Simple Solutions To Complex Problems

I just got done watching Bill Gates' TED Talk on improving education titled "Teachers Need Real Feedback" and my first question was why do we assume that because a person is rich they are also smart? OK, maybe Mr. Gates is smart when it comes to computer operating systems, well if you don't count Windows ME, but that doesn't make him any more knowledgeable than anyone else when it comes to other fields of endeavor like, say education.

But lack of expertise never stopped anyone with the wherewithal to buy access  from inflicting their opinions on the rest of us, so here comes Mr. Gates who starts his talk by inferring that the feedback teachers get from their students isn't "real," that the only feedback that counts as "real" is apparently that which they get from their administrators which consists solely of the word "satisfactory," which he, correctly, believes is unsatisfactory.

Now, anyone who has been within a couple of parsecs of an operating American school these days will probably instantly recognize a couple of problems with Mr. Gates' premise, as the one thing teachers are not suffering from is a shortage of feedback. Books, materials, institutional support, sure, but feedback, no way.

I noticed another problem with Mr. Gates' argument as well and that is his use of PISA test results as a basis of comparison. He points out, rightly, that American students placed 15th in reading, 23rd in science and 31st in math. The inference here is that American students don't achieve levels of competence as advanced as their international peers, but when you ask educators of high placing countries how they do it, their answer generally has little to do with a concern about achievement. For example, Finland consistently ranks at or near the top of PISA results, and when asked for an explanation, Dr Pasi Sahlberg, General Director of the Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation, Finland and previously Senior Education Specialist with the World Bank as well as the Director of the Centre for School Development, Helsinki, said, “We have systematically focused on equity and equality in our education system, and not so much on excellence and achievement like many other countries have done.”

In fact, analysis of the PISA results in 2006 found that "less than 10% of the variation in student performance was explained by student background in five of the seven countries with the highest mean science scores of above 530 points. PISA demonstrates that equity and performance are highly related."

Well, these little tidbits appear lost on Mr. Gates who goes on to explain the teacher feedback system in Shanghai, the highest performer on the latest tests. He talked about how new teachers there are exposed to experienced teachers on an almost daily basis through observation, weekly study groups, and a network of shared exchanges, conversations and interdepartmental communication. Admittedly, that sounds to me like a good deal. New teachers are immediately and completely submerged in the conversation of their profession and constantly and consistently exposed to a range of techniques, expertise and support. So how does Mr. Gates propose to transfer this system to America? Let's make a video!

Next we are whisked off to a secondary classroom in what appears to be a racially monochromatic suburb somewhere in the wilds of Iowa where we meet English teacher Sarah Brown Wessling who video tapes herself in class, then uses the tapes to self critique. Not bad as far as it goes, but it seems to be missing that whole sharing thing the teachers in Shanghai are getting.

Mr. Gates' solution to the collaboration problem is to put a camera in every teacher's classroom across the county, although he does admit that some teachers may find this a bit disconcerting. No matter because, as he says,  if you need to improve the way you teach fractions, "you should be able to watch a video of the best person in the world teaching fractions."

Well, yes and no, Mr. Gates. If I'm teaching in south Chicago, where I'm worried about if the heat will work through the winter, or if my students will make it home safely--that is if they have a home to go to--watching Ms. Wessling walk her kids through a peer editing exercise on their iPads isn't likely to teach me the lesson you seem to think it will.

To put it another way, when I was younger I wanted to be a professional baseball player. Al Kaline was my hero and every time there was a game on TV there I was, glued to the set watching his every move. Long story short, it didn't make me a better fielder, or a better hitter. Actually, it occurred to me later, after it became obvious I wasn't going to be a professional baseball player, that all of those hours I spent sitting in front of the television watching games might have been better spent out practicing. Further, I would suspect that one of the reasons the program in Shanghai is successful is that those teachers have built a community through collaboration, interaction and trust and that is more fundamental to their success than their ability to watch each other.

See, Mr. Gates, improving educational outcomes is a challenge that requires solutions, not a solution. While technology can play a part in those solutions, it cannot create the diverse communities of committed teachers who must take their students where they are and attempt to move them forward.