Experiential
Education and Competency Mastery Comes of Age
A Conversation with
Fred Bramante
Listen here:
You've heard me say
it before, the world is changing under our feet and we will either be the
agents of change or its victims. And make no mistake, we are entering an era of
unparalleled change - whether you call it the Third Industrial Revolution or
the Fourth, the Anthropocene, or anything else, is irrelevant. But it will be a
revolutionary period. In another decade, almost nothing in our lives will look
the same. If we respond with courage and
wisdom, humanity and civility, to the challenges, most of what we will create
will be for the betterment of our world.
If Fred Bramante has
his way - and I fervently hope he does - schools will look nothing like they do
today in ten years. Where today many schools remain mired in the old ways - 180 days in a seat with teachers imparting and students absorbing - under the best
of circumstances. If they are lucky their four years of school will yield a
high school diploma. If Fred Bramante gets his way, Teachers will become
facilitators, teaching in classrooms part-time and working with students of all
kinds to help them find experiences that yield mastery over various
competencies identified by schools, communities, teachers and other educational
leaders. Students will not only finish high school, having engaged in
experiential activities that augment their book learning and they will do so
with not only a diploma but perhaps a certificate of mastery for a marketable
skill or an Associates Degree. That means two years of college paid for in the
midst of their High School experience.
Now, in fairness to
my friends Dr. Everett Barnes and John True who helped me craft my own education
plan when Fred and I ran for Governor in 1994, they too were touting similar
ideas - and consequently so was I, but
along with Fred Bramante, they were way ahead of the curve. After the campaigns
were over, I headed off to Introduce the Internet to the Civil Society
Community in West Africa, but Fred - still filled with the fire that had grown
inside him - continued to work for education reform.
Eleven years after
Fred's run for Governor he found himself the Chair of the New Hampshire Board
of Education, appointed by then-Governor Craig Benson. Given broad latitude by
the Governor, Fred put his considerable interpersonal skills to work convincing
a bi-partisan Board of Education to create the broadest, most sweeping goals
for education. A set of goals that is a powerful combination of classroom
experience, experiential learning, internships and more.
While Fred will be
the first to tell you that - from his perspective - things have moved far too
slowly since then that he remains optimistic that we are headed in the right
direction and is proud of the lead role that NH has played in this educational
revolution.
Fred Bramante is a former 8th grade Science
teacher, a former candidate for governor, and the past Chairman of the New Hampshire State Board of Education. ... In
2003, Mr. Bramante led New Hampshire's first full-scale effort to
redesign public education since 1919.Jun 12, 2013
The Radical Centrist
Experiential Education and Competency Mastery Comes of Age - A Conversation with Fred Bramante
https://soundcloud.com/user-90457918/episode-13-fred-bramante-experiential-education-comes-of-age
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