Educational Equality

Well, summer is finally here, and I, for one, am gratefully. It has given me a chance to think a bit on the future of education, and this notion of equality. Is it really possible to provide everyone a high quality education?

Let's first start with the idea of equality; what do we mean by educational equality? Do we mean equal opportunity, equality of outcome, equality of condition, equality before the law... all of which are social concepts. Or, do we mean logical equality, as in math? For our purposes here, I will simplify our discussion by assuming that we are speaking in terms of equal opportunity. I make this assumption because I believe looking at educational equality through this lens is really what we should do. I am sure you are wondering what I mean. Let me explain.

The vast majority of education provided to the majority of students in this country is education designed in accordance with education of the past. Education has always been about indoctrination; early in our history its purpose was indoctrinating the many into citizens of this country. It was a process rooted in content, repetition and memorization, and its purpose was clear... citizenship. A process rooted in content produces students who learn the content and reproduce the content. While this is good, it is not going beyond the surface. Memorization is only the beginning of thinking that is abstract. Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning, which is found in his Cognitive Domain, identifies memorization and comprehension as the first step in a five step process of thought and decision making. Once memorization and comprehension are mastered students are to move to higher levels of thought like analysis, synthesis, application and discovery. A process that is still rooted in content produces students who are, in essence, the same. and educational equality is achieved, as all students will know the same content. In my opinion, that is not equality; instead, that is standardization.

Educational equality needs to be equal opportunity. We should be providing students with the skill sets that will put them in position to learn anything, which provides them all equal opportunity to a bright future. But, be warned, even if we do provide an education that readies students for a bright future, there will never be equality. Even if all students take advantage of this equal opportunity, will all students reach the same place... the highest level? Statistically, no, that is impossible. To borrow a wonderful line from the Pixar classic, The Incredibles, "if everyone becomes great then no one really is great." The reality is this: the only way to make everyone equal is to lower the standards and make everyone... average. An educational process rooted in content will do that, but one rooted in skills and excellence that is qualitative will provide each student with the opportunity to soar.

Isn't that what we should be doing? We can not provide every student with the education they need unless every student is motivated to get that type of education. Education, especially high school education, requires as much from the student as from the teacher. A teacher can not make a student want a great education. There will be a personal responsibility on the part of the student that is an important part of the process, and that aspect is usually instilled in church and home.

Educational equality, in my opinion, should be educational equal opportunity. Every student should be given the opportunity to learn how to think, discern, think critically and in higher categories and work hard in order to position themselves to reach their dreams. Have a great summer!