Reinvent the Wheel Already
Reinvent the wheel. Period. Full stop.
That is it. That is the article.
If 2020 (and the start of 2021) has taught us anything, it is that the wheel itself is the problem. It is defective. Fundamentally flawed. Corroded.
I know this goes against conventional wisdom. In education (and business), you often hear the gurus telling you not to reinvent the wheel. To adopt a tried and true model and adapt it to your mission and vision. If you are an educator, you may have lesson plans that you dust off year after year because it worked in the past. “Work smarter. Not harder.” Right?
WRONG.
The twin pandemics of racism and the coronavirus have exposed the need to radically reimagine what we are doing in our work (and in our lives). The education system no longer has time to pursue slow, incremental change with all due speed.
What we have been doing in education has not worked for most students. . .for awhile. Despite the best thinking and efforts of education reformers, consultants, and strategists, not enough has happened for children who have been marginalized or historically disenfranchised. As a society, we are too comfortable with the opportunity gap in education. It is as if we have accepted it as a given, as the status quo. Thus, no matter how small or insignificant in the grand scheme of things, any change is considered a win. And we continue tinkering with “reforms” rather than acknowledging the elephant in the room. Or, more importantly, slaying the dragons that perpetuate inequity and inefficiency.
The very act of preserving the wheel — of trying to make cosmetic changes to a system rooted in racism and classism — maintains and exacerbates the same gaps so many advocates for educational equity purport to fight.
If your approach to “reform” is to iterate on a broken, failed system, save us all time and energy. In 2021, we are pursuing education justice, not reform. Education justice demands a new framework where all children are treated as worthy and assumed to be capable of learning and growth. Those of us engaged in this fight call on you to interrogate the model. We are pleading with you to stop mindlessly accepting frameworks and models because they “worked” (for the few) in the past. We ask you to join us outside the zone of comfort and put your brilliance to work creating new models.
The current socio-political landscape has given you cover. You can leave behind what we have always known was insufficient and embrace innovation. Education leaders and edupreneurs, you are staring at an opportunity to build an inclusive education system. One that fits the realities of a 21st-century global economy. Now is the time to construct future-focused, enduring institutions.
Now is the time to do something different.
Wondering where to start?
Change always begins within.
It’s time to get introspective.
Time to ask tough questions and sit with the answers.
💡Are your actions aligned with the vision you had for your school, your organization, public education?
💡Are you clinging to the comfort of the “wheel?” Playing it safe rather than taking a bold step and standing out?
