For class this week we had to watch the Most Likely To Succeed Film. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this––I just found it overall super interesting. The way the film described the relationship between the western education system and the economy is something I have never really thought about, but when pointed out like that, it totally makes sense. The fact our education system is catered towards preparing students for an average “white picket fence” sort of life when that no longer really exists in our society makes me question the way I was educated throughout elementary and high school. Why are we preparing for the same big exams to get into the best colleges when there are so many other routes and paths we can take to end up at the same destination? Why is our society still so set on the structures we created so long ago? It is not a secret that everything in our society and the way we function has changed drastically, so why has our education system remained unchanged? I think the segment on High Tech High was so important and eye-opening to many people, including myself. The way they choose to educate their students is so different––it is engaging, free, and creative. All these characteristics are what’s encouraged in teachers, but there is no room in the current school system to become this ‘ideal’ teacher and create ‘ideal’ students. High Tech High is free of certain structures and formalities that prevent hands-on, specialized, engaging work in other schools, and the fact they still score 10% above the state average on standardized exams speaks louder than most words. Coming from a school that is considered one of the top schools in Alberta, it was really interesting to see the differences in education and teaching styles between my high school and High Tech High. Though my high school prides itself on producing well-rounded, educated graduates, there is so much else to consider and recognize. Not everything is about test scores. Social skills, problem-solving skills, building confidence, etc. is just as (maybe even more) important as academics. I think reevaluating the structure of our school systems and how we are choosing to educate our children is crucial in today’s world. What do we want our kids to achieve and how can we/ how should we accomplish that?

Though this film gives great insight into what we could be doing to better our education system, it is also important to question the feasibility of this method of education. We still do live in a society with structure––though it looks slightly different in the present day than it did a few decades ago, there are still the same foundational blocks. Test-taking skills, being able to focus on a single task for a longer period of time are still skills taught in the traditional education system that we need in everyday life. Though High Tech High fosters so much forward-thinking, it is important that we can still match the freedom taken at High Tech High to the values we hold in society today. As someone mentioned in class, we must evolve together––I think that statement holds a lot of gravity and truth. The entire education system, from Kindergarten through university must all evolve together and hold the same values or else there will be a disconnect in not only education styles, but also the skills and values each individual holds.