The other day my wife and I had dinner with my mother in-law, Cindy. Like most conversations these days we started talking about COVID-19 and how our individual worlds have changed because of it.
I’m still wracking my brain to remember how we got on the subject, but it was Cindy who asked what the name of the group was after Gen Z.
It doesn’t happen often, but at this moment, I felt like that guy on Jeopardy! who could hit the buzzer before Trebek was finished talking.
It was a headline I read somewhere — “Generation Alpha to identify the group born after Gen Z”.
The COVID-19 conversation picked up as we considered how those born from 2010 to 2024 have been affected by this pandemic.
Just like us millennials, or any generation alive at this time, the pandemic is having an impact on just about every aspect of our lives.
Perhaps the most obvious impact we considered over dinner was how social distancing is going to change the elementary education system.
What’s changed since 1635?
Let’s be honest, there’ve been problems with the elementary education system long before COVID-19.
In fact, many of the problems I see are due to the constraints physical schools put on the design of our education system. National Geographic wrote an article that explained how the first public school in what would become the United States was built in Boston, Massachusetts on April 23, 1635.
As you can see from my beautiful artwork, the elementary school system was designed under the assumption that physical schools need to be built. And that children living in the surrounding area should attend this school and learn from a teacher they know nothing about.
By making these assumptions we run into a number of problems when trying to educate our children in 2020.
What problems come to mind for you?
Now introduce a world-wide pandemic.
More problems.
From a teachers perspective
A good friend of mine, Katie, is a public elementary school teacher. I asked her what elementary education would look like in 5–10 years.
It will change a lot. There is going to be more privatized education with distance learning and way more technology being used in the classroom.
This pandemic has definitely proven that the education system is not using their technology in a beneficial way. That needs to change!
If we need to solve this problem based on the feedback of Katie and others, what would that solution look like?
What if we could assume that there are no physical constraints? What could a privatized, virtual elementary education system look like in the next 2–3 years?
Could this be a step in the right direction?
Let’s imagine for a moment that physical schools are not the answer.
And maybe we’re only concerned about designing a solution that best educates our children; opening up opportunities to solve their social problems another way.
Perhaps the public sector is not the way to solve this problem. Maybe there is a way to reward outstanding teachers with higher salaries without raising taxes.
What if teachers could create an online profile and students from around the world could enroll in live, virtual class with a limited number of classmates?
Sure, some lessons could be pre-recorded but teachers and students are still wanting to interact and ask questions in this virtual, learning world.
Some classes would be free, too. Teachers just starting out may not be able to charge a rate for their content. That’s great! Because some parents aren’t going to be able to pay anything. In this case, ads could be used to generate revenue to pay the teachers salary.
I’m open to conversation
Now I’m not saying this is the #1 most correct answer out there on the future of elementary education.
In fact, it wasn’t two full paragraphs before this statement that my wife, Chelsea, made a counter argument.
An argument about screen addiction and not getting outside.
Okay, I can see that.
Certain situations are going to be better than others no matter what decisions are made. But shouldn’t we be giving parents the resources they need to teach their own children?
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of subjects I wouldn’t be confident teaching my children; math is one of those. I just like the idea of empowering parents with more options.
Let’s also keep in mind a real constraint — the attention span of a 10 year old. If a parent knows their child is not a morning person, with online learning resources available at many different times of the day, why not work with your child to find what’s best for them?
I’ve asked a lot of questions
I may not have all the answers, but I do think it is important to ask hard questions that challenge the status quo.
What questions are you thinking about? What are the frustrations you find with the current learning system for Gen Alpha?
I’m hopeful that we’ll find a vaccine for COVID-19 and that the world will go back to normal. I’m also hopeful that we can use this pandemic as an opportunity to revisit and adapt the systems that need to change.