The future will belong to those who have two skills: (1) problem-solvers of high cognitive level problems (those who are can discriminate complicated patterns) and (2) those with highly refined communication skills. In light of these requirements, how are we preparing our students to engage in the world of the future? Are we teaching high level problem-solving and communicating?

I think that the challenge is before us and that a failure to face this challenge will lead to disasterous results for our nation. I am encouraged by the expansion of high stakes testing use of “open-ended” questions which require students to demonstrate their thinking, not just produce an answer. Open-ended questions addresses those who criticize the high stakes testing process as a device which generates a “back-to-basics” mentally and the employment of a “drill and kill” instructional approach.

I think that the challenge of providing a curriculum and daily lessons that emphasize problem-solving can be daunting for those who do not understand the importance and process of teaching problem-solving skills and communciation skills. There are still too many teachers who are teaching with a mentality which will prepare their students for the 20th century (the century in which they lived the longest) instead of for the 21st century (the one which is upon us and which is in many ways unpredictable and unfathomable).

Regarding communication skills, I am especially concerned that our students are learning to speak, listen, read, and write but not in an applied, prolem-solving way. Unfortunately, much of our secondary curricula are still fragmented and delivered via a traditional 45 minute, class period structure. For those who have gone to a block scheduling format, many of the teachers have not been taught to use the time effectively and thus waste precious time. Studies still indicate that actually “learning time” (time when students are demonstrating that they are comprehending and/or are able to use the knowledge and skills that are being presented to them) is still dismally low, less than 50% of set-aside instructional time.

I was impressed by the book’s treatment of the learning programs developed by IBM and CISCO. They seemed to have a firm grasp of the different stages of learning–basic knowledge/definitions/facts/skills through the higher processes of knowledge application for problem solving. It is my experience as a state level educational consultant, from observation and conversation with practicing teachers, that they are not clear on the difference between the two major stages of learning or that they claim not to have the time to help the students apply the knowledge to problem-solving at sophisticated levels. Is this a problem of time-management, basic understanding, lack of appropriate pre-service or in-service development, …. I definitely see a great part of the problem related to a lack of understanding of many educational leaders, especially principals. Many tend to be managers rather than educational leaders. They spend more time dealing with bus problems than instructional ones. It is easy to see why high stakes test scores in buildings run by these principals are low. It’s a “duh” situation. But they don’t understand or don’t know enough to alter their performance. In many cases they were not master level teachers themselves before becoming principals. Hopefully the emphasis on “highly qualified” teachers will produce more masterful teachers in the future who will float to the top and become masterful principals.

I could ramble on here citing more direct experiences that I have encountered in the field which help to verify our need to change the way in which instruction is delivered. But I will end my comments here.

Ron Miros

Reading both of these books is confirming my belief that our educational system has never really kept up with the demands of our ever changing culture. “Patches” have simply been applied as needs arose. The comuter, however, does not lend itself well to being simply a patch. There is a valid place for computers in our schools, but the system does know how to use them effectively.

Effective use of computers in our schools would allow teachers to encourage and nurture “expert thinking and complex communicating” (pg.10)in our students. I am also interested in the statement the “computers are raising the cognitive bar.” I have done an extensive literature review for my thesis on metacognition in education. Chaper 2 of this book has really caught my interest, and it has deepened my understanding of other literature I have been reading.

What students need to learn in their lifetime is difficult. There are so many variables that teachers must take into account when delievering any single lesson that “complex communicating” must be taking place at a level of understanding for each student in the classroom. That in itself demands “expert thinking” on the part of every teacher.

I am telling all my friends about this book, and I am going to suggest that my principal add this to his reading list.

The comment about the “Maquilladores” in Mexico may be true to some degree. Just as children think that all families are like theirs until they start visiting other children’s homes, Americans tend to think that all countries are like ours. Those that travel recognize the uniqueness of our country. Americans think that because we are all part of the human race that we all think alike. We do not. Manufacutures have learned this the hard way in Mexico. I have friends that managed Maquilladores. They have all said that the mindset and work ethics in Mexico are different than ours. They never said one is better than the other - only that it is different. We have alot to learn about the rest of the world. We had better start learning since it is now “flattening.”

I think this idea helps teachers understand and truly embrace the idea of strategic teaching as well. If it is our goal to help others (kids or adults) learn more deeply, not just MORE - we have to be adept and thoughtful about what experiences we bring to the table. If it is going to be the expert thinkers who survive and prosper in this country during the next century, we as educators serve a very important role. I know there are people who just want to bury their heads in the sand and believe that everything will go back to normal just as soon as the government changes its policies.

For instance, my brother-in-law was over last night. He said that his shop is probably going to be going on strike in early January because the company is cutting insurance benefits. I asked him if he thought that was smart in this climate; there are so many people out of work which plants closing down and moving out of Michigan. I asked him if he thought his company might decide to close down. He told me that his company couldn’t close down because they are a Department of Defense contractor. He said that by law companies who have government contracts can’t move out of the country - or so he said. He was talking about his wife’s job, too, and how busy that company is. (It is a union plant - UAW.) He said that the company is pulling back its operations from Mexico because “the Mexicans make so many mistakes that they have to send them back to the U.S. to be fixed.” I don’t know how much of any of this is actually true, but I’m afraid it represents much of the mindset of average Americans.