Education: An Infinite Game

Steven WeberBlog, Differentiate Better, Engage Better, Innovate Better, Lead Better, Lesson Plan Better, Reflect Better

TL;DR:

  • Learn the difference between finite games and infinite games (Sinek, 2019).
  • The goal of school should be an infinite game where students get to keep playing. See a list of skills developed in K-12 schools.
  • Career Readiness involves three major skill areas: (1) core academic skills (2) employability skills (3) technical, job-specific skills.
  • The moral imperative for our nation is equipping all students with a variety of skills and literacies for the game of life.  
  • Consider some reflective questions for school leaders.

Finite Games

It’s Friday night in November. Two undefeated high school football teams are competing under the lights and the conference championship is on the line. As the teams compete, students, community members, and alumni cheer wildly. The marching band plays the school’s fight song. It’s fourth and long, with less than 20 seconds remaining in the game. Most coaches, athletes, and fans would call this a Finite Game. In Finite Games, there are winners and losers (Sinek, 2019). Most fans are not cheering for a tie game. On the contrary, winning the game is the objective. At the end of the night, the scoreboard will indicate the winning team.  

Infinite Games

“There is no such thing as ‘winning’ an Infinite Game (Sinek, 2019, p. 4). Traditionally, schools have separated students into different groups. A student who consistently receives straight A’s will be on the Honor Roll. A student who breaks the school rules, fights other students, and is disruptive in class may end up being suspended from school. Playing the game of school may help a student advance to the next class, but parents and teachers are not hoping students will do well enough to simply float by.  Education is an Infinite Game.

Our country needs schools to equip all learners, not a select few. The moral imperative for our nation is equipping all students for the game of life. Click To Tweet

Finite vs. Infinite Games

The goal of playing Friday Night football is to win. The goal of educators with an Infinite Mindset should be to help all students win rather than having a winning team and a losing team. If students, families, and educators treat school as a Finite Game, then it will be detrimental to students who do not see themselves as successful learners.

How many families say, “We hope our child is good at math, but reading skills are not for every child.” Only one student can become the Valedictorian. While there is nothing wrong with a student trying to be number one in the class, school is designed to create more than one winner.  

To succeed in the Infinite Game of school, students must persevere and develop the skills that will help them graduate ready for life. Life skills may not be mastered by all students, but schools should not assume that a bell curve is an appropriate way to measure successful implementation of the curriculum and key skills at each grade level.  

The goal is not for some students to accelerate and graduate college and career ready. The following list outlines specific skills that a K-12 experience should provide.  Based on the list below, most families and educators would agree that the game of school is an ‘Infinite Game.’   

Skills Developed in K-12 Schools

  • Agility and Adaptability
  • Citizenship Skills
  • Civic Literacy
  • Cognitive Flexibility
  • Communication Skills
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Empathy
  • Employability Skills
  • Goal Setting
  • Graduation Rate
  • Healthful Living
  • High School Readiness
  • Inference Making Skills
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learner Mindset
  • Literacy/Reading at Grade Level
  • Mathematical Literacy
  • Media Literacy
  • Metacognition
  • Perseverance 
  • Personal Financial Literacy
  • Physical Literacy
  • Problem Solving 
  • Responsibility
  • Risk Taking
  • Technology Literacy

Winning in School 

“In an Infinite Game the primary objective is to keep playing” (Sinek, 2019, p. 4).  When students graduate from high school, the goal is to empower each individual to continue playing the game of life. Graduation is not a finish line. Does a school staff aim to have a 90% graduation rate, where 10% of the students do not graduate with their cohort? Winning at school may be viewed as being recognized as Student of the Month, selected as Class President, or graduating with honors.

While individual honors may provide motivation for those receiving the awards and recognition, all students need to experience success.  ‘Success for some’ is not an option. Operating schools as a Finite Game, similar to Friday night football, will not support all students. According to the Association for Career and Technical Education (2010), “Career Readiness involves three major skill areas: core academic skills and the ability to apply those skills to concrete situations, employability skills – such as critical thinking and responsibility, and technical, job-specific skills.”  Families are not hoping that their child is prepared for the workforce following high school and/or college graduation; they expect that a K-12 experience will provide their child with a lifetime of opportunities.

The American High School: Historically Framed Learning as a Finite Game

John Dewey, in 1895, described how the American high school “must, on the one hand, serve as a connecting link between the lower grades and the college, and it must, on the other, serve not as a stepping stone, but as a final stage” for the students who will go directly into society and the workforce (p. x).

In World War I, 80% of the men had not gone beyond the eighth grade. In World War II, only 31% of the men had not advanced beyond the eighth grade (Hollis, 1946).

The increase in secondary school enrollment and graduation rates between 1900 – 1940 was “a uniquely American phenomenon” (Goldin, 1998, p. 350).

Hollis (1946) wrote, “Educational opportunity is not equal, and education is still reserved more for the middle and upper classes and for those with academic ability” (p. 26).  

The National Commission on the Reform of Secondary Education (1973) described how the American comprehensive high school today must be viewed as an establishment striving to meet the complex demands of a society in the throes of social change” ( p. 10).

Marsh and Codding (1999) wrote, “The fundamental premise of the comprehensive high school, that only a few need to graduate with solid academic accomplishments to their credit, no longer holds” (p. xiii). This marked the beginning of education as an Infinite Game.

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K-12 Education at a Crossroads

If schools are preparing some students for college and ignoring the needs of other students, it is educational malpractice. This crossroads in education requires teachers, administrators, school boards, and policymakers to make critical decisions that will impact all students. Due to the disruption caused by the pandemic, students may need additional time to develop key skills. The idea of education as an Infinite Game will support planning and instructional strategies.  

