Locked-in Educators

Today is "Take your children to work day."  As all of us know, there is much more to life than what’s taught in school, and having children visit the workplace to obtain a sense of what goes on after school is a valuable learning experience.

Unfortunately, the educators of Illinois don’t agree.  This week the Illinois state education board advised schools in Illinois to consider all children who go to work with their parents an unexcused abscence.  And, they strongly hinted that next year they would mandate such a position.  Their reason?  It’s a lost day in school for these students and therefore a lost day to teach them.

Clearly, these education leaders are completely locked into their own traditional views of education.  It’s not hard for all us non-educators to see the value of expanding children’s horizons with such an activity.  Because we aren’t locked-in to the idea of education as being something that has to happen in an official school according to a state curriculum.

Everyone runs the risk of becoming locked into their own view of what they do.  Pretty soon, the ability to think outside the box simply evaporates.  Operating the traditional Success Formula overwhelms other options.  When that happens, it’s time to get outside the box so the lock-in can become obvious and new options can emerge.

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