Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap, Basic Books, New York, 2014 (revised)
I bought this book around 2 years ago, lured instantaneously by the captivating title----the Global achievement gap, new survival skills, what can we do about it , in other words, key issues which every educationist yearns to know. It makes it all the more appealing as the author- Tony Wagner, is a renowned educationist with decades of experience and passionate research in the field of school education.
On receiving the book I realized that the essence of this work, is about the anomalies of the American public school systems in the United States of America. The accentuating gap between the real world and what students are exposed to in schools, what should be done differently to nurture the new generation for success in the 21st century global economy, what do we mean by rigor and what are the 21st century skills, to prepare students for work, life and citizenship, constitutes the prime theme of this book, and deservedly made it the best sellers list.
The book is apportioned into six chapters excluding the conclusion, each chapter merging effortlessly into the other.
The Preface and Introduction is a personal journey of the author in discovering-- through extensive research, the existential crisis of school education in the USA. This view is repeatedly drilled to the American public almost like an ominous warning.
‘’In todays highly competitive global knowledge economy, all students need new skills for college careers and citizenship. The failure to give all students these new skills leaves today’s youth and our country at an alarming competitive disadvantage. Schools haven’t changed, the world has. And so our schools are not failing. Rather they are obsolete, even the ones that score the best on standardized tests. ‘’
Infact the introduction opens with a loud bang with alarming statistics which supports the authors incessant claims for reforms. Such as (to cite only a few)….
…only a third of US high school students graduate ready for college today…
…the US now ranks tenth among industrial nations in the rate of college completion by 25 to 44 year olds….
…about 50% of the 400 employers surveyed, reported that the young people employed right out of high school were deficient in their overall preparation…
For a teacher educator living at the opposite end of the globe, these statistics on the actual crisis of school education in the US was shocking to say the least. If America can boast of some of the best University systems in the world, then how do we rationalize this disconnect between school and higher education? Unfortunately the author does not answer this query.
In Chapter 1, Wagner outlines the 7 survival skills, based on extensive interviews with business, non-profit and educational leaders. These are--Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Collaboration across networks and leading by influence, Agility and Adaptability, Initiative and Entrepreneurialism, Effective Oral and Written communication, Accessing and Analyzing information and lastly, Curiosity and Imagination. The meaning of each skill is well elaborated with relevant examples. For instance, in skill no.6- Accessing and analyzing information , Wagnar states that we are dealing with such an enormous volume of information that it can become almost too much and infact dangerous if we are not able to process it. To be an informed citizen today, knowing how to read the newspaper is no longer enough. We have to be able to access and evaluate information from many different sources. Students therefore need to develop the skills to conceptualize, synthesize, analyze information and to separate facts from opinion in order to discern new challenges and opportunities. Secondly the skill on Initiative and entrepreneurialism may initially take us off guard. But what entrepreneurialism implies here, is simply the ways in which the new generation will seek out new opportunities, ideas and strategies for improvement and find creative solutions to some very tough challenging problems. Likewise in curiosity and imagination, Wagnar states how necessary it is today for the world of work and survival to harmonize both the left and right brain skills, to come up with creative solutions to problems and design products and services that truly stand out. It goes to the credit of Wagner that each of these skills have been dealt with masterful strokes, conjoined alongside real-life examples.
Chapter 2 - The Old World of Schools, is not about how schools in the past operated. Rather it is about assessing the progress made in American schools today. To validate his argument, the author visited 18 high schools in the United States of America. This involved a painstaking research with the focus on observing the ‘teaching-learning’ processes in the classrooms. The conclusion arrived at was ‘disheartening’ as Wagner admits. Only one school out of the total surveyed, appeared to be preparing students with the skills required to succeed in college. In the rest of the schools, old school methods were still the surprising ordeal.
An extremely important chapter- Testing (Chapter 3) has significant insights and inputs worth pondering over. The first take away is the authors concern over the endless battery of State tests (a consequence of the No Child Left Behind, introduced in 2002) which he maintains is neither the most effective nor the most efficient way to hold individuals accountable and actually does more harm to the students, as it does not test what we should be looking for. A number of sample questions, handpicked from the 10th grade, State Tests are meticulously analyzed, which boils down to the hard core fact that we need to shift or restructure our relentless focus on testing and memorization. So many students as Wagnar states, say for instance in Science, who otherwise may score very well in standardized tests, actually do not even know what the scientific method is. Likewise in mathematics, what is the use if students can not apply mathematical concepts to problem-solve issues of day to day life. I may add here that this significant statement should be extended to the study of Social Sciences too. Undoubtedly in the past decade, significant initiatives in testing have been adopted in many countries. In India for instance, there has been a push towards testing of competencies which means a change in MCQs from lower order thinking to higher order thinking. Even the structure of the National Achievement Survey (NAS) has changed drastically in India, but Wagner goes beyond to a deep soul-searching analysis of the entire system of ‘Testing.’ An extremely important point reiterated by the author is the importance of open ended questions. The ability of students to construct answers from previously acquired skills and knowledge rather than regurgitating a few lines of memorized content, tests the ability of students to analyze, synthesize and articulate their opinions from hard core facts. On moving towards a more meaningful and accountable system, Wagner suggests the Collegiate Learning Assessment, an open ended , ninety minute ‘performance assessment’ in which the students have to demonstrate their reasoning, problem solving and writing skills while attempting to solve a ‘real word’ problem. The other is the pioneering work of Robert Sternberg used in college admission process and in training of college teachers to develop creative, analytic and practical skills amongst students. To these suggestions, Wagner has provided the links, which is indeed extremely invaluable.
