It's easier to teach compliance than initiative
Compliance is simple to measure, simple to test for and simple to teach. Punish non-compliance, reward obedience and repeat.
Initiative is very difficult to teach to 28 students in a quiet classroom. It's difficult to brag about in a school board meeting. And it's a huge pain in the neck to do reliably.
Schools like teaching compliance. They're pretty good at it.
To top it off, until recently the customers of a school or training program (the companies that hire workers) were buying compliance by the bushel. Initiative was a red flag, not an asset.
Of course, now that's all changed. The economy has rewritten the rules, and smart organizations seek out intelligent problem solvers. Everything is different now. Except the part about how much easier it is to teach compliance.
I find that my high school students are not as excited to have the additional responsibilities I give them when I hand over the reins to a concert. They know perfectly well that it is easier for them if I do all of the work. They are not as excited about the opportunity as I thought they would be. I am trying to figure out if they need a little more structure to work within or if they have been "schooled" for so long at this point that they aren't used to doing the creative work themselves.
ReplyDelete