Breaking Down School Walls

Why has schooling evolved slowly, while society has made rapid changes? In the last 10 years we have seen fax machines, car phones, MTV and CD's. We have seen the fall of Communism, the emergence of a free trade agreement, and the end of apartheid in South Africa. What will the next 10 years bring? And how does your classroom prepare students to deal with all these changes?

Breaking down the walls of schools to include community resources helps to create an environment in which students can develop future-oriented skills. For classrooms with this vision, limitless options are available to expand learning for students and to make learning relevant to students' lives. Marsha Ritter-Jones, a teacher at Morton H.S. (IL), says by considering students' futures it becomes clear "...that technology, organization, writing, and communication skills should have more of an interdisciplinary interaction."

A recent report by the U.S. Department of Labor warns that "more than half of our young people leave school without the knowledge or foundation required to find and hold a good job." Yet today, with the changing workplace, entry-level workers are expected to do more than ever before - think on their feet, use their skills to solve complex problems, and apply their knowledge in new contexts. Also, acknowledging differences and valuing cultural diversity will become essential for all Americans to learn how to work and live together. Consider these other statistics:

Did you know?

Of all new entrants to the work force by the year 2000, approximately:

15% will be white males
61% will be women
29% will be people of color

The future of work:

80% of new jobs will require more than a high school education, but less than a 4-year degree
By the year 2000, 44% of all jobs will include collecting, analyzing, synthesizing, storing, and retrieving data

When looking at these statistics, some teachers had this to say: "It makes me think seriously about the way learning is structured in the classroom," and "We need to do a better job convincing students that what they do in school affects their lives and their future jobs."

In this issue of Teacher Talk, we highlight examples of how schools are already breaking new ground and creating learning experiences which help develop life-long learning skills. Secondary students are:

working with the elderly and others who are ethnically or culturally different
providing service in their communities to enhance citizenship and learning goals
learning about the environmental conditions around the world
taking action on issues which are important to them
using telecommunications to link classrooms worldwide

These exciting and inspiring ideas are from teachers who are exploring the cutting edge of their profession. Their students are learning in innovative ways and responding positively. One student remarked, "This has been unlike any other learning experience." This issue shows a few of the many possibilities to break down the walls of classrooms.