The Two Million Minutes Blog

Reply to a blog critique of 2MM

From the blog TannerVision - http://tannervision.blogspot.com/2009/12/if-youve-never-failed.html

"In Yong Zhao's book Catching up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization. In it, Zhao contends that the American education system has succeeded in keeping the US economically dominant because it allows for diversity and second chances. Unlike many Asian countries, which sort students early on by test scores, the United States gives students second chances, as well as a variety of opportunities to develop diverse talents.

Zhao argues that this diversity of talents, and the ability for people to develop them throughout their formative years, is what allows the United States to adapt to new situations. Indeed, he shows that countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea, are pushing for educational reform that relies less on test scores, encourages diversity, and postpones tracking of students. Ironically, this is exactly the opposite of what the United States is doing, as we try to catch up to the Asian countries whose education systems we applaud.

I recommend reading the book, because it presents compelling evidence to refute the conventional wisdom that foreign countries are out-educating us. He shows the flaws in data publicized by popular videos and presentations including "Two Million Minutes" and "Shift Happens."

My Reply:

Since you reference my film, 2 Million Minutes, I'd like to clarify what I was trying to convey when I produced the documentary.

First, based on 25 years as an entrepreneur and high-tech investor, it is my strong belief that every job will require higher cognitive skills in the 21st century than in the 20th century. I have witnessed this cognitive increase in my own companies just in the past 10 years.

Most jobs our children will have don't even exist now - they have yet to be created. Jobs like SEO Manager or Social Media Manager weren't even in existence 10 years ago. Now they are high-paying careers.

From that premise, I believe American children would be well served with a deeper and longer education in math, physics, chemistry, biology and computer science.

The mental rigor of these classes, combined with the technical cognitive development, will simply be the "entry ticket" for high-wage, high-growth jobs of the 21st century - IMHO.

I also believe American K-12 education should more intentionally concentrate on the arts, music, drama and creative, right brain skills.

Creative, innovative, inventive and entrepreneurial skills will be the differentiator in careers, compensation and job satisfaction in the 21st century, I believe.

"Whole brain" education must be addressed in schools the world over, as Dr. Zhao and I both articulated at a recent conference in the U.K. China and India are moving in that direction, as Dr. Zhao points out.

I am not advocating anything other than that American students need a K-12 curriculum that matches world standards, has a heavy component of innovation and creativity training (ala the Imagineering program at Disney or the creativity course for Stanford ME's) and teaches the basic skills of entrepreneurship.

U.S. public schools do not do this today, to the detriment of our children. And when 30% drop out of high school, they will struggle to find meaningful work their whole lives - an enormous waste of talent. Some will succeed, as Lincoln, Disney and Lucy Ball did. But they will be the small minority. Most will lead lives of poverty.

A few American private and charter schools have achieved this higher standard in core courses without sacrificing the best of creativity, critical thinking and innovation.

In my most recent education documentary film - The 21st Century Solution - I profile one such charter school in Arizona, the BASIS Charter School. This film shows that American kids can outperform Chinese and Indians in math and science and at the same time develop creatively.

Is BASIS perfect - of course not. Is it the direction American K-12 schools should move if we care about our children and their ability to be financially self-sufficient and happy in their careers - I believe so.

Sincerely,

Bob Compton
Executive Producer
2 Million Minutes & The 21st Century Solution

Whitepaper on Korea and Korean Education

The link below is a compilation of my blog posts from Korea in chronological order and in an easily readable PDF format:

Download BobInKorea2

Video of BASIS Classroom Activity

Several educators have pointed out, correctly, that in the 54 minute documentary The 21st Century Solution there was insufficient time devoted to what happens in the classroom.

In a documentary there is only so much one can cover and choices had to be made to tell what we felt was the broader story - HERE.

Fortunately, we have over 100 hours of footage from the filming at BASIS and are adding to that archive periodically. So, with YouTube and Typepad we can continue the story of BASIS Charter School and try to show more of the actual classroom interaction.

