ABSTRACT

This chapter, which is the core of the book, begins with a general discussion of barriers to improving the school curriculum. These include inadequate professional development time and methods and aspects of high-stakes assessments that make change difficult. This is followed by a brief discussion of how change happens in highly stable systems where a change in any one aspect is watered down quickly by other system forces. The book suggests that as a result, society will likely be in two superposed states for a while, one where the existing system is dominant and one where partially independent forces lead to components of a new and more adaptive system. The eventual shift from what we have today to what is needed for tomorrow will likely be abrupt and largely a function of small factors related to the strengths of inertial forces in our current system and public responses to elements of a new system. The wealthy will see their children in the new system quite soon, while the less wealthy will depend on real change in our public and charter schools. The remainder of the chapter considers each of the eight competences in turn and suggests some possible ways that competence might be practiced. Especially important to the overall discussion is the role of scaffolded performances. The book suggests that a key form of preparation in many of the eight competences is to take on tasks that are too hard to accomplish alone and then to have scaffolding provided by a mentor/coach so that the task becomes just achievable. This approach of demanding work made possible by selected bits of assistance is consistent with both the literature on cognitive development and Lesgold’s successful approach to building intelligent tutoring systems to teach the most difficult parts of complex technical jobs. It also is shown to be used in medical education successfully.