Are We in the Midst of a “Ghettoization in Education”?

While listening to a recent interview with the legendary journalist and news anchor, Tom Brokaw, he was discussing the “ghettoization of America”.  He claims that because of our affinity to social media and other internet applications, we mostly expose ourselves to thinks we “like” and issues we subscribe to.  Our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds are driven by people that we are fiends with and most likely share similar ideals, beliefs, etc.  When we visit news websites on our phones, tablets, or computers, they are likely the ones that we tend to agree with politically, socially, or economically. Brokaw explains that because of these trends, we are not exposing ourselves to ideas outside of our own umbrella.  And because of this, we only deepen our affinity and opinions to those ideas under our own umbrella.  The effect of these trends are that we don’t expand our thinking and push alternative ideas.  Brokaw wonders how these trends are affecting society as a whole. 

This got me thinking about education.

Are we in the midst of a “ghettoization in education”?  As educators, are we broadening our ideas and thinking beyond our own umbrella?  While there are certainly those educators that are of a growth mindset, they are continually striving to be better at their craft and to make changes to positively impact student achievement.  However, with the ongoing implementation of Common Core and other standards, I have been noticing a portion of educators that want to be “left alone”, don’t want to do “another new thing”, that feel “this too shall pass”, and “if its not broken, why fix it” mentality. As Carol Dweck calls it, they are of a fixed mindset and believe that where they are- under their umbrella, or in their ghetto- is adequate and nothing new needs to evolve.

As educators, we have the social and moral responsibility to our students to continue to seek out better and more effective ways to build content knowledge and life skills. If we are not continually striving to develop our craft, it is the students who lose in the end. As comfortable as it may be in our ghetto and under our umbrellas, we need to push ourselves to go beyond our comfort zones.