Previously published by The Daily Riff 1/26/10
In This Scathing Video Interview, Godin Declares:
"School Is A Complete Failure"
"The Application Process Of Getting Into College Is A Joke"
"Trade Schools Are At Least Telling The Truth"
Watch 4 Minute Video Below
In tandem with the media flurry surrounding his recent book, Linchpin, bestselling author Seth Godin offers a scathing review of the public school system in this explosive interview with Lee Stranhahan, multi-media artist and teacher.
Seth Godin is author of ten international bestsellers,
including Tribes and Purple Cow, which have been translated
into over 30 languages.
Click on book cover to go to Amazon.
#1 Video. See Godin 4 minute video below
#2 Video. The Daily Riff response - High Tech
High: the new model
Our Riff: The Daily Riff has featured High Tech High as a great model combining academic and tech skills in two stories, The Best High School in America, (with video below Godin video) with link here, and "The Education Person Of The Year", Larry Rosenstock, co-founder, with link here.
High Tech High does not separate students by college or career/tech tracks but combines both for a "hands and mind" approach, similar to that promoted by MIT. HTH boasts a 100% college acceptance rate, many from top-tier colleges; does not have an AP (Advanced Placement) program; has no tolerance for test-prep mentality, yet they excel on tests. Go figure. They judge students on the quality and sophistication of work produced and created. This is an enormous paradigm shift from the structure Godin speaks of in the first video.
Sadly, with the state of the economy, there are undoubtedly millions of people who would like to have manufacturing jobs, and think of the 6.4 million young people graduating from high school or college in the next year (link). Whether manufacturing will ever come back is another question. Yet it is vital to our country's growth that we create an environment where students actually build, innovate, create, experiment, refine and re-iterate utilizing tools, whether it be a drill, a camera, or a computer. High schools have indeed become test-prep factories.
See Godin and High Tech High videos below. Click here for Stranhahan site.
--C.J.
So dear readers, as someone who has been thinking and writing about this for a long time, is the system of public education so "sticky?" Maybe we could come up with a list of 10 for this site?
Right on...As a former educator in the public school system I could not agree more. I will be teaching my three children at home!