The Ed in '08 initiative, funded by the Gates and Broad foundations, "is a nonpartisan public awareness and advocacy effort aimed at elevating discussion amongst America's leaders about the need for education reform." They have clearly recognized that there is a crisis and a need for reform. Citing low graduation rates, poor literacy and science performance, and unpreparedness for college, they state:
"We have to act now to improve education before more American students lose out on the best jobs, hurting our economy and impacting each and every one of us."
Implicitly, they have answered that the purpose of education is to prepare American workers to acquire jobs in a competitive, global economy. I would not for a moment deny that the development of literacy, and scientific training are important skills for students to acquire. But is that the whole story? Is it a compelling story? As an entrepreneur, skills are not the only qualifications for which we look in building a world-class team. In fact, I wouldn't look twice at a brilliant writer who had been fired from two previous jobs for plagiarism. Skills are not the whole story.
However, education is not merely about jobs; it is about communities. In a society of many interconnected communities, it is far more helpful to think about how each person, each neighbor, contributes to the community - in many important ways that never show up on a balance sheet. For education reform to be meaningful and effective, it must have a more robust - and more human - view of education.
The purpose of education should be to develop the character, competence, creativity and collaboration of community members - and in that order.
- Character. The most significant role of education is to form the character of community members. Plato's Republic made this case powerfully, and continues to influence the best education throughout the world to this day. How neighbors treat one another is the very foundation of a just society - the kind of place in which the following three traits flourish. Without the baseline of a just society, the other aims of education (competence, creativity and collaboration) can be used in ways that destroy communities rather than building them.
- Competence. After virtue, competence is paramount to the flourishing of communities. In fact, character and competence are not really distinct. A person cannot be virtuous without demonstrating hard work, integrity, and persistence - the very qualities necessary to build specific skills (the kinds that we measure on standardized tests) that contribute to a community.
- Creativity. Competence and creativity, too, are intertwined. To be competent in anything implies a measure of creativity and problem solving. For example, you can't be a good web developer without being a good problem solver. However, where creativity and innovation are intentionally cherished and nurtured, communities solve problems in new ways, and create new and beautiful cultural artifacts in ways that are profoundly human. Kiva is a brilliant example of this kind of creativity.
- Collaboration. The ability to create new, excellent, beautiful cultural artifacts depends significantly on a culture of collaboration. A team is more than the sum of its parts. Together communities that are marked by character, competence and creativity create the kind of communities where everyone wants to be.
Defining the purpose of education in this four-fold way means that test scores are only one measure of success - and not the most important one. Furthermore, this position delivers us from educational jingoism which is so common in the language of 'educational reform.' It is a vision that spans nations and cultures, and does not pit one group of people against another in competition for limited jobs. Instead, it sets forth a positive vision of society, and the interrelation of communities in ways that are just, creative, and sustainable.
We stand at a point in history when we must ask: Is there a more beautiful and compelling vision of society than the improvement of test scores and graduation rates?
