A MODEL FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Educators, educational policymakers and communities have grappled with the concept of educational excellence for decades. In general, approaches to the question of educational excellence have tended to focus on one aspect of the array of factors influencing educational product or output. For example, some approaches have concentrated on pedagogy, that is, what kind of pedagogical or teaching style or methodology best leads to high performance by students. Other approaches have focused on institutional or management structures that lead to good outcomes. Without cataloguing all the approaches, suffice it to say that while each approach has merits, each suffers from one critical shortcoming: in isolation, each approach has little chance of success, if certain other ingredients outside the scope of the specific approach are not present. In short, systemic educational excellence can result only from a systems approach to reform. Put another way, educational reform must function in terms of correcting ‘fragmentation’ as a problem solving approach. This short paper presents the outlines of a model for educational systems excellence. Though based in theory the model is constructed from programs and projects tested in contemporary settings, thus, it is empirically based. In addition, the model, in being reflective of contemporary scholarship and practice, has the advantage of being part of a movement for educational reform.
This paper summarizes the responses to a community workshop responding to the question of what are the necessary components of a good or excellent education. The responses can be categorized in terms of the philosophical approach, the characteristics of the learning environment (pedagogical or physical), the content and methodology, the organizational structure.
PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH
The enterprise is child centered
This means that the transference of knowledge is seen as centripetal, rather than centrifugal. It means that education validates the child’s experience by incorporating that experience into rigorous academic content, because it emanates from a clear idea of the child’s reality. Other features reflecting this philosophical approach include:
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
The learning environment is safe, accessible and nurturing
CONTENT AND METHODOLOGY
Educational content and methodology are designed to develop critical and analytical skills, as well as values and emotional health
MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Education is the responsibility of the entire community and the schools are the center of the community’s network or asset base
© 2003, Community United to Reform Education, New Orleans, Louisiana