Learning is Natural Law

Over the course of history and in different cultures, education has taken many different forms. In the thousands of years people have been going to school, no one has created the "perfect" way of teaching others. According to Yuval Noah Harari, "corporations are fictional stories created by human beings. Microsoft isn't the buildings it owns, the people it employs or the shareholders it serves--rather, it is an intricate legal fiction woven by lawmakers and lawyers. (W)e treat corporations as if they are real entities in the world like tigers or humans" (Harari 2018, 246). School, like business, is a creation of humans and can be changed to fit our needs. It is not natural law. We have come to accept the "rules'' of school i.e. sitting in desks, listening to lectures, taking notes, taking tests, and receiving grades are all part of the "rules." The word "learning" has come to be the equivalent of "school." As in the frequent student answer answer to the question: "Do you love learning?" is answered with "No, I don't like school."

Learning is natural law. Everything with a brain learns throughout their lives. Only humans go to "school."

Harari, Yuval Noah. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Spiegel & Grau, 2018.

Learning Is Embarrassment

Learning is growth. It brings vitality to life and is one of the reasons childhood is so magical. Kids are constantly learning and if they make a mistake, often it is easily overcome. "Anyone who isn't embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn't learning enough," according to author Alain de Botton (Kleon 2014, 197). the embarrassment does not have to be public. It is embarrassing when one learns the actual lyrics to a song, rather than some nonsense that they originally thought it was. After a while, one may forget their previous understanding of it, but the key was not to be satisfied with what was thought to be known. Being open to new experiences and learning is a vital link to growth.

Kleon, Austin. Show Your Work! :10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered. Workman, 2014.

Reinvigorating Education

In thinking about a structure to hang a new focus to the rebranded Arete Academy, efficiency engineer Harrington Emerson stated, "As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble." When considering moving the thinking of both teachers and students to a new level, holding to the principles of students advocating for themselves and their learning provides many methods for them to show it, which would make the learning the important thing, along with students taking an active role in how it will be assessed and quantified.

In a sense, common assessments hold students hostage on the teacher focused side of the continuum of who is driving new learning and keep some students and teachers from being fully engaged. It may take awhile, but student engagement will go up if they are given leeway to use their strengths to show their learning. There will have to be a huge amount of support given to students at first, including lists or menus of product types. Eventually they will get to the point where they can choose an appropriate product for the targeted skill they need to master.

There are many people who feel like changing jobs or even careers every five years or so is how they stay fresh and always in a perpetual mode of growth, but it is stressful going to a new workplace, working with new people on a new idea using our current skill set. Teachers often have the ability to avoid the reinvigorating feeling of thinking about their area of expertise in a new way. They have the lesson plans, and the history of having students find success in terms of GPA. Embracing the principle that students should be in charge of showing their learning may be daunting in terms of letting go of control, but could re-energize teachers in the sense that they are still the content experts, still working with the same people, in the same place, but now seeing it, in the opposite way of it being about what the students take away from the class rather than what the teacher teaches.

Ferriss, Timothy. Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018.

Drip by Drip

 At one time, the idea of school as we know it must have been revolutionary. Over time, "drip by drip, year by year" the manual of being a teacher and being a student was written (Godin 2010, 120). Before long, everyone knows school is done in a certain way and those for whom that structure doesn't work are destined for digging ditches.

School became successful in draining creativity and joy out of learning, until the point where asking teenagers if they like to learn only elicits guffaws. We know the rules, which have been developed over the years to combat any of the negative, distracting behavior of being an artist, writer, musician, or independent thinker. In a sense, mediocrity became a desired quality because no one tries to tear down people who are equal in effort, thinking and output. The problem is when someone tries to undermine the rules by working harder or working by their own rules.

The way school is run today, with "common assessments" and the common core, everyone is expected to learn the same things, in the same way. The "resistance" as Steven Pressfield calls it creates conformity because it takes too much energy to overcome institutional expectations, which include those of the school administration, other teachers, parents, students and the community. It takes the rare person to step out of that brainwashing and create something new, or at least a new way of looking at the topic.

Part of the problem is that we have been told for a long time to "run schools like a business." That leads to homogonized students and methods to make things the same, like a can of Coke. that may be great for the people who are rule followers, but not so great for people who bristle at that sort of life.

Infinite Education: Learn How to Learn

 To make the Arete Academy and education itself resilient, it must be relevant now and in the future, and our message about the infinite nature of what kids will learn needs to be shared using consistent language that also coincides with our brand of exploration and creativity. Simon Sinek, author of The Infinite Game, discusses how railroads' finite vision of themselves caused them to ignore the emergence of cars and trucks as the major means of transportation rather than seeing themselves and their purpose as moving people and goods and creating their own non-rail vehicles. . The music industry fought streamed and digitally accessible music rather than figuring out how they could spread the artistry and message to as many people as possible (Sinek 2019, 45). Any of these established industries fought challenges to their supremacy and ignoring or denying they were losing their grip on their field. 

Like the railroads 80-100 years ago, in the face of virtual learning, education is missing out on defining what it is truly about and seizing that message to create a new way of thinking about it. The question used to be “what is the purpose of school?” After a year of students learning from home, especially with students having devices and a strong wi-fi signal, learning, the new question should be “what is the purpose of coming to school?” After students were at home for the months of October and November 2020 learning in a real-time at home setting, upon their return it became apparent that, as Suzette Weisgerber, social studies teacher in the Arete Academy at Neenah High School stated, it is to “feed their soul.”  The interpersonal connection that they had taken for granted throughout their school lives had been removed, which left only the learning. Throughout  their years of school, students have come to equate learning and school. When asked “do you like to learn,” most kids say no because they see “learning” only happening in school and do not recognize that they are learning machines, constantly taking in information and creating new knowledge. At this point schools and the education system are missing out on the fact that their infinite game is in guiding  students to learn how to learn.  It is no secret that almost anything one wants to learn is accessible to anyone with the internet through a variety of sources.

