Reflections on an interview with Thomas Friedman

Last night, I came across this video interview by Khan Academy founder Sal Khan of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. It comes from a series on Khan Academy of interviews on entrepreneurship, of which Friedman's life and perspective provide some interesting ideas.

Throughout the interview, but particularly toward the end, Friedman goes into some thoughts on the direction of education and labor in the future. Of these, two struck me as particularly interesting.

First, that with the merger of globalization and the IT-revolution, not only have the "ceilings" and "walls" fallen away in terms of employment and innovation, but so too has the "floor." Friedman describes this as incurring both costs and benefits -- that with increasing possibilities comes a certain degree of increased risk and instability. As discussed by Friedman in the video, that means that faster than ever jobs will either require more education to do, can be done by more people or robots/computers, or are disappearing altogether. It also means in Friedman parlance of a shift from "a world of defined benefits to one of defined contributions." Working x-number of years no longer ensures an easy retirement, just as attaining a four-year college degree no longer ensures gainful employment. Says Friedman, "everyone will have to pass the bar,"skill in employing knowledge will matter more than how it was acquired, and increasingly sophisticated methods will track one's exact contribution to just about everything.

This leads to the second idea, which stresses the importance of self-motivation. With the erosion of ceilings, walls, and floors, access to content and instruction has become increasingly open, accessible, and free. Given an Internet connection, one gains access to all the content and tools of learning. With self-motivation and time, the sky becomes the limit. Lacking self-motivation whilst awash in so many avenues for learning, Friedman suggests the best teachers and coaches of the future will be those who inspire rather than simply teach.

That I think is an excellent take-away from this interview. The notion of teachers and coaches inspiring others is nothing new, but bears remembering. Inspiration can invigorate, and wake us up as though from a long sleep. Sometimes it can improve optimism, and make what seemed a large hurdle once now seem smaller. I suspect some folks become more interested in challenges when inspired, or simply able to labor longer and more thoroughly than usual.

Whatever its effect on each of us at different times and as different people, a possibility-rich and secure-benefit-poor world will likely require more from people who can inspire others. For it is clear just from my own experience that making a thing easy and free does not ensure I will do or acquire it; as the saying goes, one can lead a horse to water, but not make him drink. If Friedman's notion of the globalization-IT-Revolution  is accurate, than our world is increasingly becoming full of watering holes, requiring less effort than ever to lead us to them, but perhaps more to make us drink.

Current education policy in the United States as manifested in the Common Core Standards has lately shifted in the direction of hard skills and practical knowledge. Deep understanding of a few central ideas over wide-ranging cursory knowledge, and an emphasis on employing content rather than simply knowing it, seem well-conceived to help students in what Friedman sees as an increasingly flat, hyper-connected world. Implemented well, Common Core may do a great deal of good. But it bears remembering (and I think most people do) that for various reasons, not everyone is motivated to achieve what their talent and training make possible, even when the upside is potentially great; that our best teachers and coaches may not simply be the best educators, but also those who kindle metaphorical fires within their students.

It seems that the ability to inspire others is an important and useful skill, and will likely become even more important in a future where technology gives nearly everyone access to the highest quality tools for learning and skill development. No longer will the limiting factor be access, but motivation to access, and other factors such as available time, nutrition, etc.. And if the world is indeed moving from one "of defined benefit to one of defined contribution,"then inspiration and motivation seem likely foundations upon which it all rests. Rapid change requires rapid adaptation, and it could be we'll need inspirational figures to help us keep at it if and when our energy lags.

The possibilities of such a world seem quite great, with the potential for much invention and improved living standards for many. But it also seems likely to put considerable stress on societies generally, and a whole range of unique problems as a result may emerge. There will be benefits and costs, though in what proportion we can only guess. Yet for all the skills and adaptability we're likely to need, we would be remiss to exclude inspiration--and those who inspire-- as important elements in rapidly changing world, or such are my thoughts after listening to the interview with Thomas Friedman.

Three haikus about summer

A summer sunset near home. Photographed
by the author.

With summer gradually coming to a close, I thought perhaps to distill some experiences from the last few months into a poetic form. Upon reflection, the Japanese haiku seemed suitable, particularly since earlier this year I undertook my first hanami, or cherry-blossom viewing, in Washington D.C.

I also chose the haiku form because it is compact, and seems to capture a great deal of experience in very few words. Each attempts to describe a moment in my life this summer, which you may find echos moments of your own. Writing them comes with many challenges, but I enjoyed writing those found below, and perhaps you will enjoy reading them.

Summer Reading:

Reading in sunlight
On a humid, summer day
Cold tea a blessing.


Summer Running:

Running in the woods
Dusk begins at 9 o'clock
Start the cricket song.


Mosquito Bites:

A mosquito bite
Burns like s'mores o're a fire
A badge of summer

From the Bottom Shelf of the Library

It's often easy to neglect things that are hard but unnecessary to do. One thing in particular is looking at the bottom shelf in the library or bookstore. Sure there are books there, but it's much easier to scan the shelves at eye-level (and those a bit above and below). It's easier that way, though I wonder perhaps if we're not missing something in the process. 

With that in mind, I decided to make a greater effort to give the bottom shelf its due, testing the waters last night at the library of my old college.

Some initial impressions: scanning the bottom shelves is hard on the back and neck, particularly if one is tall compared to the shelf. The easiest method I found was to crawl along on hands and knees, though of course one must be considerate of others if the area is crowded. Another thing I found (at least at this library) is that the bottom shelves don't contain as many books as their higher kin. On the one hand it felt good to know I hadn't been missing nearly as many books as I thought all those years, but on the other it meant I had to move frequently from one cluster to another. It's a lot of work, but the "views" are interesting and different from the usual scenes at eye-level.

