I have argued that the American public education system is broken and that only wholescale, systemic reform will change the system enough to get significantly different outcomes. However, very few school systems are willing or able to implement wholescale reform. “Systemic transformation” often turns out to be a change of only one part of the system – it turns out to be incremental and piecemeal.
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.
The new education system advanced by Third Future Schools is founded on 8 principles that are markedly different than those of traditional public education (see below).
And while there may be other ways to conduct wholescale reform in a way that closes achievement gaps and prepares students for a Year 2035 world and workplace, any new system will have several different design principles. After identifying the outcomes you want, outline the design principles that will enable the system to achieve those outcomes.