Sinek, Simon. The Infinite Game. Penguin Business, 2019.

Who is the Arete Academy?

 In Arete, we prepare students for a future that does not yet exist; a future that is continually changing.  Twenty-first Century life calls for us to expect the unexpected and in Arete, we prepare students with skills to succeed in a future that cries out for leaders who can think critically, creatively and analytically, solve complex problems, persevere through challenges, and strive for excellence as they design their way forward through life.

In Arete, we bring classes to life when we build and overthrow empires, create a class government, grow plants, plan events, take trips, and build structures. We take learning to the next level by giving students meaningful opportunities to apply their learning to their passions, to help others and to solve local problems. Students create lasting memories through multisensory active learning in English, math, science and social studies classes and through public exhibitions of work. 

In Arete, students learn about themselves: their skills, passions, interests and roadblocks. We help students expand horizons and develop grit as they learn to be more comfortable when outside of their comfort zone. Developing grit enables students to climb higher, dig deeper and finish stronger. It is by learning strategies to push through discomfort and the encouragement of fellow classmates which allows students to find their success trajectory. 

In Arete, our focus is on depth of knowledge by combining learning from multiple classes in new and interesting ways.  Deep learning is “sticky” learning and leads to application in a real world setting. Opportunities in life don’t always come packaged in single subject boxes, and neither should education.

In Arete, students learn the value of teamwork through active contribution, reflection and discussion. We live in a world of connection where communication, listening and thinking are valued more than rote memorization.  Being remarkable is far more important than being a mindless follower filling in a test bubble. Making our lives matter is of utmost importance.  That is where the gap lies: between what students know and are capable of and what they are doing right now.  We designed the Arete Academy to help talented students close the gap. The Arete Academy is built to give each student an opportunity to stand out, seek change and leap.

Declaration of Educational Independence

After completing a unit where students decided when they had reached a satisfactory proficiency in selected targets, it is time to raise the bar. While exploring changes in education that should be made following the unfortunate "time out" that has occurred in school for the last nine months, early childhood teacher Erika Christakis, in her article "School Wasn't So Great Before Covid Either," in the December 2020 edition of The Atlantic, discusses the gains in learning that have been made by students who were able to work more independently, while having more time outdoors. That those are important factors for elementary students also portends their effectiveness for older students as well. My thinking is to finally create a more personalized way of conducting class. After years of talking then forgetting about doing it, I am going to undertake a transformation of Arete English 10, which includes literature, composition and speech. I will require a project, paper and/or presentation at regular intervals with all targets open for each task. Students can look at which targets they need to shore up and attempt them in a format of their choosing on future concepts. There will continue to be lessons for specific targets, but students won't have to attend them unless they haven't yet shown proficiency. 

The projects will be constructed by students who will examine the targets, the concept and the formats available to them to create a rationale for the project  in which they lay out all aspects of the project, including schedule, targets, and product, for approval by the teacher(s), parents and hopefully a non teacher/family member who is there to ask questions, check on the student and hopefully, create a solid relationship with another adult. 

I can start with English, and hopefully, social studies can work in easily as well. The eventual goal would be to include math and science into the project too, but that will remain to be seen. The class structure would give students as much structure as they need. Obviously, there will be students who can work at a high level of independence, but there are those who need encouragement and to be led one small step at a time. We will have to set up short, regular meetings with all students to answer questions and encourage progress. 

Highway to Many Methods

In the last forty years, anyone who has watched television, been to a sporting event or listened to a cover band has heard AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" at some point. Millions have heard Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue,"  but not the way Umphree's McGee plays them in their song "Electric Avenue to Hell." Their mashup of the two songs shows that choosing a different method can be surprising and delightful. Their imaginative playing of "Electric Avenue" with the lyrics to "Highway to Hell" and vice versa leads to a dissonance when hearing the "wrong" words sung to the music. Similarly, when Chris Cornell combined the songs "One" performed by U2 and Metallica it showed his ability to capture the principles of each song and make it his own through a new interpretation.

Umphrey's McGee Zonkey Album

In thinking about how students are asked to show learning of a certain principle in school, in method, it often ends up being too similar--like a million cover bands playing "Highway to Hell" so that it sounds the same as it did when AC/DC played it.  Harrington Emerson comments that while "principles are few, the man who grasps the principles can successfully select his own methods" (Ferris 178). Once a person has an understanding of the principles (the content, or "Highway to Hell") they can choose any means to show their learning, but most are not asked nor encouraged to do so because the "audience" wants to hear it in its original method.

If, as an education system, we are focused only on the principles, we are short changing students from the most important aspect, being able to show true understanding by inventing a way to show their learning. For musical artists, the usual way to show they know a song is to play it as the original artist did. For Umphrey's McGee or Chris Cornell, that wasn't enough.

Students could choose their own method to show learning from two subjects, such as explaining the history of Rome through parabolas. Each part of the quadratic formula would correspond to Rome, including: the x and y axes and intercepts, height and direction of the parabola all of which support the actual mathematical uses, definitions and explanations. Students would then explain their thinking in an informative essay. That method would let them "rock down to" a new and exciting experience which provides them with a highway to satisfaction.