Among other works, I found a few dusty tomes that caught my attention. "Among my Books" (1912) is a ponderous read by 19th century English historian Frederic Harrison, who basically goes through his library and writes lovingly about each book. In particular, I enjoyed his eloquent waxing on ancient authors like Marcus Aurelius, Tacitus, and Montaigne. 

Another curious work I found included "The English Mediaeval House" (1965), by Margaret E. Wood. I could find no information about the author, but the book seems like a brilliant bit of detailed history, discussing the structure and evolution of various bits of medieval architecture in the English house from the 12th-16th centuries. The language seemed a bit specialized from what little I read, but given some time I think it could be a fascinating read, particularly if I ever decided to write a novel set in a medieval English society. 

Finally, a little dusty red volume caught my eye entitled, "Learning to Write: Suggestions and Counsel from Robert Louis Stevenson" (1920), compiled by John William Rogers jr. For those who don't know (or remember), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) wrote both Treasure Island (1883) and the "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1886). As it turns out, he also had a fair bit to say on the subject of writing, and our friend Mr. John William Rogers jr. had a mind to compile these essays and bits of letters for our enjoyment. Stevenson is a lucid writer, and sounds like he was a thoughtful man too. The link above is actually to the book if you'd like to sample it. Two quotes I found particularly interesting, and include them below: 

"Such are the best teachers; a dogma learned is only a new error - the old one was perhaps as good; but a spirit communicated is a perpetual possession. These best teachers climb beyond teaching to the plane of art; it is themselves, and what is best in themselves, that they communicate" (p. 39).

"But of works of art little can be said; their influence is profound and silent, like the influence of nature; they mould by contact; we drink them up like water, and are bettered, yet know not how" (p. 34).

So my first pass through the bottom shelves of the library proved interesting, challenging, and fruitful all at once, and it is my hope to repeat the exercise often. Even if little of interest is found, I think it can be good sometimes to look more closely at things than at first seems necessary. Hard to say what one will find until one looks. 

A New School Year and New Standards: A Brief Reflection on the Common Core

It's the first day of school in my local district, and hankering a guess, I expect it's also a school-day for most districts across the country. With another year comes many things, including the further implementation in 45 states of the Common Core Standards in Math and English.

We've explored the Common Core a bit in the past, with a reflection on Sara Mosle's "What should Children Read?," and some thoughts on "The Next Generation Science Standards," an initiative akin to the Common Core with respect to science instruction. My thoughts on both initiatives have been mixed, but generally positive: I agree with both standards' emphasis on foundational mastery at the expense of some content, but remain unsure of its transition from theory into practice. Indeed, there is much concern with the role testing will play in the Common Core (see this principal's objections for instance), as well as fear that the new standards will "kill creativity." Such concerns are legitimate, and in time perhaps we'll see how these challenges are met.

Which brings us back to the present, and the first day of school. We're revisiting the Common Core today because it's also the first day of school in New York, where beginning this year it will be fully implemented. As reported by Kenneth Chang in the New York Times, the broad focus of Common Core in New York will be to cover "fewer topics...more rigorously." Mr. Chang begins with Mayra Baldi's kindergarten class in Brooklyn, where changes to the math curriculum will become immediately apparent.

Where before kindergartners were expected to learn how to count orally to 20 and write out numbers from 1-10, the new standards require them to count to 100 (in ones and tens) and write out their numbers from 1 to 20.

The new standard is expected to be challenging for kindergartners, who must not only be able to memorize the names of numbers, but must to write them out, and have an intellectual sense of what "12" or "15" objects means. As Mr. Chang suggest, "Now they are to not only say 'fourteen,' but also to know it is written as '14' and understand that it represents a group of 14 objects."

Not surprisingly, this renewed emphasis on numbers will crowd-out other math lessons, specifically those related to patterns which have long served as a basic introduction to Algebra.

As reported later in the piece, "...the new standards are modeled on the teaching strategies of countries, especially in Asia, that perform better on international comparisons...'Countries who outperform us are countries that do not cover every single concept that is on those tests,'... 'They cover focused concepts. They cover central concepts.'"

The emphasis on numbers and what they mean discussed above may have deeper goals in mind. As discussed by Malcolm Gladwell in "Outliers" (2008), differences in the way certain Western and Asian languages name numbers could make it easier for certain Asians to learn math from an earlier age (Gladwell 2008, pp. 227-232). The advantage is apparently in the regularity of Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean in naming numbers. By contrast, English and other Western languages have irregular naming systems (for example, putting the 10s first in "twenty-five, twenty-six, etc." while putting the 1s first in "fourteen, fifteen, sixteen). According to Gladwell:

"The difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children. Four-year-old Chinese children an count, on average to forty. American children at that age can count only to fifteen, and most don't reach 40 until they're five. By the age of five, in other words, American children are already a year behind their Asian counterparts in the most fundamental of math skills" (Gladwell 2008, p. 229).

Whether one agrees with Gladwell's larger points in the book or not, there does seem to be something to this notion of language and numbers; that for better or worse, American students learning in English may need to spend more time and effort on numbers to keep pace with similarly educated Asians speaking Mandarin, Japanese, or Korean.

In this respect then, Common Core's focus on numbers and foundational knowledge is well placed. Teaching kindergartners to count orally to 100 in both 1s and 10s, and to write out their numbers from 1-20 as described above is a challenging task, but one that may provide them greater facility with numbers from an early age. Whether American students fall behind their Asian counterparts due to language or not, a more rigorous program of number study may improve math achievement in later grades.

We shall see how Common Core works in the next few years, but I think its current focus is on or certainly near the mark. Concerns abound about the role of tests, the space for creativity, and even the encroachment of Federal influence on youth education, but for the moment Common Core will have its day in class.

Happy School Year, folks :)