Reinventing American Education: Applying Innovative and Quality Thinking to Solving Problems in Education

By Dr. Rudy A. Magnan

"Thinking skill in unquestionably the fundamental human resource. We need to do much more about developing this skill, because the complexity of modern life demands more than routine reactions. There is an even bigger need for productive, constructive and generative thinking"
"I hope that everyone concerned with the future direction of education will pay attention to these important matters which you raise in this book."
-- Dr. Edward de Bono
WORLD'S LEADING AUTHORITY ON
THINKING AS A DELIBERATE SKILL

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453590669

Dr. Rudy A. Magnan

AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY Dr. Rudy Magnan, author, cognitive psychologist and education consultant has conducted seminars and workshops in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. An expert in skill training in the area of creativity, innovation, thinking, and cognitive teaching strategies. Dr. Magnan’s ideas are provocative and they emphasize the importance of design thinking. His analysis and proposals offer a fresh insight into how we can solve our problems in education as well in the workplace. Dr. Magnan received special training in the teaching of thinking as a deliberate skill in his collaboration with Dr. Edward de Bono, the internationally renowned leader in the area of creativity and design thinking. This included the Cort Thinking Skills program, the Six Thinking Hats, and Lateral Thinking Techniques. He has also been involved in corporate training programs designed to improve communication and performance in many American companies. An adjunct assistant professor at Adelphi University in 1978, Dr. Magnan was instrumental in bringing college credit course in the social sciences to high schools. He has also introduced the Cort Thinking Skills Program of Dr. de Bono into schools in Italy where he has also written a series of articles in creativity and innovation for a leading Italian newspaper.

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Copyright © 2010 by Dr. Rudy A. Magnan.

Library of Congress Control Number:  2010914780

ISBN: Hardcover    978-1-4535-9065-2

ISBN: Softcover      978-1-4535-9064-5

ISBN: Ebook          978-1-4535-9066-9

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

A Sense of Purpose and Accomplishment

CHAPTER TWO

Applied Thinking Techniques

CHAPTER THREE

Perception, Thinking, and Behavior

CHAPTER FOUR

Accepting the Power of the Mind

CHAPTER FIVE

A Proposed Design System for Schools Developing Human Potential in a Cybernetic Society

CHAPTER SIX

Acting on the Problems Facing Schools

CHAPTER SEVEN

Alternatives to Consider

CHAPTER EIGHT

American Priorities Identified

CHAPTER NINE

The Dilemma of Theory and Practice in Education

CHAPTER TEN

Identifying Problems And Presenting Solutions

CHAPTER ELEVEN

All That American Society Can Be

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Future Scenario

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Conclusion

ENDNOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

To my wife, Maria—my sounding board who has helped me in clarifying some of my ideas.

To my friend, Marilyn Klein who read through some of the early drafts and made some important comments which were instrumental.

To my typist, Simone Mincin, whose typing of the early manuscript was critical in the realization of the final publication.

To my dear friend, Arthur Candido, who encouraged me to persist in this endeavor.

To Dr. Edward deBono whose ideas and thinking strategies have been indispensable in formulating my own ideas relative to the improvement of the process of education in America.

PREFACE

The subtitle of this book was chosen to focus on the mental process we call thinking. Thinking is defined as a mental process in which the thinker goes from less information to more information. Having more information about a topic or situation helps the thinker to have a broader view or perception. This experience allows the thinker to be better informed and to better understand. Furthermore, it influences the mind to generate additional information and ideas. It is this process which develops mental abilities which are necessary for success.

The individuals who are quoted in the manuscript have made the effort to present their viewpoints. This information may trigger new attitudes, new orientations and new insights. Teachers, administrators and educators need continual mental training in order to meet their daily challenges. This is a process experience which just doesn’t happen. It requires an information system which focuses on the individual’s mental potential as an information processor and information generator. This manuscript was written as a first step in developing that system.

This book will hopefully create the necessary discussions in educational institutions from which some new ideas and directions will emerge in the future. We as teachers, educators, and parents are faced with a challenge. Our ability to meet this challenge will decide whether we as a nation can survive in a competitive global village, and in a changing world.

The interest of the author is that we evaluate our thinking and our understanding of education as it relates to a changing world which demands new skills and preparation. In the past, ideas lived longer than men, but today men live longer than ideas. We must learn to adapt and shift our thinking modes to include other points of view not previously considered and accepted. Our ability to survive will depend upon our capacity to change our thinking.

A new approach is warranted, but it can only come about with an increased awareness of our perception of who we are, and what we can be as educators and teachers in a dynamic society. It is this kind of perspective that will help develop the thinking strategies necessary to bring about improvements in education, and hence in American society. A new design for a more cost effective and a more efficient educational system is possible. The consequences resulting from failure to design a system will require costly solutions and the loss of our most important natural resource, the American student.

The information and observations presented are taken from the decades of the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s when there was considerable interest expressed in making significant changes in education. In spite of this activity, the traditional model of education remains an operating system which shows a willingness to talk the talk but unwilling to walk the walk.

INTRODUCTION

This book was written as a description of the confusion existing between educational theory and practice in public education today.

It was reported in the New York Times that we spend more than 88 billion dollars to operate our secondary public schools. This is a massive expenditure of money and of human resources to accomplish stated goals. However, a evaluation of our schools by the National Commission on Excellence in Education states that Our nation is at risk.

