Instead of Tearing Down the Factory

Schools are stuck in an industrial, factory mindset. I hear this in just about every keynote I see. I read about it in blogs. I see it in the #chats.  I hear people say that we should walk away factory. Abandon it. Blow it up. Then replace it with something better. Something with technology. In other words, replace it with a shinier factory that feels a little less factory-ish. I'd rather recover it. Dig underneath the concrete and see what's buried under the industrial carpet. Repurpose it as a garden. Or a living, breathing, art museum. Make something human in a place that sometimes feels like it has lost its humanity. As I see this video, I can't help but think that this is the metaphor of all the teachers who are still in the system, fighting it, not by tearing down walls, but by recreating and rethinking. Instead throwing bricks, they're painting the bricks in an explosion of creativity. Feel free to download Wendell the World's Worst Wizard. It's less than five dollars. Or you could buy the physical book (on sale right now from twelve dollars down to $10.46) and get the Kindle download for a dollar.