Educators can decide for themselves, based upon their pedagogical biases, if BASIS is providing a high-quality education - worthy of Newsweek's top rankings.

I'm grateful to Jonathan Martin, Headmaster of St. Gregory College Prep., a private high school in Tucson AZ, not far from BASIS, for providing a list of 16 classroom sessions he feels most educators would like to view.

As we find that footage or shoot more film, we'll post the video for educators to watch and comment.

Here is Dr. Martin's criticism and first request and the video we found that illustrates his request:

"I just banged out this following list really quickly after a long day at school.  I saw none of these things in the film.   This is a quick “top twelve list” [actually 16] of what the classroom learning I would like to see happening in a school that is described as the 21st century solution:

1. Teachers facilitating a Socratic dialogue, with multiple follow up and challenging questions for deeper thinking, taking the time to really guide students to take the time to reflect, examine, and create new thinking about  a topic, and not seeming impatient to get back to the regular lesson.

Explanation of the video by James Kittredge, BASIS English Teacher:

“This video is from my 9th grade World Literature Class, early in the school year.  The course is one of two English classes BASIS freshman take - the other being Writing and Critical Analysis (a class in the nuts and bolts of writing, grammar, and rhetoric). 

The World Lit class is designed to be a survey of literature from the ancient/classical period to the 20th century.  We begin by studying works from the ancient/classical epoch (Greece and Sumeria) and culminate with a study of African, post-colonial fiction (Achebe). 

Along the way, we take a trip through the East (for Tang Dynasty and Sufi poetry), examine British writers of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Restoration periods (Chaucer, Marlowe, and Swift), and analyze short fiction of Russia, eastern Europe, and South America (Gogol, Kafka, and Marquez).

Our primary focus in the World Lit class is AP preparation.  The students are exposed to what they will encounter on the Lit and Language exams in their sophomore and junior years.  To that end, they are familiarized with timed writing, close reading and advanced literary terminology in order to prepare them to be eloquent, articulate scholars and active members of a supportive, rigorous intellectual community. 

Additionally, the 9th grade year serves as a laboratory for the development of the kinds of individual discussion leadership and material ownership that will be required of them in future AP classes and college seminars.

Finally, one of the added bonuses of the 9th grade curriculum is its flexibility.  Since we are not tied to a specific AP plan of study, I am able to tailor the course material to fit burgeoning student interest in literature.  Last year, for example, after our study of Kafka's "Metamorphosis," the students were energized by our discussion of existentialism, and I was able to add Sartre's "No Exit" on the fly.

As you see in the video, the course is discussion-based and Socratic in emphasis. I aim to get students to tackle the big, interpretive questions of literature and to move away from simple comprehension and summary of the material.  

The discussion format allows for student curiosity and wonderfully enriching conversations about such diverse topics as etymology, history and culture, and author/playwright biography. 

While I am, obviously, leading the discussion to which you are privy, we have already begun integrating student-led classes into the course, and, by the end of the year, the freshmen will largely take the interpretive reigns, and I will act more as a facilitator.”

My Final Reflections on South Korea, the City of Busan and Korean Education

One of my lasting impressions of Busan will be the enormous quantity and high quality food available everyday, everywhere. I'll miss the fresh tangerines (grown on an island 200 miles south of Busan) at every meal.

Busan is a thoroughly modern city – commercial buildings, public transportation, access and convenience, shopping malls everywhere.


 
Busan is “business first” – not clear that much else is important at this point.

People seem to be "catching up" to their city – which by rights they should be more confident with what they have achieved.

This may be the cleanest city in the world on any given day.

Korean education has been the cornerstone to their economic success.

Parents start kids education at 3-4 typically with English – want their kids to be fluent, unlike their experience.

Parents and society push the importance of education, but aren’t as career directive toward science and math as India or China.

