The Education Factory

Frederick Taylor created an idea that essentially breaks down larger tasks into more manageable and smaller tasks with the idea of improving efficiency.  This idea created a simplified version of tasks that allowed for workers to specialize in one task versus learning to do it all.  By creating specialized workers, the worker was able to complete the task more quickly and with greater success thus improving the efficiency of the work being done.  Taylorism found its way into American factories, ie the Henry Ford and the assembly line, and revolutionized the workplace.  The issue with Taylorism became the repetition and worker boredom that resulted from keying on one specific task over a prolonged period of time. 

How did Taylorism find its way from the factory world to our classrooms?  Well it comes in the form of standardized testing.  While the tests themselves, may not necessarily fit Taylorism to a T, the process by which teachers prepare students for these tedious and government regulated/mandated tests is.  Take a test which is instant recall and factual based and break it down to show students how to find the correct answer or simply just have it memorized and you have a system that has been broken down into smaller tasks for efficient test taking.  Teachers are constantly under pressure to perform and turn out positive results, or face consequences.  This pressure results in teaching to the test.  When you must teach to the test, teachers break down the fastest and easiest way for students to find the correct answers while creativity, analysis, and inquiry are thrown out.  The government doesn't necessarily seem to be concerned with how creative, inventive, or hands-on the classroom, they are concerned with the numbers.  While the factory workers became bored with the monotony of their repetitive tasks, so do teachers, and eventually students will as well.  It is a shame to see so much emphasis in technology, differentiation, and experimentation, when achieving positive results on standardized tests loom over our heads.