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Ali H. Al-Hoorie
Saudi TESOL Association
30-Sep-2023
School Leaders Conference 2023
Innovation in Education
•“In our dream, we have limitless resources,
and the people yield themselves with perfect
docility to our molding hand.”
•Frederick T. Gates (1916, p. 6)
• Director of Charity for the Rockefeller Foundation
HISTORY OF EDUCATION
•“We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men
of learning or of science. We are not to raise up from among them authors, orators, poets,
or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians. Nor will
we cherish even the humbler ambition to raise up from among them lawyers, doctors,
preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we now have ample supply.” (p. 6)
•“So we will organize our children into a little community and teach them to do in a perfect
way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way, in the home, in the
shop, on the farm.” (p. 10)
•Vocationalism
HISTORY OF EDUCATION
•John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)
•Founder of the Standard Oil Company
•One of the richest people in history
•Established the “General Education Board” in 1903.
•Many aspects persist today
HISTORY OF EDUCATION
•Neoliberalism: Economic and political ideology emphasizing limited
government intervention in markets, privatization, deregulation, and
individualism
•Neoliberal education: “What students should learn and the value of
education is relative to their individual prospects for future earnings”
(Hastings, 2019)
LET’S PLAY A GAME
A teenage decides to quit school. What is the most common
thing parents say to convince his/her not to quit school?
You are going to miss out on
acquiring knowledge.
You will miss out on being
a better person.
You will miss out on
important life skills.
You will miss out on future
job opportunities.
•For most parents: education => future career
•Vocationalism is so ingrained in our culture
HISTORY OF EDUCATION
HISTORY OF EDUCATION
•Has this career-oriented approach been successful?
•Many students hate school
•Do they hate knowledge?
•Many students study for exams only
•And forget most of what they learned afterward
•Many students do not get jobs in line with their college degrees
•On-the-job training
•And they do just fine!
HISTORY OF EDUCATION
Assembly-line model of factories from the industrial era:
•Assembly-Line Learning: progress through linear levels, limiting individualized pacing & exploration of
topics to foster deeper understanding
•Standardization: uniform curriculum, pacing, teaching methods & testing, with students accumulating
“credit hours” semester after semester
•Bureaucracy: hierarchical structures, rigid rules & top-down decision-making, limiting creativity &
autonomy
•Division of Labor: teachers specializing in particular subjects, limiting holistic and interdisciplinary
learning experiences
•Time Management: structured schedules with set class periods & breaks, little room for flexible or
personalized learning
•Metrics: relying on “measurable” learning outcomes to assess performance, overshadowing the broader
purposes of education
•Depersonalization: large age-based batches (date of manufacture) to achieve “efficiency” and reduce costs
•Career-orientation: preparation for the workforce, downplaying broader personal & societal development
goals
WHERE SHOULD INNOVATION BE?
•Low-level (e.g., a teaching technique)
•High-level (e.g., philosophy of education)
MASTERY-BASED LEARNING
•Traditional education:
•Progress: time-based, grade levels/courses/semesters
•Passing: overall achievement
•Failure: stigmatized
•Mastery-based education:
•Progress: mastery of specific skills/competencies
•Passing: satisfying each individual objective
•Failure: more time needed
MASTERY-BASED LEARNING
•Emphasis on Mastery: deep & thorough understanding, orientating students & parents to mastery
•Individualized Pace: progress at their own pace; some students may move more quickly, while
others may need more time
•Personalized Learning: customized pathways, tailored instruction and support based on their
individual strengths and weaknesses
•Clear Learning Objectives: specific competencies must be defined at the beginning for students
& parents
•Continuous Feedback: ongoing support from teachers or educational technology platforms
•No Fixed Time Constraints: not bound by semester schedules or academic years; achieving
mastery is the ultimate goal
•Focus on Depth over Coverage: not simply covering a predetermined amount of content; explore
topics in greater detail & make meaningful connections
UNGRADING
•Traditional education:
•Outcome: letter or numerical grades
•Ungrading philosophy:
•Outcome: detailed qualitative feedback
UNGRADING
•No Traditional Grades: from letter or numerical grades (A, B, C, or 90%, 80%, 70%) to
meaningful, timely, and constructive feedback
•Focus on Mastery: grades are no longer the primary concern
•Self-Reflection and Self-Assessment: encourages metacognition and a deeper understanding
•Flexible Assessment Methods: projects, presentations, portfolios, discussions, beyond
traditional tests and exams.
•Holistic Assessment: not only the final product but also the process, effort, growth, &
engagement of the student
•Reduction of Stress and Competition: more relaxed and collaborative learning atmosphere
•Student Autonomy: they take more ownership of their learning, set goals & make choices
about their learning path, and advocate for their needs following their passion
•“Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the
teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes
deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat.”
•“This is the “banking” concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students
extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits.”
•“Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient,
continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.”
•Paulo Freire (1970/2005, p. 72)
TO CONCLUDE
REFERENCES
Blum, S. D. (Ed.). (2020). Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead). West
Virginia University Press.
Freire, P. (2005). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum. (Original work published 1970)
Hastings, M. (2019). Neoliberalism and education. In G. Noblit (Ed.), Oxford research encyclopedia of education.
Oxford University Press.
Hess, K., Colby, R., & Joseph, D. (2020). Deeper competency-based learning: Making equitable, student-centered,
sustainable shifts. Corwin.
@Ali_AlHoorie
hoorie_ali@hotmail.com
www.ali-alhoorie.com
Thank you for listening