches have outside eyes they can use for support while the teaching profession teachers are often the only outside eyes in the classroom. "
Perhapse the students can be used as the outside eyes, students are often very in touch with how their teachers are doing, even at the middle school level.
Even the best medical innovation takes a decade to reach just half of patients.