This report clearly identifies the failure of American Education in basic skills competency as evidenced by the fact that the average achievement of high school students in standardized tests is lower who compared to previous decades. This slow decline in student skills is no surprise to teachers who, over the years, have been complaining about their students’ lack of interest, commitment, and dedication to their assignments. The problem of student failure was interpreted as being related to teacher failure. Consequently, pressure was exerted on school administrators to implement accountability programs, new curriculum programs, new course offerings, etc. These proposals were not always successful because they were bandage solutions being used to deal with an educational ill which required major surgery. The attempts at updating the curriculum, or of making things relevant are hampered by the traditional thinking of teachers who either questioned or negated instructional changes in their subject areas. The new curriculum programs which temporarily created excitement and interest eventually would be shelved because no support systems were established to maintain these programs successfully.

The key participants in the educational process, the teachers and the students, were not prepared to implement and to continue these programs. Teachers could be expected to perform their tasks successfully, if new role perceptions were created and new ideas could be nurtured and developed. This was necessary since the real world had changed dramatically over the last fifty years both in terms of new advances in technology and production as well as of changing values and ideas. This development required a new conceptualization of the educational system in relation to societys needs. Alvin Toffler in his book, Future Shock, described the problem of change as a requirement in adjusting to a rapidly snowballing age. However, American education has been slow in responding to a changing world brought on by the information explosion and by significant changes in society.

The Federal reports on education, describing contemporary students as educational VATS . . . filled with information of all kinds but unable to apply it today or in the future, were heard, but not heeded. The leadership did not exist in education circles to understand its implications and realities. The School administrators, including principals, were satisfied, in most cases, with keeping the status quo in their own schools. Schools, as institutions, were also slow to change because they were designed as a vertical system where ideas filter down from the top. The superintendents and their administrators would not utilize their teacher-student feedback available at the lower eschelon.

The decade of the seventies saw United States prominence in commerce, industry, technology, and science being tested. The superiority of the Japanese in the production of automobiles and other products had almost undermined our traditional thinking about our existing methods of production. Today, our need to compete for world markets has convinced American companies of the need to become more creative and innovative. A recent Newsweek (7/2010) article on creativity, identified creativity as the most important leadership skills necessary for success.

Today, the need to change education model is obvious. The introduction of instructional programs and new techniques and skills in schools is on the increase. There is a renewed interest in new kinds of instructional methodologies. There is an increase in remedial courses to improve employee skills. There is an increasing concern about the ineffectiveness of contemporary schools in teaching basic and relevant skills.

The responsibility for educating our youth rests with the schools, but they can only be successful in this endeavor if they develop new systems and new designs which can be successfully implemented and practiced. School systems have not developed ‘applied thinking techniques’. They simply do not have research centers which can generate the new ideas and techniques necessary to improve the educational system. There is a basic lack of design and applied thinking. An environment of mediocrity is no longer acceptable.

CHAPTER ONE

A Sense of Purpose and Accomplishment

There is no doubt that teachers and students wish to feel a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Any educational institution is successful relative to the performance of its participants. Attitudes and commitments, or the lack thereof, are important aspects to consider when goals and expectations are not achieved.

The United States has established national objectives for achievement, The National Education Goals are:

1.   By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn.

2.   By the year 2000, we will increase the percentage of students graduating from high school to at least 90 percent.

3.   By the year 2000, American students will leave grades four, eight, and twelve having demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter, including English, mathematics, science, history, and geography.

4.   By the year 2000, U.S. students will be first in the world in science and mathematics achievement.

5.   By the year 2000, every adult American will be literate and possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

6.   By the year 2000, every school in America will be free of drugs and violence and offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning. 1

We cannot, it seems, continue to fulfill our obligations and achieve our educational goals unless those in leadership positions become more aware of, and more responsive to a changing student population and to a changing economy. There are multiple problems and concerns which continue to exist with no real solutions or strategies offered. The national objectives listed were not achieved.

The Federal Government’s funding of education is insufficient. Their renewed commitment for improving schools resulted in some increased funding. Over the decade of 1980’s federal support for public elementary and secondary schools was cut by one-third. A new report by the Economic Policy Institute disclosed that the United States lags behind 13 other industrial nations, including West Germany and Japan, in spending on elementary and secondary schools.²

As a teacher concerned about the educational process, I do believe we do a disservice to ourselves by not articulating our thoughts and feelings about the problems in education. Teachers have been unwilling to make a statement about the recurring problems of our teaching profession. We continue to search for professional identity as teachers and educators. This is especially important today when the taxpayers, elected officials, and the media must draw their own conclusions about who we are and what we do.

Governors from many states met in the late 1980’s to organize a national plan to achieve national goals. Edward B. Fiske of the New York Times reported in an article titled With Bright National Goals for Schools Set, Governors Puzzle Over How to Attain Them. The governors in Charlottesville, Va. managed to hammer out a vision of what the country’s educational system should look like 10 years from now. All students will enter school ready to learn. The dropout rate will be down, adult literacy rates up. American students will rank No. 1 in the world in mathematics and science.

A second aspect of the plan called for gradual deregulation of schools. This deregulating of the school system is under way in some states. Many systems, including those in Miami and Rochester, have turned budgetary and the educational decision making over to the principals, teachers, and parents of local schools, while other school systems have given parents the right to choose which public school the child will attend.³

These proposals called for major changes in a system slow to change. There is a need for serious introspection by teachers, principals, superintendents. There exists a fragmented understanding and confused conceptionalization of the process of education. There are critical questions which have to be answered, in order to have a comprehensive understanding of where we are from one decade to the other. American students academic performance is poor. In the early 1980’s. Ronald Hoffmann who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry in 1981 wrote in the New York Times on Ignorance, Ignorantly Judged:

A recent survey by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement compared ninth grade general science students in 16 countries. Americans ranked next to the bottom, outscoring only students from Hong Kong. Advanced chemistry pupils (grade 12) in the U.S. finished 12th of 14, ahead of Canada and Finland, and far behind England, Singapore, Japan, Hungary, Australia and Poland.⁴

Many American leaders from different levels of society