Elementary and Middle school are less rigid and more varied than India, China or even the U.S., with an intentional emphasis on arts, music, dance and creativity.

High school, however, is a “forced march” to the College Exam – grueling and grinding - despised by kids, questioned by parents, but the practice remains

For all its flaws and faults, Korean education has lifted the country in 35 years from receiving financial aid from OECD to now providing other countries with aid of close to $1 trillion – it may not be to American taste or sensibility, but the economic results are amazing.

In my view, with the exception of a lack of enough English speakers, Korea is well positioned for acceleration in 21st century global competition.

I think this country of 50 million offers some valuable lessons for how  to remain competitive in light of outsourcing and offshoring, while moving up the value-added ladder and the increasing economic well being of its citizens.

Two last things I'll miss about Korea - Hite (Korean beer) and Soju (a vodka-like, sweet alcohol) which has remarkable potency and after two bottles allows the drinker to believe he or she can speak fluent Korean and that everyone in the restaurant is an understanding friend. Or, at least...understanding.

Beaches of Busan, Korea

Busan is located on the Southeasternmost tip of the Korean Peninsula and faces the Korean Strait, the seaway that separates Korea and Japan. Busan is the largest seaport city in Korea, and ranks as the fifth largest port in the world.

Busan also has some very large, spectacular beaches - although December is not the best time to visit them.

Korean beaches hold the World Record for most number of beach umbrellas on a single day - 760,000. Clearly, not this day.

Korean Fish Market - I Must Photograph

 

 

Kyungnam College of Information and Technology - Home of the "Shoe College"

I think it is worth pointing out that all of the people we met in the shoe industry are very proud of their companies and their products. Not only are their products worn the world over - they are working with some of the most creative design companies in the world - Nike, Reebok, Addidas, Puma, etc.

These global brands give the shoe makers great pride and they are constantly innovating new materials, new lacing systems and new designs to impress these large companies. Being a shoe maker in Korea is a reasonably prestigious job, having required years of training and decades of hands-on experience.

Master designers are held in awe and master production engineers are revered.

Business people and academics work shoulder-to-shoulder in the Institutes's modern lab supported by government funding. As the faculty member who gave us the tour of the facilities commented "only Nike has this much equipment."

Here are a few photos to give a sense of the caliber and quality of the facilities and equipment:

Lab Director explaining newest robotic lower leg and foot for testing shoes.  

              

 

Busan's Shoe High School And Shoe College

Regrettably, the spicy Korean cuisine prevented me from touring the Shoe High School, But Jamien reports it was a 3-yr intensive program with state-of-the-art equipment designed to prepare the student for entry directly into the shoe industry or to ready the student for the even more rigorous Shoe College.

As mentioned earlier, Hye could not afford Design school, so pooling her resources, she dove into Shoe College with determination to be the best at the school - which she achieved.

Here was her curriculum - 11 months a year over 2 years plus Job Training (classes started at 8am and lasted until 6:30pm):

YEAR 1 / 1st semester ;

Basal science / Coloration techniques / Shoe introduction / Shoe Design / Utility English / Material science / Shoe major English / Computer application / Pattern design

Practical business ability - demonstrate the actual making if shoes

 

YEAR 1 / 2nd semester ;

Shoe modeling / Merchandising / Production quality control / Shoe analysis/ New shoe material / Utility English 2/ Shoe major English 2 / Computer graphic

An elastic materials / Practical business ability 2 - make more complex shoe designs

 

YEAR 2 / 1st semester

Shoe CAD / Shoe design 2 / Shoe projector / Shoe fashion techniques /  Utility English 3/ Shoe major English 3 / Adhesion Study / Leather Material / Practical business ability 3

 

YEAR 2 / 2nd semester ;

Venture foundation business / Shoe CAD / Shoe business / Shoe major English 4 / Student Project / Practical business ability 4 & 5  

 

YEAR 3 - Job training for 3 months (Hye took shoe design training job in shoe design company)

Graduation and a job with all the skills necessary to add-value immediately and to grow with the company.

