Improving Quality in the Classroom

In a recent post, Seth Godin wrote about the misconception of quality being the result of effort. He states, 

Quality is defined as consistently meeting spec. A measurable promise made and kept. Effort is what happens when we go beyond our normal speed. When we dig deep and exert physical or emotional labor and focus on something that is out of the ordinary. Effort is the opposite of coasting. Often we’re taught that quality is the result of effort. That if you simply tried harder, you’d come closer to meeting spec. And yet, when we look at organizations or brands or individuals with a reputation for quality, it’s not at all clear that they accomplish this with more effort. Because that’s simply not sustainable.

Teachers have a responsibility to deliver a quality education, there is no argument about that. But trying harder to do better and giving it another degree of effort isn’t the answer in most cases. That approach only leads to burnout. 

As Seth notes in his post on marketing—something we can apply to teaching: quality problems are a systemic issue, and if you’re not working on your system, you’re not going to improve it.

Teachers—especially online teachers—might do better to ask, “How do we do this work?” rather than, “Where do I need to give more effort?”