One my favorite childhood memories that I retained from spending time with my grandparents was an early introduction to the "Game of Life". I am not speaking in some mysterious metaphor; I actually am referring to the Milton Bradley produced board game "Life". Along with numerous other board games, my grandparents possessed a version of this game, and it was the first one of its kind that I ever saw. Its contents we're appealing: a wheel to spin, convertible cars, peg people (blue and pink), cards of chance, stacks of money, and a 3-dimensional board with mountains, colors, pictures, and a twisted, winding path to follow from beginning to the end. In a pre-digital gaming era, it was a feast for the eyes and mind with all it had to offer.
I spent many hours playing this game, probably achieving every conceivable end-scenario possible. Despite the enjoyment it provided, I was always left with one nagging problem: no matter how much thinking you put into playing this game the outcome hinged heavily on a helping of luck to achieve the outcome you sought. A spin of the wheel, a draw of a card, an opponent's good fortune, each of these possibilities could dramatically alter the end result and each of them were based solely on the basis of luck.
That led my youthful, impressionable mind to a simple question: Is this what life is really all about?
I could not accept that so much of the future, the navigation of the winding road to the finish, could be tied to the concept of luck.
In my adult "life", I spend so much of my time in a school. I teach and I coach. I cannot escape the nearly daily interaction with education. And the more time that I spend in this educational environment, the more that I am convinced of the brilliance of this simple board. It really is all about the spin of the wheel or the pick of a card.
Despite a host of factors that might unduly influence a student's academic performance, regardless of the amount of effort (how great or how little) a student puts forth, it all comes down to chance. Did you need to spin a "7" to pass your math class? I'm sorry -- you spun a "3". It really is too bad you failed that last test, but we are moving on because "I" have material to cover. Your last essay wasn't quite up to passing standards? I really am sorry about that 54%, but you did pick a "no revision allowed" card on your last turn and "I" really do have to move on to the next novel...
Should the principles that guide the instruction of our future really be grounded in a parlor game first issued in 1860?
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