An insider perspective: Why education is going to improve
Randall F. Clemens
A few weeks ago, the Boston Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Doc Rivers, one of the best leaders of individuals in the world, sat at the podium. He organized a team effort to nearly beat a superior team. On television, there could not have been a gaudier setting. On the left column, ESPN advertised the upcoming television program, a banner of upcoming events. On the bottom, a ticker highlighted sports scores. On the table next to him, there was a Gatorade. And behind him, a banner advertised the NBA. After he spoke, the network cut to the Kia postgame show. For a lot of people, this television program represents some sort of Orwellian dystopia. It portends a corporate future where individualism no longer exists.
What do I think? Funders fund change. Gates, Broad, and any other number or philanthropies, keep doing what you are doing.
What I am talking about is a concept in innovation called the next adjacent possibility. Those people need to move out of the way. In case I have not been clear enough, the connections to education ought to be fairly obvious. Schools of education are being renamed. Neighborhood schools are becoming charter schools. Content is becoming privatized. Is this Sodom and Gomorra? Nope, it’s change.
I am sick of either / or distinctions, and so is my generation. There are times to be polite and indirect and there are times to be harsh and direct. I think we’ve reached former. If you are the old guard, you are impending progress.