Yong Zhao is no fan of the Common Core standards. Why risk the very traits that made America great — ingenuity, confidence and entrepreneurial zeal — in a quest for conformity in U.S. public schools? Zhao, the associate dean for global and online education at the University of Oregon, continually raises this question as he encourages schools to capitalize on a technological era that allows students to deeply explore subjects they care about and to share their ideas with the world.
The author of more than 20 books, including "World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students," and "Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Era of Globalization," Zhao engages educators around the world, in person and online. As a creator of the online learning platform ObaWorld, he’s making headway with research arguing that personalized learning is not an aspiration, but a necessity in a world that has fundamentally changed.
Heartened that his message resonates even in states that have signed on to the Common Core — which includes Hawaii — Zhao urges teachers to believe in themselves and their students, and to resist narrowing instruction to meet the national standards, which gauge only a few academic subjects. A regular adviser here, he most recently shared his vision at the Schools of the Future conference in Waikiki, which brought together several thousand educators from public, private and parochial schools throughout the state.
"We’re losing a generation of passion and creativity, in students and in teachers, because of No Child Left Behind and now the Common Core," said Zhao, noting that schools in China and Singapore, known for their students’ uniformly high standardized test scores, are moving in the opposite direction. "They’re realizing what they gave up: innovation. In the global marketplace, you need that!"
Born in China’s Sichuan province, Zhao came to the United States as a visiting scholar in 1992 and continued his graduate studies here, ultimately earning a doctorate in education from the University of Illinois. Married and the father of two — a daughter in high school and a son who just graduated from the University of Chicago — Zhao applies his philosophy to his own children. "They follow their passion, that’s the best way."
QUESTION: So what does the ideal school look like to you?
ANSWER: My ideal school would provide a personalized education experience for each student so as to enhance their strengths instead of fixing their deficits. The experience would be driven by passion and the interests of the student instead of prescriptions by external authorities. In the ideal school, students would be engaged in activities that result in meaningful and authentic works that can be of value to others. … It would be global in nature, that is, students are not limited to the confinement of the local physical campus.
Q: What are the major obstacles to achieving that kind of public education system in the United States?
A: There are many. But some of the major ones include the traditional mindset of education, which focuses on preparing students to master a set of skills and knowledge and demonstrate their mastery through standardized tests. Such a mindset, which I call the employee-oriented paradigm, aims to prepare students for a mass-production society when jobs require similar skills and knowledge. In such a society, creativity and individual uniqueness are not attached much value, if any. This mindset results in another major obstacle, that is, the quality of education is defined by the extent schools and teachers effectively homogenize children and turn them into producers of scores on standardized tests in a limited number of subjects. When schools and teachers are held accountable for producing test scores to show that they have done a good job teaching the same thing to all students, it is very difficult for them to care about the development of individual talents and to cultivate creativity.
Q: At the Schools of the Future Conference, you said that the survival of the American middle-class is at stake. Could you elaborate?
A: Sure. Jobs that helped create the American middle-class such as manufacturing have been or will be replaced by technology or outsourced to other countries with lower labor costs. Traditionally white-collar jobs have been disappearing as well. For example, when you can file your tax with Turbotax, you may not need a tax accountant. Online banking and check-in systems certainly reduce the need of personnel in banks and airlines. … The point is that we should be encouraging entrepreneurial traits in our students, not a job-seeker mentality for jobs that no longer exist.
Q: What’s wrong with the Common Core, in your view?
A: There are many things wrong with the Common Core. But three problems worry me the most. First, by promoting the Common Core as a primary solution to the achievement gap in American schools, it makes American schools and teachers responsible for one of America’s biggest societal problems — social inequity. The achievement gap is directly related to poverty, impoverished homes and neighborhoods, and unequal access to educational resources. These are not problems that teachers can solve, although there is no doubt that teachers and schools can do a lot to help children overcome some of these issues. I, myself, am an example of escaping poverty, thanks to my teachers. The Common Core can give us a false sense that America has taken care of the problem by forcing schools to teach to the same standards.
Second, the Common Core gives a false sense to parents and the public that American children will be equipped with the skills and knowledge that make them ready for career and college because the Common Core claims so. In reality, the Common Core is at best an educated bet by a group of individuals, and at worst, potentially the wrong bet because success in life and college requires much more than what is prescribed in the Common Core.
Third, it will likely narrow our students’ experiences in schools. Because of the high stakes … teachers and school leaders are likely to focus more time and resources on teaching to the tests.
Q: Have you seen evidence of that?
A: We have seen that in other countries with national standards and also the consequences of No Child Left Behind. Another problem is that the implementation of the Common Core and its associated tests is quite an expensive experiment, in terms of money, time and teacher professional autonomy. By the way, if a school or a teacher wishes to adopt high standards on their own, they can do so without a government mandate.
Q: Even though the Common Core applies only to public schools, I’ve read that it may influence what goes on at private schools, too. Do you believe that’s true?
A: Yes, I have heard that some independent schools are beginning to consider adopting or aligning their curriculum to the Common Core. Quite sad. … It becomes the de facto gold standard of education in America, enticing or forcing schools to abandon their autonomy and space for innovation.
Q: You talk about the need to develop students’ creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. What are some ways that schools can do that?
A: First, respect and trust the children would be a great start. Children are born creative although they may not always be creative in the way adults want. Schools can guide them to be creative in more desirable domains, but they should not punish them for being different. Schools should give children the autonomy, with adult mentoring, so that they can learn to be creative responsibly. Second, while children are born creative, they have to learn that for creativity to be valuable, they have to be disciplined, knowledge-based, and purposeful. Everyone can have a flash of genius and moments of inspiration, but unless backed with sustained hard work and many, many revisions, the inspiration may just remain an inspiration.
Q: Can you explain what you mean by product-oriented learning?
A: Sure. To help children learn the value of greatness, I suggest that schools adopt this approach … which basically asks students to develop authentic works for others — a book, a movie, a song, a website or anything that has a real audience. Hands-on learning with a global audience. Technology makes it feasible. By making authentic products, children learn the importance of feedback, revision, discipline and excellence. More importantly, they learn that the value of their creativity and learning is to bring benefit to others — the core of ethical entrepreneurship.
Q: One of the things that always comes through when I hear you speak is how important it is that the United States not suppress the intellectual freedom, creativity, confidence and can-do spirit that is a source of its success. How much did growing up in China under authoritarian rule shape your outlook?
A: A lot. I was born a year before the Cultural Revolution started and lived in China until the early 1990s. China has gone through lots of changes since I left. When I was growing up there, the government had a lot more control over people’s lives than it does today. I saw parts of the transformation and witnessed the power of autonomy. I remember farmers in my village were told by the government what to grow, when to plant and harvest … and we never had enough to eat. But after 1978, when the government allowed the farmers to make their own decisions, China’s food problem was solved.
Q: And now you are advising schools there about educational innovation?
A: Yes, my books have been translated into Chinese and published in China. I have been invited to present to various groups of educators and parents … and I’ve engaged with schools to help develop programs to prepare their students to be creative, entrepreneurial and globally competent … It’s exciting. I hope that U.S. schools will do more of this, too.
