Ed Surge – Michael B. Horn
” In Paul Tough’s new book, he writes that the people who are best at engendering “noncognitive”—or character—abilities like grit in students hardly ever mention these skills in the classroom. It’s an observation that has won attention and admirers such as New York Times columnist David Brooks. But what has been left unsaid is how our current system of education works systematically against instilling these skills in students, and how we could naturally embed the development of grit in students—in a way that doesn’t talk explicitly about grit—by moving to a competency-based learning system. In today’s system, time is held as a constant and each student’s learning is variable. Students move from concept to concept after spending a fixed number of days, weeks or months on the subject. Educators teach, sometimes administer a test, and move students on to the next unit or body of material regardless of their results, effort and understanding of the topic. Students typically receive feedback and results much later and only after they have progressed.”(more)