Expanding Our View of What Public Education Means

In one sense, this is what public education is, insofar as public education can be understood as a system of districts and schools. But this understanding represents an overly narrow way of thinking about where and how learning takes place. Moreover, it excludes a vast array of public spaces—such as libraries, museums, science centers, zoos and aquariums, national parks, and community centers—that are purpose-built as learning environments. That is, they are spaces devoted to public education.

Learning takes place in a wide variety of environments, and formal education settings together represent just a single, albeit important, one of these environments. In fact, much, if not most of the learning that people do takes place during what are called free-choice learning events in which an individual exercises a large degree of choice and control over what, when, and why they are learning. This could be as simple as young person choosing to read a book about insects or an adult exploring a new exhibition at the local natural history museum.

The point is that while free-choice learning accounts for a substantial portion of the educational activity in which our society engages—studies show, for example, that more than half of the public's understanding of science derives from free-choice learning—it is commonly overlooked in school system-centric conversations about public education policy. Unfortunately, most of the general public, as well as those in positions of power to determine where to invest resources in communities, have consistently under-appreciated and under-valued the critical role played by free-choice learning.

As a result, we continue to pour resources into schools without considering alternative approaches to enhancing public education. Currently as much as 98 percent of funding for public education, considered in the broadest sense, is devoted to K-20 schooling, and yet K-20 schooling supports only a fraction of the public’s learning opportunities and value.

So, what should we be doing instead? For starters, it is essential that we expand our view of where, when, and how learning happens.  We should increase access to afterschool and other community-based programming, insuring that it is available and affordable to all, not just the affluent. Many studies have shown that quality extended learning opportunities make a significant difference in the lives of children.

Additionally, when it comes to ensuring that the entire learning ecosystem supports young people’s education, we must make parent education as available as K-12 education. This will help to ensure that all parents have access to information about how best to support their children’s lifelong learning journeys. Too often public learning opportunities and resources are invisible and inaccessible to large segments of a community, especially those with lower socio-economic status. Reducing barriers to participation—for example, by ensuring adequate transportation options enable equitable access to free-choice learning opportunities—is essential to making these opportunities and resources truly public.

We must also take the idea of cradle to career seriously and expand access to quality career awareness opportunities and resources so that they are available to all youth between the ages of 10 and 15. It is the workplace, not the classroom where people truly learn about careers so we should make career-focused internship opportunities available to all youth between the ages of 16 and 18.

Beyond schools, the tremendous wealth of learning organizations, opportunities, and resources in the public domain have the potential to significantly contribute to a broadly reimagined understanding of what public education can and should be. The need for improving and expanding public education has never been greater.  The time has come to fully support and utilize ALL of our public’s educational resources, including and particularly the undervalued and largely untapped potential of free-choice learning.