Flat World Reflection

After finishing Friedman's The World Is Flat and viewing the video from the open course ware at MIT, I find myself encountering some very mixed emotions. In fact, many of my reactions to Globalization 3.o are almost diametrically opposed. I am simultaneously excited and fearful, empowered and constricted by many of the viewpoints presented. One such example of this is the author's first iron rule of business on a horizontal platform: "Whatever can be done, will be done." Unleashing the power of individual imaginations will undoubtedly result in unlimited potential gains to the business world, and yet, as Friedman points out, an individual's--or perhaps and entire country's--willingness to both accept and to participate in this flattening process will determine whether what is done "will be by you or to you." While I can certainly see the validity, necessity, and the educational benefits of teaching our kids how to operate on the horizontal platform of collaboration, I am also reminded daily of the harsh reality of Friedman's Indian engineer's indictment of America's preparedness(or lack there of) to do so. I certainly know this is true in at least my little part of America. So, as an educational leader with somewhat of a black and white viewpoint of the world, if I accept the premises set forth both in this book and by others such as Bill Daggett's educational reform organization, I find myself again faced with two options : Bury my head in the sand and accept the inevitable dominance of America by other countries or shout to the rooftops the immediate need for radical change in American education. I pray for the courage to do the latter.

Other parts of the book also elicited this same optimistic/pessimistic debate within me. I found the identification of the historical flatteners to be very enlightening. The levels and magnitude of the services being outsourced, while mind boggling, left me very encouraged that good old American ingenuity was indeed alive and well (who else knew what UPS was involved with?). The chapter entitled "the quiet crisis", however, was very discouraging. While I was already aware of the data involving the shortage of graduates in math and science, I was particularly alarmed by some of the other "dirty little secrets." As a practicing educator, I do not believe that the existence of the gaps in ambition and funding between American education and that of other countries is a secret, but seeing the differences enumerated in print was unsettling. I was truly blindsided by the knowledge that America is lacking in broadband penetration. While not surprised, I sincerely hope that I am moved to react to the damning indictment of American culture and education found in the statements concerning Bill Gates: "In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears --and that is our problem."

Finally, I must candidly admit to some very personal internal clashes stimulated not only by the specific reading of this book, but by the undertaking of many of the assignments throughout this course in general. What started as an assignment --a task that needed to be completed--has become a true enlightening (I'll let you know later if it rises to the level of life-changing) experience. While writing these blog entries, I came to the realization that I was not just writing for a professor or for my colleagues, but for ANYONE in the world who chose to read them. In the early 1970's as an elementary school student, I was motivated by my teachers' genuine beliefs that anyone could grow up to be President in the U.S. As an adult and a realist, I find it difficult to motivate impoverished, sometimes homeless children who must deal with generations of learned helplessness with this same belief. But in a flat world, one does not have to aspire to the presidency to be a leader or to impact lasting change in the world. Any individual with a PC and the ability to motivate --whether in a cave in Afghanistan or at a desk in Morristown, TN--can change the world. I remain conflicted: What a wonderfully empowering motivational ideal for American educators, but what an awesome responsibility as well.