Making the turn

One of the main problems with reforming education is that the main workforce in schools, the teachers, are trained by one of the least progressive institutions in the U.S.  Asking the universities to turn out forward thinking teachers is like asking a chimpanzee to become fluent in English.  They will pick up a few words that enhance their survival, but beyond that...

Another problem is that the same universities that train the teachers, train the experts in the field.  Fortunately, Ed. D.s have been taught to think for themselves, so hope for reform will have to come from their ranks.  They also are the ones who hold the purse strings in most districts, so they have the true ability and resources to turn things around.  However, these experts are many times linked to expectations from a community that mitigate any attempts at true reform without a lot of time, effort, and money being pumped into re-educating them.

But, one can muse.  Wouldn't it be an education of the first order to have teachers who know how to use holographic tools, 3D printers, experience through role-playing and true-to-life reasons for wanting students to learn the principles they teach, and know how to use video gaming for coursework.  Can you imagine partners playing Minecraft to work out a setting for a story, a calculation for some architecture, a test drive for an electric car, or a simulated disaster relief effort for an earthquake?  Project-based education is an interim step for this kind of learning.  Such schools are leading the way in re-educating the public mindset for reform in the idea of mastery and working through a simulation in order to gain knowledge.  They will probably lead the way in turning education into a path for global participation of the workforce.