Some students continue for a 4th year and study the chemistry of shoe design. This was not Hye's interest.

Busan, the Shoe Industry and Building Regional Comparative Advantage

As low cost labor once pulled the shoe industry from Europe to the U.S., low labor cost again pulled the shoe industry from America to Asia.

Almost every Asian country took a piece of the industry, pre-Mao's demise, and found it to be an economically beneficial industry employing a large number of people with varying, generally low, skills.

Once China woke up in the 1970's and 1980's the game changed and no country could beat the Chinese low-cost, high-population advantage in the shoe industry.

Busan's government leaders, I was told, saw the inevitable coming and took decisive action. They were determined not to lose their shoe industry - they would simply accept that manufacturing would be done in China and they would educate their workers on the "higher knowledge" aspects of the industry - design, marketing, prototyping, QA, global trade and distribution, taxation, regulatory expertise and Chinese, etc.

This strategy kept large numbers of people employed, while simultaneously developing an array of higher value-added businesses and raised the incomes of the participants who learned new knowledge and skills and who adapted to the new reality.

In the 1980's Busan had over 100 viable shoe manufacturers - today there are less than a dozen. My tour guide through the intricacies of the Asian shoe industry - Miss Hye - had personal experience with the transition. Her family had a shoe plant, which when China awaken was quickly threatened.

Despite her father's best efforts, he was unable to partner with a Chinese manufacturer while diversifying into design and services to replace lost revenue and profit. Clear that he was not going to make the transition in time to save the family business, he liquidated assets in China, sent what money he made home to his wife, son and two daughters and died shortly thereafter.

Hye was just finishing high school at the time and had been accepted at a top Korean Design school. Now unable to afford Design school, Hye worked several jobs, borrowed money from her sister and enrolled in Shoe College - one of two advanced colleges in Korea devoted to every aspect of the shoe industry

Shoe College is a three year, intense program that is rarely found in US universities - a college within a larger university where faculty, staff and industry representatives work side-by-side to prepare students for careers in the shoe industry - the high-value jobs in that industry. The day we visited a Nike exec was lecturing to the students on marketing.

Next Post - Shoe College and Shoe High School

Returning to Middle School Engineering and Creativity - IQ/EQ - Class

I want to return to the most intriguing class I saw in the standard Korean education system – Engineering & Creativity.

In American public Middle and High School, I’m unaware of any formal hands-on classes in actually designing and building things.

The Korean economy seems firmly committed to staying in the design and building of products and this three-year course is a unique way to introduce students to that thinking and have them experience the process first hand.

Based on the principal’s translated explanation and the EQ/IQ teacher’s enthusiasm for this class, it is clearly one of the students’ favorites and is highly regarded by the school.

 

 

To me, this harkens back to the 1970’s in America, in high school "Shop class." Although without the esteem this class is accorded in Korea, “Shop class” in the 1970’s in the U.S. was a chance to integrate math, art, physics and other classes and actually build something useful.

As I recall, we worked with a wide variety of materials and pieces of equipment. I distinctly recall forging and turning a steel chisel; drawing, sawing, sanding and waxing a wooden tie rack and designing, measuring and cutting an aluminum dust pan. Not particularly exciting products, but we were learning how to make things and our shop teacher was a gruff, disciplined man who taught us skills throughout the year.

I don’t know why “Shop class” was removed from the curriculum – legal liability, I suspect – but it was the one class that used the whole brain in the process of making a product.

I think we might have something to learn from the Korean Middle School “IQ/EQ Class” – that the making of products is a process that should be hands-on and is engaging to students.

Having seen this classroom and discussed the course with students, I think American education might find real benefit in emulating the Korean example of a class that uses the whole brain and teaches students how things are made – from idea, to design, to schematic, to prototype, to quality control, to testing and to final production.