The End of Education as We Know It

"The principles of good management that we teach at Harvard business school sew the seeds of every companies ultimate failure. " Clayton Christensen

Clayton Christensen is the world's foremost expert on why corporate giants, political empires and education dynasties crash and burn. Instead of watching a cat videos tonight check out 12 minutes on the end of the world as you know it. Click Here

Disruptive innovation, a term coined by Clayton Christensen, describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market an the relentlessly moves up market, eventually displacing established competitors. 

If like me, you can't get enough of this guy grab a coffee and turn off your phone. Here is 120 minutes on why your school is going to go under in your lifetime.  Disruption in Higher Learning.  (In the right sidebar of those videos you'll see why America bottomed out, how it can recover without its age-old crutch of participating in war and so much more.) I  am especially interested in how disruptive innovation applies in my field of language learning. The model is exactly the same:

Simpler and more affordable, a whole new generation of people could provide services - Clayton Christensen for example teaching English - Judy Thompson.

What is the Breakthrough Technology for language learning? Twenty minutes ago you didn't know it existed. Now you want to know where to find it. Your motivation for learning has been sparked. Excellent.

The human brain seeks patterns to make sense of the world around us. This is such a critical concept I'm going to repeat it. Humans are pattern-seeking, meaning-making machines.  Memorizing details is not how we learn. (Rita Baker's Brain Power $8)

Education in general is ineffective because of its preoccupation with details and its oblivion of patterns and how humans actually learn. The fundamental breakdown is the misconception that memorizing more and more details makes a good education. Let's look at grammar for example. We teach about 208 grammar rules and exceptions  and wonder why learners don't speak? They can't stay present to grammar details when they talk. Conversation is too fleeting, yet two-year-olds learn to talk effortlessly.

Rita Baker understands the systems or patterns of grammar better than any human on earth and teaches all of English grammar, including preposition, with no exceptions in about 15 hours. Her Global Approach is a system students can use immediately to master English effectively and eternally. Rita Baker is an ESL teacher who drives a Jaguar if get the point across more clearly.

You learned your first language without any grammar study or labels. Organically , with a solid grasp of the language patterns is still the best way to lean a second or third or fourth language. Ask Benny Lewis. The secret to learning another language quickly: Speak from day 1 

What Benny Lewis and Rita Baker understand is how the brain is wired to learn new information and they apply this to language learning. Simple, affordable technology that is disruptive and replacing traditional language learning methodologies faster than gasoline evaporates. Oxford and Cambridge are ripe for disruption and they are scared. 

What does this mean for you?

The bad news is everything you learned in school about how to teach English is useless. It has been proven over and over again that people don't learn English with the tools you have. As quickly as you can grasp this and let go of what you thought was important, the faster you are going to find employment in the future of language learning and teaching. There is no longer job security in 'the way we have always done it'.

The good news is you have access to the internet and you have access to a simple pattern system for teaching speaking - for free. We are thinking or changing the title of English is Stupid, Students are Not to The Traveler's Guide to Teaching Speaking because travelers are frequently asked for English lessons by non-English speakers when they are visiting other countries. (In spite of the fact they have no training whatsoever in language teaching they often do a better job than trained teachers. But we don't have to flog that dead horse anymore.) Anyone who can read English can confidently teach English speaking with the program in this free PDF download: English is Stupid, Students are Not

Testimonial Alert! Shayna is a young Canadian woman traveling in Asia. Her first language is English but she has no teacher training of any kind. She received the PDF and here is her response:

Thank you, thank you, Thank you!

I just finished teaching my first English lesson in Japan using your materials and it went fabulously! So well in fact that the one-off lesson has turned into a package of four lessons. I also have a student tomorrow and hopefully that will turn into a repeat as well. Both are high school students taking private lessons.

I feel so confident teaching using your materials, they are so fun and easy to use!

Thanks a million and more!

Love Shayna 

If you are still reading this you might be beginning to accept the Disruptive Innovation model in ESL/EFL means there are simpler and more affordable ways to learn and teach. A whole new generation of people could provide services like teaching English. Will you be one of them?

Disruptive innovation is changing the field of teaching English forever. You can embrace it and prepare for it or you can ignore it, but you can't stop it.

Before I sign off I want to acknowledge you, your open mindedness and your willingness to look at a future that will be much different than anything your education prepared you for.

Enjoy your PDF Gift in case you missed it. Keep us posted on your results.

Until next time,

Teacher Judy