Letters

LEAN IN EDUCATION DOABLE?

Re "Education Revolution," Page 13, June 2006. Why is it that those who think they know how to fix education are never those that actually do the work of education? How exactly does Davis think teachers are going to teach these skills?

Ray Mainer, quality manager

Specialty Filaments Inc.

Middlebury, Vt.

I'm a retired teacher from that same K-12 environment and I did indeed implement lean principles in my classroom as well as my curriculum.

I have experienced firsthand what a difference the application made to me personally in my work as a teacher. I was much more efficient and productive in the use of my time and resources and increased my productivity in terms of the amount of material I was able to cover. In teaching lean strategies to my students, they were able to increase their own performances while simultaneously learning more material and doing it in a way that made their job easier for them to manage. They actually surprised themselves and were more enthusiastic in their learning because of the level of control I gave them and the involvement they had in problem solving. The life skills learned through such a program will be, as Mr. Davis points out, invaluable to these students by differentiating them from others when they get out into the world of work.