Originally published April 29, 2005 in my blog Schooling ≠ Education.
I just read an article in BusinessWeek about Arnold Schwarzenegger (Governor of CA) attempting to push pay for performance for California’s teachers. Nothing could be further from the ‘right answer’ for education. It’s upsurd to think that paying teachers to get students to perform on tests will improve the education system. Does anyone understand systems thinking?
This argument is becoming more and more prevalent across the US. More and more communities are putting pressure on teachers to conform and as most people involved in education know, more and more emphasis is being put on standards and standardized testing to measure the ‘quality of a teacher’ and the ‘quality of a school’.
From my point of view these people are asking the wrong question. Maybe the question that needs to be asked is: who is responsible for a learners learning?
Whatever happened to the idea of creating an environment where young people are curious and want to learn? What ever happened to the learner in all of this? The focus on testing and pay for performance for teachers will only make matters worse. We’re forgetting the most important person in the equation – the learner.
Do test scores measure learning? knowledge? understanding? wisdom? Do test scores measure the performance of teachers?
Back to this ‘fundamental question’ – who is responsible for a learners learning?
Who is responsible for my learning?
I am!
Find anyone that has been successful in school or any other endeavor and ask them who is responsible for their learning? I will bet money they will tell you they are responsible for their own learning. They may have had a person or two in their lives that encouraged them to take responsibility for their learning but I can bet they didn’t like nor would they tolerate someone else imposing their agenda for learning on them. I would bet that these people have had one or more incredibly powerful and influential people in their lives that encouraged them, provoked them, challenged them and probably pissed them off at some point. But these people were critical in their development and critical in inspiring them to learn and be successful in life.
My own story is an example of this. About 33 years ago (in 11th grade) I woke up one morning and asked myself why I went to school – and more importantly – who I went to school for? As soon as I realized that I went to school for me, I also realized that I would no longer go to school for someone else (for teachers, for my parents, for society, or for anyone).
That day I went to school and informed my teachers that I would no longer come to school for them – and hence, if I showed up in their classroom I was there to learn something, and they had better have something to teach – or I wouldn’t show up any longer.
After that day I began a journey that has included many mentors and coaches. That journey included meeting and being influenced by remarkable people from all walks of life. A few of these people are the likes of Buckminster Fuller and W. Edwards Deming. These people challenged me and they also had something for me to learn (lots of somethings!). And they inspired continuous learning!
Forcing teachers to perform by getting students to do better on standardized tests will not inspire anyone to do anything other than get a score on a test (and most likely inspire them to do anything possible to get out of that system as soon as possible). Drop out rates are already 30-40% in the US high school. That’s before No Child Left Behind and all this pay for performance bunk. If this kind of movement continues it will only get worse.
