We Do It Because It's Hard

During the past several weeks, there has been a great deal of discussion about Proficiency-Based Learning in Vermont. Specifically, those of us who did not learn in a proficiency-based system as students and weren't taught how to teach in a proficiency-based system as educators have struggled to make this a reality for our students. Changing how we teach our students and how we assess our students is hard work. And that's OK.

I was reminded of this during the week reading a blog post by George Couros that pointed out: "easy does not equal good," which reminded me of this quote by John F. Kennedy:

"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too." (September 12, 1962, Rice University, Houston, TX)

Yes, it is hard to change how we teach our students. Yes, it is hard to change how we assess our students. Yes, it is hard to change how we report our students' progress to families and institutions of higher education. And this is the right thing to do for our students. 

This is not to say that how we learned as students and as educators is wrong. I genuinely believe that my own education K - 12, as well as my higher education, was reflective of the best pedagogy at that time. But we know so much more now. 

We know that it is rare for someone to learn how to ride a bike the first time the training wheels come off. We know that it takes a coordination of balance, pedaling, and turning that more often than not does not happen the first time. We don't say that the person who was first to ride a bike after practicing one time is "better" than the person who learned how to ride their bike after fifteen or twenty tries. The end result is the same: we have someone who can ride a bike. 

We know that many, many people in the world did not pass their driver's test the first time. That does not mean they are not drivers today. When someone does not pass their driver's test, they get specific feedback on what they did wrong. And then they go back and practice the portion they got wrong, while still maintaining their other driving skills. When they feel as though they've mastered the weak area, they return for another chance at the test. If driving tests were "high stakes assessments," we would have a lot more people who did not have drivers' licenses. 

Finally, if we fail to pay our taxes on April 15, the federal government does not "give us a zero," and move on until the next year. Instead, there is a fine that is assessed and a six-month extension given to file one's returns. 

We don't bemoan the fact that medicine has made advances in the past 45 years, eradicating diseases that were once deadly.

We don't complain about the fact that there are electric cars that can travel several hundred miles on a single charge.

We don't wring our hands at the reality that our phone is no longer fastened to a wall, can fit in our pocket, and is as powerful as a laptop computer.

What if those advances never got off the ground because they were too hard?

I am proud to be a professional educator in the State of Vermont. I am proud that in this state, a leadership endorsement can only be put onto an educator's license. I am proud that we are making advances in instruction, assessment, and reporting that align with advances that we know to be learner-centered.

Teaching is hard. It should be because it's not for everyone. It's a noble profession that educates for the future. It wasn't easy 45 years ago and it's not easy today.

We don't do it because it's easy.

Easy does not equal good.

Photo Courtesy of www.quitterswin.blog