DCSD holds forum to discuss future of education
Students and faculty emerge from the screening of the film “Most Likely to Succeed” at the Performing Arts Center at Coker College.
photos by Jana E. Pye
By Jana E. Pye, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Darlington County School District hosted a showing of the award-winning documentary “Most Likely to Succeed” inside the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center at Coker College on Thursday, March 24, 2016 followed a panel discussion.
In attendance were a host of educational, business and community leaders and select students that were given an opportunity to ask questions about future of education in the county.
The film, written and directed by Greg Whiteley, asked the question, is our current educational system not working any longer? Giving several examples of how our educational system, developed during the industrial age, has not changed in over a century- when Horace Mann brought home the Prussian ideas of dividing up students according to age, ability, and subject matter. Math in one room, language skills in another, and science in yet another in structured blocks of time instead of in a one room schoolhouse.
Now today, we have evolved from a chalkboard to a white board. We’ve added other technology here and there, but still the model of a teacher in front of a class, and students sitting passively is the norm. Are we teaching children to pass tests? And if so, how will they compete in the 21st Century?
One statistic shared on the screen made many teachers in the audience shake their head in particular – that students do not retain the knowledge taught, stating that students who retake an exam in a subject three months after receiving an average grade of B+ initially drop to an F.
The film shared an example of progressive school in San Diego called High Tech High where students had no tests, no homework, and are judged on group student-led projects presented to the public.
Those students not only retained the knowledge, they learned “soft skills” such as cooperation, leadership, and communication.
One of the teachers in the film said, “We no longer hear students say, ‘why are we learning this’ because they know why they are learning this. Making something that wasn’t there before is transformative for them.”
Parents, however, were perplexed on how this could help them get into college.
One mother in the film said, however, that she tried the school “because many of my friends have adult children that graduated from top schools and cannot get a job, and are working for their parents.”
After the film ended, a panel on the Coker PAC stage shared their views, and responded to questions from the crowd.
Panel members were:
Connell DeLaine, School Board Chair; Steven Alvaraz, HHS; Chelsea Jacobs, Mayo High School Senior; Ada Sinjab Principal of Brunson Dargan Elementary School; Dr.Ben Dillard, President of Florence Darlington Technical College; Dr.Greg Harrison, Principal of Darlington High School; Josh Fireman, DHS Senior; and Dr. Eddie Ingram, Superintendent of Darlington County School System.
Before the program began, Dr.Eddie Ingram addressed the audience. “Over a year ago, our Darlington County School Board members developed system of values and one of those values was courage, courage to take the right steps to make right decisions for the future of our kids,” he said. “So we have embarked on a 21st Century design that they made the financial commitment to put a device into the hand of each student – a laptop for high schoolers, iPads for middle schoolers and elementary school kids – in the next two to three years. But it is a lot more than just the devices. It’s about using the devices as a tool to create jobs that aren’t here yet. With technologies that haven’t been invented yet. So the old factory models don’t work. Strategic plans don’t last 5 – 10 years anymore; they change every couple of years because of the pace of change.”
Questions from the audience ranged from “how do you get to that point, do you start with the youngest ones in the district first?” to “How would you be prepared for the SAT and ACT tests?” and “How long would it take to make changes like this?”
On April 22nd, the district will host a round table discussion about the initiative for 21st century design at Pee Dee Electric.
Forum partipants at the Darlington County School District event on 21st Century education reform.