Last week, I had a very rich conversation around the future of education with a group of administrators. Many of them would be considered futuristic thinkers, or game changers. The conversation was a great insight into how the perspective of education is changing, and more specific strategies and directions that are successful. I used a analogy that I have used in the past that resonated very firmly with these administrators. Here is what it is: "Education today is moving too fast to do nothing. Imagine that education is a building. The first floor is where education was in the past, and the second floor is where education needs to be. Right now, you are halfway up an escalator between these two floors, and it is going down. It is going down, because the ceiling, or the potential that is found in education is on the upswing. You can do one of two things. You can start to climb up the escalator, or you can sit still. If you sit still, you WILL move backwards. The path you will have to take will be longer, and harder than if you started to move upward today". - Kris Szajner This is our reality. We cannot go back to the past, we cannot change where the future is going. All we can do is try. We take steps, and put emphasis on learning so we are able to succeed in this future. Sitting still will not only hurt you, but it will also hurt your students. The potential that they hold will be stifled, and their learning may be halted. Their futures will be determined not by them, but by the teaching that you deliver. You hold to potential to give, and take away your student's future! |