Full press release pasted below. But first, saw this in my inbox today. It’s about celebrating so-called “connected educators” during the month of August. I go through it, blah blah blah, online communities, blah blah, collaboration, blah blah. So, all right, pretty innocent, uninspired, then I see this little paragraph:
Online communities and learning networks already help hundreds of thousands of educators by providing “just in time” access to knowledge and opportunities for collaboration, and by reducing isolation. Expanding participation will allow more people to realize the full benefits of this arena for professional learning and collaboration.
Does anything jump out? Come on now… no? All right, how about that phrase “just in time?” Ring any bells? I know, we’re so inundated nowadays with the latest buzzwords. My head’s already exploding from “collaboration” and “professional learning” and all of that. But just in time, why use that and not, I don’t know, immediate or online or quick, something like that?
You see, “just in time” is a model of production, you know, in the factory. In a nutshell, “just in time production,” or JIT reduces waste by eliminating inventory, thereby leaning out production methods because inventory, or producing goods “just in case” rather than based on demand, is more expensive. Here’s a link.
I don’t know if it’s deliberate or what, if the business model is so thoroughly infused with folks at Education that they don’t know any other way to express their ideas. Or, is it deliberate, is this some way to reduce costs and increase efficiencies by eliminating the time it takes a product to reach an end-user?
Ugh, business! I hate business, even taking care of it. This doesn’t seem to be about educators, about really supporting educators. It’s about doing so in the cheapest, most efficient way possible. It’s about giving them a very NARROW set of products, convincing them, like zombies, that they need brains, they can’t function on their own without what the Department has to give them. I’m seeing management, I’m seeing business, and I’m seeing workloads actually increased because teachers have to spend so much time looking crap up online to meet some arbitrary set of standards rather than relying on their own colleagues and communities to help educate the children they know best.
Here’s the full release.
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Communications & Outreach, Press Office
400 Maryland Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202FOR RELEASE
Tuesday, July 31, 2012Contact: Press Office
(202) 401-1576 or press@ed.govU.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION KICKS OFF CONNECTED EDUCATOR MONTH
All August. All Online.Because no educator should be an island, the U.S. Department of Education has declared August Connected Educator Month. Throughout August, more than 100 of the nation’s leading education organizations, communities, and companies will come together online to celebrate and explore the power of professional online communities and networks to meet the needs of education professionals – novices and leaders alike.
Connected Educator Month events will begin on August 1, with three days of the foremost innovators in education leading a series of online keynotes and panels, engaging participants in ongoing dialogue and learning.
In collaboration with a wide range of educational organizations and educators, and in the spirit of online communities, Connected Educator Month will continue with a variety of courses, webinars, guided tours, live chats, forums, workshops, interviews, book clubs, contests, badges, and more. The goal is to broaden and deepen educator participation in online communities and create opportunities for education professionals to work together to move the field forward. It is also to learn more about supporting educators with online environments.
“Improvement requires connection,” said Karen Cator, director of the Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology (OET). “As we ramp up for the 2012-2013 school year, teachers and leaders along with education organizations and online communities have the opportunity to work toward a more connected and collaborative profession.”
Online communities and learning networks already help hundreds of thousands of educators by providing “just in time” access to knowledge and opportunities for collaboration, and by reducing isolation. Expanding participation will allow more people to realize the full benefits of this arena for professional learning and collaboration.
All events and activities can be found on the Connected Educator Month Calendar at http://connectededucatormonth.org, with additional learning opportunities added throughout August.
Connected Educator Month is part of the Office of Educational Technology’s Connected Educators initiative, which is supporting online, social and professional learning for educators by conducting research, hosting communities, and working with the field.
Please follow Connected Educator Month on Twitter at #ce12.
The Connected Educators initiative is being coordinated for the Department of Education by the American Institutes for Research with key support from its partners, including the Consortium for School Networking, Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, Forum One Communications, Grunwald Associates LCC, and the State Educational Technology Directors Association, in collaboration with a wide range of educational organizations and grassroots networks. A complete list of participating organizations can be found at: http://connectededucators.org/cem/participating-organizations/.
Wow, great comment. There’s really a lot more to this than I imagined!
It jumped out at me. JIT is a very much used business model here in Hawaii. Just go to any market (except the surfing and tourist industry). You’ll find a paucity of product. More often than not, most businesses will tell you that they are “out of stock,” but will order upon request. It’s so pervasive here, it’s like, uh, cultural. Of course, the excuse is: hey, brah, this is Hawaii, and everything comes by boat.
Well most all the new teachers (TFAs notwithstanding) come from the Mainland and come by “aircraft.” It’s the Teacher as Tourist Plan, the ultimate JIT model used by the DOE. High living costs, low pay. Teacher retirement fully vests in 10 years. Average new teacher stay is 3 years.The backbone of a JIT production model. The Plantation hangover.