As summer turns to fall and parents are buying children their new backpacks, it is time to think of how our schools work and whether they are inspiring true learning. The schools of today are largely those of our great-grandparents. While white boards may have replaced blackboards and DVDs are used instead of projectors, schoolroom atmosphere is remarkably unchanged. Teachers deliver inert (无活力的) information to eager and empty minds who will soon lose what Ellen Galinsky described as the "fire in their eyes".
Our view of leaning is trapped in the learning illusion (错误观念) that content is all that matters. Of course, content is important. Who would not want to have the multiplication tables memorized? But content is constantly changing. Pluto? No longer a planet. If memorization of content is everything, children's knowledge will be out of date. Classrooms at all levels need to emphasize "the six C's": content, collaboration, communication, confidence (risk-taking), critical thinking and creative innovation (创新).
Our approach to the economic threats we see on our borders is to push for 19th century memorization in a 21st century world. Yet the facts will be as close at the Google generation's fingertips. We need to teach our children how to learn, and how Sally and Pedro can together figure out how to use technology to understand why some trees never lose their leaves while others do. We need John and Qonick to argue about the best way to solve that math problem, rather than just listen to what the teacher tells them. Today's schools should be active places where kids are actually thinking together about problem-solving.
None of this is to say that children cannot learn in school. They can. But children are often expected to sit still, listen and repeat disembodied content. The "keys to the kingdom" of the 21st century will go to those who love to learn and can transform their knowledge in innovative ways.
