Preparing students for the real world

In schools we often talk about "the real world." I have to admit before I go any further that I have very little experience in the real world. I grew up living on a school campus, attended several elite institutions of higher learning, and have been a teacher most of my adult life. The academic world is my home and I have little desire to experience the "real world". Because of that, most of what I will say here is pure speculation.

When talking about accommodations made for students with identified learning disabilities, detractors often point out that there will be no accommodations once they enter the real world after graduation. At the same time, however, people who need such accommodations are unlikely to choose a career requiring them to use those skills and abilities that cause them trouble. In school, we are forced to take all the subjects and cannot pick and choose courses which suit our strengths. I actually think that's a good thing, because we need to be forced out of our comfort zones. If we never explore, we will never uncover our hidden strengths and passions. I don't, however, think it is a good basis for an argument that we shouldn't make accommodations which allow all students to do the best they can.

My AP Calculus students will be taking their big exam on Wednesday. They will sit in a big, silent room, separated by the requisite 5 feet. Some of the time they will be allowed to use calculators, some of the time only scrap paper. At the end of each section of the exam, they will hear those famous words, "Put your pencil down." How is this preparing them for the real world? The real world is all about collaboration and communication. My wife is a research scientist, something to which many AP Calculus students aspire. There is no such thing as a single-author paper in science any more. All science is done collaboratively. I suspect the same is true of most disciplines. In her 20 years of research, my wife has never sat silently in a room, bubbling in the results of her research on a computerized answer sheet. Instead she writes papers and presents her research verbally to other scientists. The real world is about communication.

The issue that has been on my mind the most this year is the idea of time limits. Schools love time limits. A test must be finished during the 45 minute class period or you get no credit for the problems you didn't finish. Students with a demonstrated need get an extra 50% time. (Why 50%?) What is the point of these time limits? A friend of mine who is an author talks about evaluating every scene and asking, "How does this advance the story or the characters? Does it have a purpose?" Shouldn't we do the same thing with education? How does finishing a test in 45 minutes advance education? What purpose does it serve? We seem to like to use the "real world" standard a lot when evaluating education. When was the last time your boss gave you a time limit on anything? Most jobs involve deadlines, not time limits, and those are very different things. If your boss tells you that you need to accomplish a task by the end of the day on Friday, she doesn't care how much time it takes you. If you want to work late all week or come in early and take lots of extra time to do the job well, you'll probably be commended for your dedication rather than told that you are not good enough. Why would we hold students who are just learning something for the first time to specific time limits when professionals who have been performing similar tasks for decades get deadlines instead?

Similarly, when was the last time your boss gave you a task and told you that you cannot use the technology tools available that would make your job more efficient and more accurate? Yes, as a math teacher, I think it is important for students to understand what is going on mathematically rather than just typing things into a calculator and trusting the answer. Any good math teacher, however, can find questions and tasks which require a student to show true understanding without being able to use technology as a crutch. Again, in your job, if you figure out a way to use technology that is already available in the office to do your job better and faster, you will probably get a commendation rather than being accused of cheating.

School is not the real world and it shouldn't be. Students make mistakes all the time that would get them fired in most workplaces, and school needs to be a safe place to make those mistakes and learn from them. Maybe there is value to some of these "sacred cows" of education, but if so, I think we, as educators, have a responsibility to clarify what that value is. The "preparing kids for the real world" argument just doesn't hold water.