The film Most Likely to Succeed offers a glimpse into an alternative model of public secondary education, one that does away with the traditional model of distinct subject areas, standardized curricula, and grading scales.
Across a few of my courses I’ve had discussions and readings regarding various aspects of this film: combining and blurring the lines between course subjects (check out the local example of the Institute for Global Solutions); the impact of technology on the working world, and the changes this may require of our education system (what do you think about the arguments in this New York Times article?); and the role of teaching soft skills in classrooms. These are conversations I’m very excited to be having. I watched a TEDTalk by Sir Ken Robinson last week (who also appeared in this documentary) where he spoke to the way he sees creativity being drilled out of our students as they go through the school system. High Tech High, the school shown in this film, is an example of a school that appears to be seeking to address this problem.
I watched this documentary at the end of a very long, tiring day. Whether it was that context or simply being so inspired, I’m not sure, but by the end of the film I was in tears. The passion, confidence, and pride shown by the students in the film exemplified what I would want to see out of my future students – a goal that is one of the reasons I’m pursuing this profession. By no means is the film – or High Tech High – perfect. However, it shows a much needed attempt to try and modernize our education system, with the consideration of what is best for both students and teachers at the centre of our focus.
Finally, with all this talk of technology and AI and the impact they have on our workforce landscape, I continue to go back to the following thought I came across a while back:
There’s a quote I can never remember the source: “How badly have we messed up society that robots are taking away our jobs and that’s a BAD thing?”
— Azuaron (@Azuaron) November 22, 2020
We often talk about education as a means to an end, the end being a job. Even this film, with its showcases of passion and personal growth in both students and teachers, has an overwhelming focus on preparing students for the job market.
I understand that that is a practical approach to take and benefits the students as we live in a society where having a way of making money is necessary. But I do wonder if a primarily capitalistic view of the purpose of our education system is also due for a rethink…