Reply #18: Bersin had no background in education - [View All]

[haele]

He was woefully inexperienced in dealing with situations where there are no "quick fixes" or a narrow task scope where there are specific tools and protocols for specific situations - and where performance will change from year to year, no matter what system or process you use to get your results. And he couldn't understand that you couldn't just discard your product if it wasn't working out the way you thought it would.

Notice I'm talking business related "adult speak" - that's the way he thought. He just couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that when you educate children, you have to take them from kindergarten to graduation - 12/13 years. And each child is different, has new and different issues every single month of his or her growing life, and could change directions - from a successful student to a failure, or vice-versa - depending on hormones, the drama in their personal associations, or how sympathetic a teacher might be. Sometimes, without any reason - just on a whim. Or they might suddenly "get it".

Bersin couldn't handle not having stable metrics tracking predictive results. So in trying to mold the system into a "business model", he f'd up the actual process of education.
He did well with adult diplomacy, but he just couldn't handle kids.

Haele