Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin

As a father, small business owner, and college professor, one topic that is constantly on my mind is our education system and the issues associated with it. With the focus on passing "standardized testing" and cookie-cutter type classrooms, schools are not preparing children for today's workplace. Rather, they are churning out people who are unable to, as Seth Godin says, "connect the dots; they can only collect dots". School used to be a place where dreams were encouraged, paths were discussed, futures were wide open. They are now simply manufacturing plants, churning out people based on their date of manufacture, and graded by how well they performed against an arbitrary standard. Enjoy the following video - maybe we can make a change.

From Seth Godin:

The economy has changed, probably forever.

School hasn't.

School was invented to create a constant stream of compliant factory workers to the growing businesses of the 1900s. It continues to do an excellent job at achieving this goal, but it's not a goal we need to achieve any longer.

In this 30,000 word manifesto, I imagine a different set of goals and start (I hope) a discussion about how we can reach them. One thing is certain: if we keep doing what we've been doing, we're going to keep getting what we've been getting.

Our kids are too important to sacrifice to the status quo.