ABSTRACT
Because this book calls for substantial change to schooling, it is important to understand why schools operate today the way they do and why they currently teach what they teach. The chapter starts with a brief review of the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act and other forces on schooling, including an increase in stressful testing and a narrowing of the goals effectively pursued by schools. School systems are discussed as complex systems in which unexpected byproducts of any specific change are likely. There also is a discussion of the extent to which the school day is “owned” by the core subjects that have been taught in schools for the last century (with modifications, of course). There also is a discussion of the lack of clear understanding by parents and policymakers of how specific curricular goals support later good living; for most of a century, showing up and doing what teachers asked was the key to later life success to a remarkable degree, and this was likely most true for people who ended up working in education. A brief history of public education is provided, with emphasis on how recent the notion of universal public education is and how fragile the public acceptance of the importance of providing a good education for all students is. The extent of discrimination by race and wealth that is implicit in the system that has evolved is discussed, with attention to the ways in which the cost of that discrimination will be much higher during the period of disruption triggered by the rise of smart machines. The role of culture as a source of learning is also explored briefly. The chapter concludes with a summary stating that, in addition to the eight goals outlined earlier, there is a different kind of goal for schools that is important. Schools must be able to teach children who come from significantly different backgrounds. While honoring those backgrounds, schools also should make it possible for children to pursue roles that may not have been evident in the context in which they were raised.
