By Jeff Edmonson

Imagine two students sitting next to each other in the same classroom: one has recently finished writing her first dramatic play and the other cannot read the word “toe”. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty standard experience for many teachers, including my wife, who has taught 9th grade English in school systems across the country.

The problem can be blamed on a host of reasons.  Barbara Diamond outlined the realities of students growing up in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) communities. The experiences of these students and their history inside and outside the classroom can lead to divergent outcomes.

But let’s put aside for a second why this happens, and focus on the challenge this presents to teachers.  The two students highlighted above just represent the extremes, not the range of abilities students have in the classroom.  How would you meet their unique individual needs so they could all make the improvements standardized testing demands?

My wife’s response is to spend 80 hours per week developing unique individualized learning plans for each student. When she taught in Washington, D.C. she would tap into the rich cultural and non-profit resources in the community, most if not all of which are available right here in Cincinnati, such as the Museum Center and Playhouse in the Park.  In the end, she would derive a curriculum for each learner.

This is the response required not only to meet the needs of individual students, but to meet their expectations.  The 21st Century is defined in part by the increased ability we have to tailor our lives to our unique individual tastes and interests.  This is due in great part to the explosion of technology.  We can customize everything from our entertainment to our social networks.  Students are beginning to expect the same from their education.

And this expectation presents a whole new challenge. It requires a whole new system.  We have to break down the artificial walls of the schoolhouse and realize that learning happens everywhere.  We need to think differently about not only teaching, but how we incorporate all the resources in our community more purposefully into the learning process.  We need to use these diverse resources to meet students where they are, both in their skill sets and their learning styles that are shaped by their interests.

The bottom line is that while our society has embraced for years the belief that each and every person is unique, we have not created the education system that embraces this ever-increasing reality.  The manufacturing model of education, “Velveeta High,” as one of my mentors put it, simply cannot work in the information age. 

We all must see ourselves as educators and we all must be part of the solution, regardless what sector we come from – education, business, non-profit, civic, faith, or philanthropic.  How do we work together reimagine schooling so it has no walls?  How to we tailor learning so it is personalized to truly meet the unique, individual needs of every student?  What role do you play?