Education reform revisited?

I keep thinking of Marika's thesis in looking at the evolution of pedagogy and social structures... Educational theory and facility design of the 1960's and 70's faced many of the same questions which we are facing today. Emphasis was placed on the importance of discovery and exploration in the learning process and communication with other children and adults was regarded as invaluable. The participatory theory of education “sees learning as a mosaic pattern made up of fragments of information from numberless sources, rather than as an unbroken linear development.” This suggests new considerations of how we organize schools – eliminating grades and mixing children, allowing for various sized group learning activities, access to a great range of media, materials, and equipment for self-instruction. This requires a high degree of movement, interaction, and communication. Classrooms were never designed for this; they were designed for uniformity, not diversity. The ‘open plan school’ emerged in the 60's and 70's in response to these alternative theories of education, but as we have seen, its impact did not last. The authoritarian nature of schools has prevailed - standardized tests dominate teaching methods. But now, as advances in technology continue in break neck speed and the learning environment continues to expand, we are facing many of the same, unresolved questions from the 60's and 70's.