Core, College and Career Ready and Competency Based Education

Lately I’ve been wrestling with some seemingly incongruous ideas. On one side of the dichotomy rest the notion that there is a core of learning that we must ensure all students attain and, related, the idea that every student must leave the PK-12 system college and career ready.

On the other side of this dichotomy is the intersection of a competency based education and personalized learning. I have also struggled to appropriately place the belief that we have to create a sense of hope and passion in each and every one of our students.

I’ve spent countless hours lately stewing about how we square these seemingly opposing ideas. Here’s what I’ve come up with. The central idea is constant renegotiation toward the ultimate goal of finding (and constantly reengineering) one’s place in the world. Learning and living are not linear. From the moment we’re born until the moment we die we are navigating inputs –often in the form of content, interactions, and experiences. These experiences and interactions drive our hopes and passions. Our hopes and passions shape our place in the world.

We pass through phases; there’s an ebb and flow. For a period of time the public education system has a role in this process. Children arrive in our system with these cycles already in motion. While they’re with us, we insert content, experiences, and interactions into this cycle.

The what and how of that impact a child’s hopes and passions – and shape his or her sense of place in the world. I reject the notion that our goal as a public education system is to ensure students are college and career ready. I reject the notion that our goal as a public education system is to ensure a standardized core of knowledge and skills for all students. I accept that these are outcomes of quality system, but they are not the goal.

I propose that our goal as a system of public education is to help each learner find and have the capacity to create and re-create a positive and productive place in our world. It seems to me that a quality system would be one in which learners are constantly renegotiating content and experiences as they pass through a core set of concepts and skills that prepare them for further learning, work, and life. Truly, there are infinite pathways into and out of this core learning if we accept them. By engaging in this process on an individual student level, we contribute to the constant renegotiation of passion and hope that help children define (and redefine) their place in our world.

Comments

[Tracepick]

This is a wonderfully cogent post. Extremely well thought out and said. Bridgette’s vision for an educational system is what I want for my child and for all the children in my community!

[JasonglassIA]

Hi Bridgette,

I so appreciate your vision and pressure to bring about this transformation of learning which you discuss and advocate for frequently. It has shifted my personal thinking and learning for the better and for that I compliment you.

I really like the cogs graphic you have here as it gets to, I think, where we should be in this conversation. That is, we need to work hard to try and see things in terms of "and" instead of "or." In my humble opinion, there is both more genius and more opportunity in the realm of "and."

I feel the incongruity too. As I reflect on this topic, I think that discomfort is part of my own personal and professional growth to see this question from the "and" perspective where my predisposition has been to see it more from the academic (perhaps "college & career ready") side.

Thanks for pushing us to think deeper - it's making a difference.

JG

[B_Wagoner]

Glad this makes sense to both of you. I'm still thinking about all the discussions on Monday. Next I'm going to figure out the relationship between standards and competencies. That's a critical roadblock right now.

[Matt Townsley]

I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this topic, Bridgette. I, too, have been spending some windshield time thinking about this juxtaposition of CBE and core standards. The purpose of my comment is to explore further the idea of "core learning" as a part of a competency-based education system.

I'm wondering if there are a few things the broader education community might agree on. For all students, there does exist a core set of things everyone should know, however the list might be limited to a very small list, a certain level of literacy and mathematical understanding in lower elementary, for example. Beyond these limited examples, my guess is the jury is still out. I believe Schmoker advocates for a very small set of core learning.

We probably all have our biases on what this "core learning" set should include. Should our students be required to learn about the solar system? how a bill becomes a law in D.C? surface area and volume? exposure to classic literature?

A part of me says that if we cannot agree on a core learning canon, it doesn't matter if we label it "standards" or "competencies." Another part of me suggests we live in an era with national and state standards, so pushing forward a less idealistic framework that takes these standards into consideration might make sense.

I look forward to your response and reading others' comments as well.