Start of a swimming event at the 1904 Olympic Games.
Start of a swimming event at the 2012 Olympic Games.
We are currently faced with a difficult task in education. This task is to maintain an education system that our society recognizes from their youth, while keeping up with the changes in our society. People in our society, through their experience as a student, have a conception of what school “should” look like. Pair this with the fast pace of change and innovation in society today and we are faced with a difficult situation. Society doesn’t look like it did 10, 20 or 30 years ago, yet the idea some have in their head of school is as it was then.
I believe that one of the solutions to this difficult situation is to find a balance between the traditional parts of school and the technological innovations that we have access to today. We need to change the recognizable parts of school to better integrate today’s reality. At the same time, we may need to let go of some aspects of traditional education that no longer fit with our goals and introduce new aspects that meet the needs of today’s learners. The difficult part of this is to do it in a way that maintains the image that our society holds of school and to reassure those who are skeptical that the changes are for the good.
I do not believe, as some others advocate for, that the correct course of action is to burn down every resemblance of our former education system. We need to keep many of the traditional activities we offer. Traditions give students a sense of pride in their schools and familiarity. Also, there are many aspects of our education system that work and that we should keep. What I believe we need to do is push forward with our questioning of our educational practices and innovate them.
An organization that could be seen as an example of keeping traditional aspects of their organization, while innovating to reflect our changing society is the Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The modern Olympic games look little like their old-time editions. The equipment being worn, which Bloomberg did a great article about for the 2008 games in Beijing, is radically different. The business presence in the games is now huge. The use of technology is massive and includes one of the largest worldwide audiences of any event. Even the selection of where the games are held have been radically transformed from the past (can anyone imagine Garmisch-Partenkirchen hosting the games again as they did in 1936?). There have been new sports added and some taken out to reflect the interests of the sporting public.
This change has not been easy for the Olympics, there have been controversies and false-steps. Despite the difficult nature of change, the last Olympic Games in London were a resounding success. They were massively popular and are one of the few events that bring together the people of the world. It is an example of an organization finding the balance between innovation and tradition.
So now, let us try and find this equilibrium in our schools. Balance the traditional aspects of your school with the new innovative aspects of our times to find new success. I believe that this will lead to better student engagement and better learning.