Collaborate: (verb) to work jointly on an activity, to produce or create something
Creating a culture of education requires the efforts of many people, some of them seemingly competitors, working together towards a common goal. It doesn’t happen overnight and it takes the dedication and commitment of all involved. Fortunately for Nevada, this is happening today among our state’s leaders in education.
It’s no secret that, in the past, education in Nevada has been criticized and has ranked among the worst in the United States. The question is, should this be accepted as the status quo or can it be changed?
Leaders in Nevada’s education community have concluded that this isn’t a choice; the situation must be changed for the better. Nevada has a strong need for a culture of education that is enriched by each of its stakeholders, a culture that is celebrated rather than criticized and a culture that produces the next generation of leaders for the state. University of Phoenix has been a driving force in setting up Nevada’s Education Collaborative, a quorum of Nevada’s schools working towards a common goal: improving education and creating an education culture.
Garrison Walters, executive director of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education best explains this lack. “To better understand America’s lack of a pervasive education culture, consider the fact that as a nation we generally don’t greatly value educated people and don’t seem to believe that being educated contributes to quality of life beyond that offered by greater economic success,” he said. “Our view of education is different from most of the rest of the world and certainly from those nations that rank ahead of us in education levels. A Nobel laureate in science visiting a school in Korea or Japan would occasion a high level of genuine student excitement. But in the U.S., even at our better schools, you’d have to invite an athlete or entertainer to get the kids turned on.”
Without this, improving education and creating a culture that values education, Nevada will continue to suffer in both quality and diversification of workforce. The state will continue to rank amongst the lowest in education statistics from the elementary level to the college level. Additionally, without valuing education, Nevada will continue to struggle with economic development and will be unable to move forward as a state. Education is at the very core of a diversified workforce and therefore, in order for Nevada to have the ability to rely on many industries, rather than just one, a quality education, from start to finish is necessary.
The Collaborative began as a result of several of Nevada’s higher education institutions realizing that they can accomplish more as a cohesive team than they can separately. With the attitude going in that the results will benefit the state, the Collaborative has been able to encourage these stakeholders to pool their resources and work towards real solutions for Nevada.
While it is just in the beginning stages, the Collaborative is made up of individuals with vast experience in all levels of education. Right now, the group is working towards defining the legislative issues that will need to be tackled, branding the organization so it can be recognized as a resource in the state, forming strategic alliances and tackling Nevada’s workforce issues at the very base level.
With so many bright minds involved, education in Nevada is sure to get a much needed makeover.
“We know that culture can change because we’ve seen it happen in perceptions of education for a large part of our society; there’s no basis for saying progress is impossible and walking away from the problem,” said Walters. “Certainly, though, making this change pervasive is a difficult task and won’t be accomplished quickly.”