The workforce needs high school graduates who are ready to contribute and solve problems. Communities need good citizens, leaders, and individuals who are willing to make a difference. The decisions we make today will determine whether or not adults are able to compete for employment, pay their mortgage, and provide for their families. Our country needs schools to equip all learners, not a select few. The moral imperative for our nation is equipping all students for the game of life.  

Today’s Schools Will Need to Empower Students with Skills to Pay The Bills

Education as a Civil Right

“Many in the education reform debates speak of schooling as an individual civil right – and understandably so” (Albert Shanker Institute, 2023).

Civic Literacy

“As civic learning has been pushed aside, society has neglected a fundamental purpose of American education, putting the health of our democracy at risk.” – (Sandra Day O’Connor, 2006, cited in Terragnoli, A. (2019).

Media Literacy

Media literacy is “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication” (National Association for Media Literacy Education, 2023).

Personal Financial Literacy

“We would not allow a young person to get in the driver’s seat of a car without requiring driver’s education, and yet we allow our youth to enter the complex financial world without any related education. An uneducated individual armed with a credit card, a student loan and access to a mortgage can be nearly as dangerous to themselves and their community as a person with no training behind the wheel of a car” (Pelletier, 2017).

Mathematical Literacy

In 2022, the United States witnessed the largest score declines in NAEP mathematics at grades 4 and 8 since initial assessments in 1990 (NAEP Report Card, 2022).

Employability Skills

“Employers seek candidates who are proficient in areas beyond content knowledge and technical skills, ranking critical thinking and analysis, problem solving, collaboration, and communication as essential” (Finley, 2021, cited in Zahner, 2022).

Learner Mindset

“Adaptability is the ability to learn flexibly and efficiently and to apply that knowledge across situations.  It’s not so much a skill as a meta-skill – learning how to learn and being conscious of when to put that learner’s mind into action” (Future Proof: Solving the ‘Adaptability Paradox’ For The Long Term – McKinsey & Company).

Reflective Questions for School Teams

  1. Are we playing a Finite Game or an Infinite Game based on our current systems, instructional strategies, and expectations for K-12 students?
  2. Which skills do we intentionally teach students?
  3. Do we have curriculum alignment that supports deeper understanding as students progress through each grade level?
  4. Would high school graduates and employers say that our school district is preparing students for the workforce?
  5. Would high school graduates and professors say that our school district is preparing students to succeed in two-year and four-year college and university programs?
  6. Do families know the programs that our school(s) offer to prepare students for opportunities after high school graduation?
  7. Traditionally, reading and writing have been considered the main skills under the umbrella of ‘literacy.’  Review the list of skills highlighted in this article and discuss other literacies that students need in order to win in life.  Which literacies are you committed to teaching in K-12?

Author’s Note 

This article was inspired by Simon Sinek’s book titled, The Infinite Game. There are several lessons that educators can learn and apply from Sinek’s book. When we teach students, it does not matter who is number one in the class or who is number 589. A Finite Game focuses on becoming number one in the class. The Infinite Game teaches us that some games are designed to determine one winner, while other games have a bigger cause than winning and losing.

References

Albert Shanker Institute. (2023). Civic education. Retrieved from https://www.shankerinstitute.org/civic-education#:~:text=Many%20in%20the%20education%20reform,%2d Fulfillment%2C%20and%20economic%20 prosperity. 

Association for Career and Technical Education. (2010). What is “career ready?” Retrieved from https://www.acteonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Career_Readiness_Paper_COLOR.pdf 

Brassey, J., De Smet, A., Kothari, A., Lavoie, J., Mugayar-Baldocchi, M., & Zolley, S. (2021). Future proof: Solving the ‘adaptability paradox’ for the long term. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/future-proof-solving-the-adaptability-paradox-for-the-long-term 

Dewey, J. (1895). The influence of the high school upon educational methods: The early works of John Dewey, 1882-1898. University of Illinois.

Goldin, C. (1998). America’s graduation from high school: The evolution and spread of secondary schooling in the twentieth century. The Journal of Economic History, 58(2), 345-374.

Hollis, C. (1946). The American high school: Its responsibility and opportunity. Harper and Row.

Marsh, D. D., & Codding, J. B. (1999). The new American high school. Corwin Press.

National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2022). NAEP Report Card: 2022 NAEP Mathematics Assessment. Retrieved from https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/mathematics/2022/ 

National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). (2023). Media literacy. Retrieved from https://namle.net/about/ 

National Commission on the Reform of Secondary Education. (1973). The reform of secondary education: A report to the public and the profession. McGraw-Hill.

Pelletier, J. (2017). 2017 National report card on state efforts to improve financial literacy in high schools. Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College. Retrieved from https://www.champlain.edu/Documents/Centers-of-Excellence/Center-for-Financial-Literacy/2017-Making-The-Grade/Making-the-Grade-2017.pdf 

Sinek, S. (2019). The infinite game. Portfolio Penguin.

Terragnoli, A. (2019). The crisis of civics education: A case for mandated civics assessments. Cornell Policy Review. Retrieved from http://www.cornellpolicyreview.com/crisis-of-civics-education/

Zahner, D. (2022). Assessing academic and career skills for CTE student success. Association for Career and Technical Education. Retrieved from https://www.acteonline.org/tech-essential-skills/ 

About Steven Weber

Dr. Steven Weber is a curriculum leader. He has served on multiple state and national boards. His areas of research include curriculum design, multiplying leaders, professional learning, and school leadership.