Rick Hess of American Enterprise Institute has now done his second interview with leading Ed Consultant Paul Banksley. Banksley, if you don’t know about him, is the Innovation Sherpa behind the ground breaking 22nd century skills movement.
An excerpt:
He leaned back and continued. “And ‘equity’? Equity is when we make education more equitable. There’s equality, right? But that’s not equity. Sometimes equality has kids standing on boxes outside a baseball stadium.” He pulled a printed graphic out of his pocket and pointed to it. “You see? Some kids can’t see the game. Who wants that? Just imagine shipping all those boxes to various stadiums. And then kids still can’t see. It’s crazy!!” He slammed his fist on his chair.
The funders and handlers milling around had fallen into a hush. “That is so, so true,” murmured one. Others just snapped their fingers furiously.
“But it’s not just about helping raise the floor right?” I said. “In your 22nd century skills TED talk, you said that we also have to ‘raise the ceiling’.”
He said, “That’s right. We’re not just for equity, we’re for excellent equity. That’s why personalization and data-richness are the secret sauce to cracking the code. We need to do what works. We need more for kids who need more—but no less for anyone else! And it’s got to be about the kids, and the future.”
There was a burst of snapping.