I thought this was an incredibly interesting film to watch! I definitely think this is the direction that education is headed in – inquiry and project-based learning – however for the moment, jumping from conventional high school into something like High Tech High is extreme. Personally, I love it! However, I can see the hesitation both parents and students have simply because the rest of the education system hasn’t caught up to a school like High Tech High. While it’s great to say this is where we need to be, how exactly does that work when, especially in the U.S., universities and colleges still require students to write standardized entrance exams for both undergraduate and graduate studies? Those SATs and GREs are based off of those classic courses of math and English – there are specific preparation courses that students can take to achieve the best grade they can on those exams. I can appreciate the apprehension students and parents have when on the one hand, they know that most kids forget all of that memorized material a few months after they regurgitate it for an exam (most of us do!), however the majority of the education system still requires them to do that, so how do we stray from it? I know MLTS said statistically the students of High Tech High scored either equally or higher on exams, but I really think that in order for inquiry and project-based learning to work – and for all high schools to shift this way – the entire system has to shift together.
I know if I was personally offered an option in the US of preparing the classic way for college versus High Tech High, I would be far too nervous that I wouldn’t feel prepared enough (for college exams) to go to HTH. Even though, I completely agree with the film and those in it that working towards a final project or deliverable that people are going to come see at the end of a year creates such an authentic and genuine learning environment, with students leaving with practical applicable skillsets for the real world. Coming out of my own bachelor’s degree, I have never felt so unprepared for the workforce. Every new job I experienced drew on absolutely nothing I did in school – most of my learning was a completely new set of skills either specific to that job, or, just practical skills that I didn’t do in either high school or an entire undergraduate degree! Pretty crazy to think about – all that time spent writing exams and doing assignments… and I felt like I didn’t need any of it at all.
