Another Expert Calls for Imagination in Education

Image by Romain Guy*

The Council on Foreign Relations has published a provocative article, “Education Reform and U.S. Competitiveness,” as part of its Renewing America initiative. The piece is an “Expert Roundup,” featuring the reform recommendations of four thought leaders: Craig R. Barrett, former CEO and chairman of Intel Corporation, and one of the appointed leaders of Change the Equation, President Obama’s STEM initiative; author Steven Brill; Diane Ravitch, former U.S. assistant secretary of education, and research professor of education at NYU; and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Each contributor’s perspective is worth exploring, but Diane Ravitch’s caught my attention because it accords so well with Lincoln Center Institute’s thinking on education policy change.

President Obama Talks Education

Fixing the schools—it’s not just “a money thing.” On Monday, NBC News’s Matt Lauer sat down with President Obama to discuss education reform, “Race to the Top” funding, charter schools, parental responsibility, and investment in effective teacher training. The president talks about both the personal inspiration derived from great teachers and ways to inspire the next generation of professional educators. What do you think?

View the interview parts 1, 2 & 3, below:

Emerging Issues Forum Brings Creativity in Education into Focus

Image by Ariana Rose Taylor-Stanley*

In “More Creativity in the Classroom,” an opinion piece written for The Huffington Post, former North Carolina governor Jim Hunt expresses a vision for education with which I heartily agree. It is strikingly similar to the one embodied by  the imaginative learning model of Lincoln Center Institute. “Creative thinking fuels innovation,” Hunt asserts. It leads to new ideas, products, services, and jobs. So unless we “cultivat[e] creativity in our schools at the state and local levels,” the United States will soon find itself unable to compete economically with other nations who do. But, some readers may ask, what does it mean to “cultivate creativity” in public education?