Reinventing the Education Profession (Chapter 4) was undoubtedly my favorite chapter, perhaps because as a teacher educator, preparing aspiring student teachers is an area I am passionately involved in. Interestingly I found the answers to many of the issues and concerns which I have personally reflected upon in my journey as a teacher educator in this crucially significant chapter.
Wagner draws upon his own experiences as a student intern and identifies some very important issues that may be enumerated.
- We need to reinvent how we prepare educators.
- The subjects included in the teacher education programs are completely unconnected to everyday issues of teaching and learning.
- Most of the teachers even after certification are simply not prepared to teach the learners the 21st Century skills
- Video tapes of lessons and viewing and discussing these videos is a powerful tool for improving teaching strategies.
- Peer observation (amongst teachers) is also a necessary need but one which is almost taboo amongst the teaching community.
- Teachers need regular and expert coaching
- Attractive incentives and working environment is an imperative to hire the best quality teachers
- The need of knowledgeable and effective supervisors during student internship. To quote, ‘Very few teacher preparation programs focus on developing the skills needed to be an effective teacher, and they rarely give student teachers meaningful teaching experiences with knowledgeable and effective supervisors. ‘
- We need to identify the competencies that are most important to be an effective teacher and then develop ways that can show proficiency.
Chapter 5- Motivating today’s students and tomorrow’s workers, takes a deep look at the impact of media and technology on young people. Is there a decline of work ethic amongst young Americans, the author ponders over. However, the crux of this chapter swirls around the ways in which young people are different today as learners, and this may be the most fundamental change we need to consider in order to close the global achievement gap. The pros and cons of technology and its instantaneous connect to new learning styles deserves special attention.
In Chapter 6, Closing the Gap: Schools that work, we are offered glimpse into a few schools that actually work in promoting personalization, real world connections and a common intellectual mission into the curricula. In what ways are these students differently motivated, how do they learn and what is personalized learning, how do they integrate quantitative reasoning, social reasoning in actual applications? This is an extremely important chapter, but what stood out for me was the emphasis on collaborative studies, such as biology and social sciences, and the Five Learning Goals of the successful Met Network of schools. Not to miss though, is the authors comment on one of the visited schools bathroom, where he mentions that you can learn a lot about a school from the condition of students bathrooms. In India this is also something we need to think about.
In Conclusion, the author rounds up his discussions with questions and issues we need to think about. The author suggests that the Professional Educators Associations should define what it means to be literate in their respective disciplines. What does it mean to think like a mathematician, scientist, or historian and how do we set down the foundational content knowledge that is required for lifelong learning in these disciplines? In India we definitely need to think along these lines too.
Critique: There is however a tendency towards excessive repetition in this book, where the same issues are repeated, clothed in a new garb. This could have been avoided. Also it may be noted that while the discussions with educators, students and parents adds a touch of realism to the entire discussion on education, yet the tendency to over-centralize the importance of top CEOs of multi-national companies for seeking solutions to the burning issues in education, or what it means to be educated in the 21st century, could have been toned down for a wider representation.
Wagner repeatedly warns the American citizens of an ‘existential crisis’ and the dangers of jobs being offshored. ‘Our children must now compete for jobs with increasingly well-educated young people from around the world’ Wagner states. Now who are these young people Wagner repeatedly mentions is none other than India and China. Lacking here are two points. Firstly what makes the Indian and Chinese students different, there is no clarity on this matter. Also it needs to be understood by the author, that these so called students from India who are ‘taking away American jobs’ constitute only an infinitesimal percentage of the youth. In a country which now has the largest population in the world, one only needs to visit the extreme corners of rural India to know that for an overwhelming number of Indian kids, even to receive the basic goal of the 3 Rs would be a boon to them. Moreover, while the book is focused on the American situation (USA), yet to justify the title of the book and for a greater clarity for readers, some statistical comparisons on a global index would have been very helpful for the readers. Lastly, on the 7 survival skills, certain skills are linked together such as critical thinking and problem solving. While both are interlinked, yet the components for each are different as much as the differential situations required to apply these skills. Likewise instead of highlighting curiosity and imagination as one of the survival skills, Wagner could have mentioned creatively, as it is curiosity and imagination which leads to creativity. In other words, creativity is the goal and curiosity and imagination is the process. Ultimately I do not find these skills any different from the 4 primary skills of the 21st century …critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration as outlined by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21).
That apart, I would highly recommend this book which will be extremely insightful not only to teachers and educators but also to policy makers and for those concerned about the state of our educational systems around the world. The coherent ideas and issues raised are what every individual needs to know and the important links and references given for further review are indispensably valuable.
Thinking about getting your own copy? Find it on Amazon!
AUTHOR: Sima Saigal