I like a beaten track as a metaphor for schooling. While a beaten track was never planned, it responded to the needs of those traversing it. It took them where they wanted or needed to go through established, predictable territory. Over time, as the trail became more defined, so did the structure of schooling. It found the shortest paths, avoided swamps where possible, forded streams, climbed mountains, but eventually arrived at its destination. Once people followed a trail to a successful end, others followed, hoping for the same success.
The school system has remained a slowly evolving institution, even in a world where globalization and technology are forcing massive change. One educational theorist argued “the persistence of authoritarian patterns of teaching and learning is a function of the culture of schooling, a culture embedded in 4000 years of stone and seemingly impervious to real, systemic change.” However, schooling has grown, one might argue, much as a trail grows as it gets more use. It widens gradually, becoming more clearly defined. The dirt, beneath the onslaught of many feet, is slowly pounded into a harden surface.
I like to think of alternative educational ideas as different paths, different ways to reach a variety of destinations. Alternative approaches to education are less established and predictable. You are less sure where you will end up. You may not follow the tried and true established procedures of traditional schooling. You may search for new vistas, follow new paths or creep through uncharted country. You may run into unexpected swamps, dead-ends, or just get lost. But the possibilities are endless.
I have been hiking a lot lately. Many of the pictures of trails in this blog are from my hikes. And one thing I’ve learned is that the trails are beautiful, as is the environment off the beaten track.
Off the Beaten Track 