We started the Third Future blog three months ago with the intention of sharing our true vision for what a new education system can look like. If you are new to our blog, this is a great place to start. Today we are highlighting our last 11 blog posts with quotes from Third Future Schools CEO, Mike Miles that demonstrate the bigger impact we are working to make in the American education system.
Blog Post 1 – The education system is broken. How can it be fixed?
They canhttps://thirdfuture.org/blog/the-education-system-is-broken-how-can-it-be-fixed/not fix the system, because what is broken is the system, not a part of the system. When Reed Hastings of Netflix approached Blockbusters in 1998, he knew that no incremental change or improvement to the Blockbuster business and operating model was going to save this organization that could not see the greenness of its last mile. Blockbuster went out of business in 2010.
Blog Post 2 – A Vision of the Future
The problem is that poor and minority people will have less economic mobility and without a strong education will be greatly overrepresented in lower-skilled and lower-paying jobs. This dire picture of public education in the future does not have to come to pass. We can change it. A different future will start with a different vision, different design principles, and a way to transform this monolithic education system.
Blog Post 3 – Schools are Essential?
O.K., you know what drives me a little crazy? – It’s when the public school districts close when there is a little snow on the ground, and Starbucks is open! Maybe Starbucks fits the definition of being essential, but that would mean much of society is clinically addicted to the venti pumpkin spice, two pump caramel latte.
Blog Post 4 – Where have all the heroes gone?
A new education system has to be created in a way that doesn’t ask too much of leaders, that doesn’t ask them to possibly derail their careers in order to make bold changes that would benefit the students. One day we will have a system that incentivizes innovation and courageous leadership. In the meantime, let’s all support and applaud those leaders who at least make some effort to truly put children first.
Blog Post 5 – One Christmas
“I am grateful too that along with kindness my teachers held high expectations for me and for themselves. They never let my family’s poverty, my “at risk” status, or my speech problems, deter them from pushing me to reach my potential. When I hear someone say, “you have to understand that these children have tough home lives – you can’t expect them to learn at the same rate as the other students,” I can’t help but wonder how my life would have turned out if my teachers had lowered expectations for me.
– Mike Miles
Blog Post 6 – Chat GPT in Education
Maybe there should be some guardrails or parameters for its use, but at some point, we will have to help students and adults figure out how to work with this and other AI tools to create, problem-solve, make us more productive, or learn.
Blog Post 7 – Eight Design Principles of a New Education System
One cannot turn a Blockbuster into a Netflix, or a mechanical watch into an Apple watch, or today’s current automobile into a flying car without a fundamentally different system that is built on different design principles.
Blog Post 8 – New Staffing Paradigm (Design Principle # 4)
This principle is fundamentally different than the traditional paradigm of trying to be fully staffed at the beginning of the year, filling vacancies quickly, and trying to retain as much of the staff as possible. The old (actually current) recruitment and retention practices are no longer adequate for the current and future workforce.
Blog Post 9 – A Culture of Essentialness (Design Principle #7)
Unfortunately, our collective behavior related to inclement weather is just one of many ways we demonstrate to the public that we are not essential. [An essential organization is one that provides a public service, the absence of which would be very harmful to the public.]
Blog Post 10 – The Cost of Job Security (Design Principle #7)
Accountability without support only breeds a culture of fear.
Blog Post 11 – The Art of Thinking (Design Principle #1)
At Third Future Schools, we believe students can learn how to be stronger critical thinkers and that they will be better at it with years of practice.
