[MD] 42

[ARLO JAMES BENSINGER JR]

Hi John,

I've seen this before, its an interesting endeavor. You may have seen this before, but this RSA Animate short touches on many of the same ideas: http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate/animate/rsa-animate-changing-paradigms

One note of caution: "opposed to professional academics and teacher's unions". I think there is a pendulum swinging from "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side" that has dismissed the role of the instructor too far. A "professional academic" is (or should be) someone who not only understands the body of knowledge but also is skilled in pedagogy and learning theories, someone who has the ability to access student performance and keep the student moving forward (via what Vygotsky called the Zone of Proximal Development). This "professional academic" is a keystone species in this learning ecology, and even School 42 makes use of "professional academics" (even if it wants to try to define this away). As for "teacher's unions", while problems exist to be sure, these unions (and the concept of tenure) were formed to protect the integrity of the intellectual level from social-capital forces. If you abolish these, you better have a good suggestion for how this integrity can be preserved.

Final note: grade-less and degree-less. This will only happen when/if economics (and its derivative social-status) are completely disentangled from education. So long as many (if not most) view education as 'career training', and see degrees as both economic and symbolic forms of social capital, this will never happen. For what its worth, I personally don't believe this is possible in a capitalist society, where these are used to mark the 'worth' of someone's economic value.

Arlo

----------

Arlo Bensinger
Instructional Designer
College of Health and Human Development
103A Henderson Building
Email: ajb102 at psu.edu
Phone: 863-6707

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Carl" <ridgecoyote at gmail.com>
To: "moq discuss" <moq_discuss at moqtalk.org>
Sent: Friday, January 10, 2014 3:58:22 PM
Subject: [MD] 42

http://www.npr.org/2013/09/14/222319627/new-computer-school-upends-french-education-model

I heard about this place the other day on the radio and was very
intrigued.  Maybe y'all have discussed it before because it certainly
aligns with Pirsig's grade-less and degree-less idea in education.

I also was intrigued because I have a 12 year old boy who is deep into
computer games and virtual reality and I'd like to get him into some kind
of training program that would harness his interest.  Schools at the k12
level just don't teach computing right.  And kids, boys especially, seem to
have a strong drive in that area from a young age.  And where else is my
kid going to find a career?  My own skills in construction are useless
because the vast numbers of manufacturing jobs lost to China were converted
to construction jobs during the Bush bubble and now the field is so
over-crowded its ridiculous.  I'm reminded of my nephew Jason who grew up
immersed in computer games as a kid.  We all predicted it would be a bad
thing - he wasn't getting any real world experience.  Now he's got a great
job for the nsa and travels the world.  But Jason was home schooled and
allowed to spend a lot of time learning programming.  Most kids are forced
by the school system to learn a bunch of stuff that's useless to them.

And on that note, the school 42 in France is virulently opposed by the
professional academics and teacher's unions.  But it gives me hope.  If it
can happen in France, why not here in the land of the free?
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