Juan Carlos Eichholz, Director of the Center for Strategic Leadership at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (Chile), a few years ago began an article called "The New Riches" by saying: "We do not want to be aware that money is not enough. The key is the people who implemented the new programs that are financed."With this article and sentence, Juan Carlos purported to show, that money is not enough to fix problems, but will require something more, a lot more! It is required an adaptive work and people’s change. So, he put as an example people of limited resources, who having won the lottery, in the long run, money hadn’t enabled them to solve their problems, and ended in the same state of scarcity of the beginning, because they have failed to adapt to their new reality.
I use this as an introduction to explain my last talk with my friend Sebastian, when I raised him that the solution to improve quality education in Chile was a change in the adaptive work from all those who in one way or another, are involved. Against this background, Sebastian answered me that he did not agree. He standed that in order to improve education in Chile, it’s only required a technical solution: raising the salaries of teachers.
I won’t speak further on the discussion, because obviously we didn’t reach an "agreement", and I insist: money or raise the salary of teachers in this case, it’s not the solution. Like in the example of the lottery, what can we get by increasing the salary of teachers if that does not fix the real problem or their need to change and to adapt to their new realities? Without and adaptive work from them, it’d be the same teachers with the only difference that they would receive more salary. But, would they put into practice the new programs that could be invested?
And, what about the contribution thar parents of children should make? What about the responsabilities of school directors, or the role of the Ministry of Education, the role and responsibilities of students themselves, and the role of teachers , independent of the salary?
The real solution to the this problem, it warrants an adaptive work, where all the people involved should be part of the problem and at the same time be also part of the solution. Technical solutions to an adaptive problem is like wanting to cure with aspirin a headache caused by a brain tumor. Aspirin would calm for a moment the pain but won't cure the tumor.
People like my good friend Sebastian, a good trainned MBA would search through technical solutions (commissions, allowances, taxes, bonds, etc.) in order to respond to problems that require more than a derivative, as are changes in habits, behavior and values.
I won’t speak further on the discussion, because obviously we didn’t reach an "agreement", and I insist: money or raise the salary of teachers in this case, it’s not the solution. Like in the example of the lottery, what can we get by increasing the salary of teachers if that does not fix the real problem or their need to change and to adapt to their new realities? Without and adaptive work from them, it’d be the same teachers with the only difference that they would receive more salary. But, would they put into practice the new programs that could be invested?
And, what about the contribution thar parents of children should make? What about the responsabilities of school directors, or the role of the Ministry of Education, the role and responsibilities of students themselves, and the role of teachers , independent of the salary?
The real solution to the this problem, it warrants an adaptive work, where all the people involved should be part of the problem and at the same time be also part of the solution. Technical solutions to an adaptive problem is like wanting to cure with aspirin a headache caused by a brain tumor. Aspirin would calm for a moment the pain but won't cure the tumor.
People like my good friend Sebastian, a good trainned MBA would search through technical solutions (commissions, allowances, taxes, bonds, etc.) in order to respond to problems that require more than a derivative, as are changes in habits, behavior and values.
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