Editorial

A Moon Shot for Education

Donald G. Perrin

For close to half a century, researchers, teachers and administrators have struggled with the theory and practice of Curriculum Design. The best blueprints have come from the Bloom Taxonomies, research by J. J. Guilford, and the eminently practical approaches of Robert Mager. The majority of teachers and trainers embraced the Cognitive Domain of the Bloom Taxonomies; a lesser number understand rubrics and performance objectives. These are the basis of a blueprint when related to the overall goals of education and the physical and social environments where learning takes place.

American education needs a radically different master plan and structure to meet the needs of the 21^st century. When an architect constructs a building, he creates more than work spaces. He plans an environment for people and activities that can adapt to change and function long into the future. Great structures are not built with piecemeal budgets and meaningless renovations. That is why American education, once a world leader, has become dysfunctional and impossible to maintain in its present form.

American Education needs the kind of planning, resources, and commitment used to put a man on the moon in a period of less than ten years. President Kennedy’s program required intensive and focused research, accelerated development of existing sciences and technologies and creation of new ones. New management techniques with a total systems approach integrated all relevant knowledge about man and space to enable him to set foot on the moon and return safely to earth.

Sputnik stimulated changes in U.S. education and provided the impetus for the space program. The flattening of world economies, fierce competition from third world nations, and low ranking in science, mathematics and engineering demonstrate that traditional education systems are failing. It is time to build a new 21^st century system of education using the kind of planning, resources, and commitment that put a man on the moon almost 50 years ago.