Final

Defining "education" is not an easy task. Education is extremely complex. There is traditional education, education in a classroom, in addition to all of the learning that takes place outside of it. Education is about furthering knowledge, pushing boundaries, overcoming obstacles, and solving problems. Many of our research projects fall into these categories: furthering knowledge about technology and the genocide in Darfur, pushing boundaries of university housing, overcoming obstacles posed by ADHD, autism, and deafness, and solving problems within the educational system.

My thoughts about education at the beginning of the semester I think still hold true, that education is like learning to ski. You start out with the basics, getting the right equipment, learning how to make turns and stop. When you've got that down, move to the green slopes where the beginner skiiers are. They move a little faster and are a little more comfortable on their own. They might get out of control at times, but are constantly trying new things. They are eager and curious about the little bumps on the side of the slope and what's through those trees. Kids in kindergarten and elementary school follow this outline. They start out completely supervised and don't really know what is going on. They listen to stories, but can't really read them independently. They're making friends, learning to share, and building basic social skills.

Once those first few milestones have been passed, it's on to the blue runs. These ones are a little harder; people of all ages going down steeper and narrower slopes. The skiers are in control of their own speed and movement and have a little more wiggle room. In the last year or so of elementary school and middle school, students are given more responsibilities and more freedom. They decide how much time to put into homework, who their friends are, and what their attitude is like towards school.

Once you're very comfortable on the blue runs, you challenge yourself to the blacks. The blacks have skiiers who have been skiing for years. They are confident in their abilities and are pretty good at what they do. They are in complete control of their body movements and are curious about what's around the next corner. In high school, students are in control of a lot of things. They are responsible for going to class, doing homework, housework, and their social lives. In each phase of education, the responsibility is increased along with freedom. High school is harder because students are in charge of a lot of components of their lives and the way they handle and control them is up to themselves.

The double blacks are the highest you can go, but you never really master them. There are many ways to tackle a double black run, and there is never a point when skiiers can say they have learned all they need to know. There is always something you could do better, even olympic athletes have not learned all they can know. The same goes for education. Even after graduation from college, that is not where the learning stops. Learning is continuous and you can never get to the top of the education ladder. There is no top.

One research question I believe is important for the field of education is: What is the best way to change the educational system to better fit our changing society?
I think politicians and certain organizations are trying to reform education, but there are still A LOT of problems within our system. There are many ideas about how to change education to accomodate learning disabilities and change athletic department regulations and education in Africa, but how do we accomplish that. How do we take it from something on paper to a reality?