I feel like the alternate title for this documentary could have been Why High Tech High is Just the Best considering how much time was spent following its students and its curriculum. I wonder why they spent the money and time traveling to so many different state
s and schools if they were only going to show a few clips of each? That being said, I did find this documentary to be a very interesting, and somewhat disturbing, discussion of the role of education in today’s society. They did a very good job of using one school whose innovative structure is pushing the educational envelope as a lens to examine and dissect our fossilized conception of what education should look like.
It is genuinely jaw dropping to see how little the current organizational system of schools prepares people for the economic reality waiting for them after they graduate. Speaking of graduating, after hearing students, parents, and educators mention over and over how they felt like they had to choose between a good education or passing a test to get into university made me very very glad I am Canadian and don’t have to deal with the horror of entrance exams.
Previous to watching this film, there was a part of me that was feeling a little grumpy about how much emphasis soft skills were taking precedence in school curriculum and how content was suffering because of it. After my viewing experience, I can confidently say I get it now. It was really heartwarming to see the one shy girl blast through her shell and take the lead so confidently by the end of the year. That is the kind of experience and attitude that will land her management jobs in the future. It was like I was watching the adult version of her as she organized and led her theatre troupe.
On a side note, I found the play they chose to do rather uncomfortable to sit through. My word, that topic felt inappropriate! Was there a single person of Arabic decent in that group? Did they write the play? Or was it a famous one written by a woman who had experience with the Taliban/ that culture? From an outside perspective it felt like a bit of good old American brainwashing meant to make everyone either be afraid of that culture or look down in pity on them. HOW DID THEY GET AWAY WITH FILMING THAT PLAY????? That might be my inner Canadian coming out in me though.
Another aspect that made me feel a bit uncomfortable was the way that students seemed like they were being put on trial in front of their peers by the teachers. I get the importance of students learning to take constructive criticism, but there must be a less condescending way to do it, surely. What kind of modelling is that? I understand that their decision to do so comes from a place of wanting to instil certain American values, but as a politeness loving Canadian, I can’t really get behind showing students that using that sort of behaviour with people under your care is acceptable.
I did really love how they enforced students taking on more responsibility for their own learning and letting them feel the natural consequences of poor time management. I really enjoyed how they used large projects that could be displayed to an audience as both the goal and the method of summative assessment. The projects naturally included utilizing skills from multiple subjects, interweaving a variety of learning strands to accomplish a single goal. They are right in saying that method is more akin to working in the real world than a multiple choice test.
All in all, this film woke me up to the reality of a future where technology has taken over most of our manual and paper pushing jobs and our value as humans has been reduced to our capacity for creativity, ingenuity, critical thinking, and social intelligence. I feel somewhat underprepared to teach the necessary skills to the next generation, and somewhat sad for the people who enjoy more physical work. I hope that the job market is not so bleak as what they have presented. I hope that the data that they presented to us was taken a little out of context and misquoted to some extent. Yet I hope that more people see this film and it makes them rethink what purpose their current school organizational system is accomplishing. I hope that we mold our education system into something that will better prepare students for not just living in the adult world, but thriving, full of confidence and well prepared to take on whatever life throws their way.
