There’s a great blog post on reframing at Salon.com. The author, Dave Pollard, focuses on reframing common (and false) business myths, and it’s fascinating to see how he reframes each one. His new perspective and questions allow us to completely rethink assumptions that stifle creativity and positive change.

What are common education myths that could use some reframing?

• We must have a national standard curriculum that is delivered to all children.
• The only way to find out if students have learned the subject matter is to test them using national and state standardized tests.
• Rewarding schools that have high standardized test scores and withholding funds from those that don’t will improve student learning.
• Schools are not the place to teach or discuss values.
• The national and state curricula are not biased but humane education is.
• Property taxes are a fair and just way to fund schools.

How could we reframe these with questions that inspire creative and practical answers?

• Given the world we live in today, what knowledge and skills do young people most need in order to be successful, contributing members of today’s world?
• How can we know if students are gaining this knowledge and these skills? What projects, tasks or ideas might they launch or generate to demonstrate their abilities and knowledge?
• When schools fail to educate students with the knowledge and skills they need, what should we do to help them become successful?
• What values do we consider universal and important for leading peaceful, sustainable, and humane lives, and how can we invite students to identify and embody these for their own and society’s benefit?
• What biases are in each curricula we use? How can we best teach students to identify these biases so that they are good critical thinkers?
• What methods can we use to fund education so that every child is able to receive a good education from pre-school through college?

If you have ideas or comments on these questions, by all means share them! We need to solve our educational challenges, and reframing the questions may open the doors for new, healthy ideas.

~ Zoe