Have you ever put doing something off because you unconsciously knew in your mind there would always be time to get to it in the future? Raise your hand. We have all done it.
This week, I was reminded of an old adage that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion; better known as Parkinson’s Law, first coined in 1955. In reading a story on the research of the success of four-day work weeks, the researchers propose people are more efficient with their time, do less social loafing, and simply get the work done because timelines are a bit shorter and perhaps more motivating to get started on the work in order to complete it.
Is Parkinson’s Law what is holding back education reform? We unconsciously assume we have an unlimited balance of time to make changes and thus we piddle here and dabble there and give excessive consideration to trivial matters.
How do we overcome this? First, we need to recognize we do not have unlimited time for reform. The time is now. The need is now. We are indeed at that critical apex—either we make changes or we risk a continual decline and degradation of learning at an alarmingly increased rate. Then, we need to get honest about what is truly needed in and, of our educational institutions. We can generally agree on the purpose of education but we have hardly changed our approaches to how we deliver on that purpose; not to mention the ever-widening opportunity and achievement gaps.
Let’s tackle this big, hairy problem. Let’s not dawdle and chit-chat. Let’s get down to business. Let’s develop learning experiences that educate the mind and the character. Let’s teach reading, writing, math, and science as well as critical thinking, problem-solving, and analysis. Let’s equalize the educational conditions so we can close the gaps in opportunity, access, and achievement. A blind person does not need a wheelchair and a paralyzed individual doesn’t need Braille. They each need something different. Equity doesn’t mean equal. Let’s give students what they need. The time for change is quickly running out.
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