BAN THE AVERAGE:

Designing school learning environments to the average kills talent.

Designing school learning environments to the average kills talent. Why?  Average simply does not exist.  Todd Rose’s TED talk The Myth of Average parallels the U. S. Air Force’s approach of fighter jet cockpit design to our instructional practices in schools.  Find it here: https://youtu.be/4eBmyttcfU4  

It might seem logical, on the surface, that designing a multi-million dollar aircraft cockpit could be averaged to effectively accommodate a range of pilots.  However, this assumption is not only false, it’s negligent to design a vessel that protects our nation’s borders and freedom based on an average pilot, as the notion of an “average pilot” does not exist.  As Rose points out, pilots [like students] have a jagged profile.  Meaning, that just as Air Force pilots come in an infinite number of shapes and sizes, so do our students. Why, then, is it not negligent to design a one-size-fits-all approach to curriculum and school design for the most valuable resource in our nation: the youth responsible for transforming every industry we have and those yet to be discovered?  

In their session Captivate, Motivate and Invigorate Your Students,

Lisa Allred (@enoughallredy) and Jill Thompson (@edu_thompson) shattered the notion that designing instruction to the average is acceptable or effective. Want to motivate students to take ownership of their learning, make it dimensional.  One-size-fits-all, average learning environments “destroy” potential.  According to Rose, average does not “nurture individual potential,”  yet, it “hurts everyone.”  

Still not convinced?  Think of it like this: Differentiate the cockpit for pilots through minor, less-than-expensive modifications and you have the opportunity to create an ideally suited environment for optimal pilot performance--our borders are protected, critical, split-second decisions are easily accessible in a finger’s reach [regardless if you’re a 5’2” female or a 6’1 male], and our soldiers have the confidence to perform life or death maneuvers with equipment specifically designed for their body.  Differentiate the learning environment [including classroom design and curriculum] for students through practical, less-than-revolutionary adaptations and you have the robust opportunity to not only create an optimal learning environment, but also change the trajectory of a student’s educational path, love for learning, highlight their gifts, and impact the world.  

That’s a nice TED Talk, but teachers and leaders are left asking: “Now what?”  If average is detrimental to all, what do we do?  Shouts from educators across the globe echo “differentiate instruction.”  Sounds good, but good has got to be great for it to impact student achievement. What can teachers and leaders do?  Where do you start?  Jill and Lisa shared a wealth of perspective and resources on how to design our student cockpits.  Check out their Google doc here: https://goo.gl/bPqSam

As cautioned by Rose, we have to consider that the “cockpits of our economy” [i.e. our learning environments] are spending more money than ever, yet we are falling further and further behind in academic gains.  He goes on to pose the question: How much of the problem is just bad design? Like Rose, Jill and Lisa point out that we continue to design learning environments for “average” [disguised as “age appropriate”].  It’s not only improper, it’s detrimental to the wealth of our nation, the future economy, global citizenry, and a culture of innovation.  Designing to the average is not merely an easy way out for educators unwilling to do what is best for students, it’s harmful to our overall advancement in education and as global citizens.  Rose elaborates that students, like fighter pilots, are not one- dimensional.  Each one has a jagged learning profile, composed of unique strengths and weaknesses. As we look to reform and advance an educational system that is continuously under attack by governmental and public naysayers, we must unite and the grassroots level and change our learning environmental design to accurately evoke the peak performance of our elite fighter pilots, our students.