TRITON 5 AMANDA DATNOW ’ 90
THE STATE OF EDUCATION
Researcher discusses the benefits of educating the whole child .
BY INGA KIDERRA
Amanda Datnow ’ 90 , Chancellor ’ s Associates Endowed Chair in Education Studies and associate dean of the School of Social Sciences at UC San Diego , is deeply committed to making positive changes to K-12 education . She shares her thoughts on the state of education in the United States today , the benefits of “ research – practice partnerships ” and what it means ( and why it is important ) to educate the whole child .
1 . Is the U . S . system of education in good shape or bad shape ? There are wonderful aspects of our education system and some very promising innovations underway . At the same time , some elements need a great deal of work — notably how we deliver on our promise to serve all students well . Despite a variety of efforts , students in our schools have vastly different types of educational experiences . Some have access to top-notch teaching and learning , incredible resources and socioemotional support at school , while others don ’ t . One of the most pressing issues in education is how to close these opportunity gaps .
2 . What needs to change in terms of teaching and learning ? Learning is a social process . Traditional methods of teaching , where the student is sitting as a passive recipient , are not the most effective way to teach the capacities we most need today — such as critical thinking , problem-solving and collaboration . We want to inspire lifelong learners . How do we do that ? I ’ m certain we don ’ t do it through a focus on narrow educational goals . We have to find a way for education to connect to students ’ sense of purpose . We ’ re seeing a shift toward student-centered learning . There is some
In Partnership : Amanda Datnow ’ 90 believes partnerships between educators and researchers can inform positive change in K-12 education . Photo : Donna Coleman
very exciting work happening in this domain — classrooms where students have a meaningful voice in shaping their education and addressing real-world problems .
3 . You have written about educating the whole child . Why is that important ? Children bring their full selves into school . We ’ re not just educating their cognitive dimensions and their academic skill set , we ’ re also preparing them to be important contributing members of society . Schools don ’ t just teach students content ; they also teach them ways of thinking , solving problems and working with one another . So , if we don ’ t think about the whole child , we miss an opportunity to connect education to that child ’ s own purpose , sense of self and sense of learning in the world .
4 . How can a university play a role in improving education ? I think one solution is to develop researchpractice partnerships like what we have locally with the Vista Unified School District ( see pg . 24 ). When you have researchers and practitioners working together to engage in research that addresses pressing issues in schools , we have an opportunity to close the gap between research and practice and support evidence-informed school improvements . We can also pivot our work to address new issues that are popping up .
5 . What are next steps we should take as a society ? In U . S . education , we often tend to think that all the knowledge we need is probably here inside our country . But I think there ’ s value in doing comparative studies and looking for ideas outside our borders , as there is a great deal of innovation happening elsewhere as well . A global perspective can help us both gain a better understanding of important trends and issues in education and free up our minds on how we might do things .
08 SPRING 2024