A Must Read

Seth Godin is one of my must read guys.  He's not in education, but much of what he talks about applies to teaching and learning.  However, today he published "Stop Stealing Dreams."  It is specifically about education, and I think it is a must read.

It's an ebook:  30,000 words. You can read it online, you can print it, you can read it on your Kindle or ipad or iphone or other device.

He says:

The economy has changed, probably forever. 

School hasn't. 

School was invented to create a constant stream of compliant factory workers to the growing businesses of the 1900s. It continues to do an excellent job at achieving this goal, but it's not a goal we need to achieve any longer. 

In this 30,000 word manifesto, I imagine a different set of goals and start (I hope) a discussion about how we can reach them. One thing is certain: if we keep doing what we've been doing, we're going to keep getting what we've been getting. 

Our kids are too important to sacrifice to the status quo.

The line here that stands out to me is this one: One thing is certain: if we keep doing what we've been doing, we're going to keep getting what we've been getting.  I would add, "Frankly, that's not good enough."

Godin also says,

"This is an experiment in firestarting--I'm hoping that removing friction from the sharing of this idea will help it spread. If you're interested in the topic (and I hope you are), please tweet or like the project page, download the files, post mirror copies on your own blog and if you can, email them to every teacher, parent and citizen who should be part of the discussion about what we do with our kids all day (and why). If just a fraction of this blog's readers shared it with their address book, we'd reach a lot of people.

"If you get a chance, visit the page and give a shoutout to a teacher that's made a difference to you or your kids. Ultimately, our future belongs to a generation that decides to be passionate about learning and shipping, and great teachers are the foundation for that."