January 16, 2006
Can business learn from a Harrisburg grade school?
By: Neil C. Swiacki (Contributing Columnist, Independent Tribune)
What would you do to improve public education? Ask the government to allocate more money? How about increased staffing? Naturally, a topic like this creates debate ranging from impassioned screaming to glazed-eye stupors. The fact is that there are as many issues to effectively running a school system as tuning a racecar to perfection.
But what if a school operated like a business? And what if you could design an educational roadmap with an eye on combining academic excellence with international emphasis?
“Exposure to international understanding is a significant part of our curriculum,” explains Dr. Richard Beall, Director of Harrisburg-based Carolina International School (CIS). “We want our students to receive the benefits of education while understanding how their future will be shaped by international perspectives.”
In many parts of K-12 academia, emphasis on the business world (never mind the real world) is given about as much attention as a teacher discussing the merits of logarithmic functions during lunch.
But CIS is different. As a public charter school, it must abide by the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. “We use the state’s requirement as a framework. However, because we are a charter school, we have some flexibility on study application,” Beall notes. “We try to instill the idea that the future may include co-workers and associations from around the world. Not just North Carolina or the metro area.”
You’re familiar with the state’s Course of Study document, right? You read it, familiarized yourself with it and made sure you understood it before you enrolled your children in school. Go get it. It’s probably on the coffee table. No? Can’t locate it? It’s the one that’s 220 pages. Ohhhh. That one.
Actually, it’s an excellent document used by the state for over 100 years. Since 1898. For example, it outlines the rationale and guidelines for English, Arts, and Science.
“We think of running CIS is like operating a business in many respects,” comments Beall. Now, I’m very skeptical when I hear an educator talking about business. In my line of work, I find that some of the best business people have difficulty with some portion of their operations. Can a school make the link with business? CIS has an interesting perspective.
For example, CIS has integrated Core Values (respect, responsibility, solutions and service) into their curriculum. Does your company have a set of core values that you use with your employees and customers?
CIS has a target objective to create a profile for their students. For example, students are guided to learn risk taking, keep an open-mind to solutions and develop an inquiry approach to problem solving. Let’s see, management guru/genius Peter Drucker is a proponent of those ideals. Does your business reward risk-taking? How?
“Our philosophy centers on the idea that future competition is not sitting next to you in class,” Beall explains. “A more realistic idea of the world is that an international approach will become more important. Ideally, we’d like to have our students receive a diploma and a passport at graduation.”
Hmmm, I received my first business passport when I was 37 years old…when I had an assignment in Chrysler Corporation’s International Division.
CIS has 40 employees, occupies a beautiful 36-acre campus with forest and wetlands. Each grade has a “Sister City” in a foreign country. For example, first graders are learning about culture in Wroclaw, Poland. Seventh grade students are learning Russian phrases and customs of people in Voronezh, Russia. CIS hosts International delegations that provide students with a real-life perspective on their countries.
When I was growing up, my mother would fix us Pierogi at Christmas and tell us about the Polish butcher shop down the street…and I thought that was very educational!
Most public schools are shifting their educational compass slowly. But business keeps blasting forward. Which format for educating our children is best? Can our kids compete in a world where business borders are as porous as CIA spying secrets?
Peter Drucker made a great point when he said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
About Neil C. Swiacki
Neil is the president and owner of Competitive Edge Marketing (Your Marketing Department Partner). The Web site is www.Edge2005.com. Or you can reach him at ncs@Edge2005.com or 980-622-6910.
Carolina International School is a new North Carolina public charter school offering grades K-7, adding a grade each year to become a full K-12 system. The school’s mission is to nurture students’ natural curiosity and joy of learning while they achieve academic excellence through a challenging, interdisciplinary, international curriculum. For more information, visit the Carolina International School website at www.CarolinaInternationalSchool.org.
