It saddens me to watch the state of education in America. I'm not gonna get all preachy about test scores and passing grades and no child left behind (today). What saddens me is how education ends as soon as school does. The American learning institution is a machine, you sit for 12 years, maybe more, and hopefully come out just literate enough to never read a book again. We sit, listening to boring teachers who don't get paid enough to be interesting, but will never lose their jobs for being incompetent. Surrounded by other children who don't care and are never taught anything but memorization. At every level, American education is broken.
Why is education so deplorable over here? Because the American household is broken. A child from a negative environment will project negativity in the classroom. The solution? Remove him from class, make sure he doesn't learn and isn't encouraged to participate. Universities, classical beacons of higher education and study, reduced to the Top 10 Party Schools. Nice. Yes, you get back what you put in, and in Nickrowetopia, everyone pays attention, classes are both effective and engaging, and there's no homework, when everyone goes home, they just read for leisure.
Ah, reading for fun, the dying art. Be honest, when was the last time you read a book? Not a sports page, not a magazine, but a book, nigga. (If it has been more than a month or so, I prostrate myself and beg, please go do so.) Every day, I wonder at how lucky I am for being born in New York City, where even in Rockaway, there are 3 libraries. Libraries...ah, how romantic. I love the idea that reading is free and open to the public. That's true democracy if you ask me, the open and free trade of ideas. How wonderful is it that our tax dollars support a system where you can walk into a building, be helped to literature of all kinds, and it's (almost) free! Regrettably, so few people take these opportunities to educate and better themselves.
Worse even is the book banning, the horror of actually denying someone a classic work because it disagrees with the status quo. To oppose something based on the fact that it goes against your particular way of thought is egregious (word of the day). How, in America, can you limit what someone reads or hears? For the right to free speech goes both ways, you can say anything you want, and you can take in whatever you want.
I tire, and thus will conclude. You cannot hate something, only wish to destroy it. Learn and take in everything you can, from every possible angle. Once you have studied and learned something in it's entirety then, if you can still hate it, you have the means to destroy it. If that makes any sense, we're on the same page. Arm yourself.
In regards to education I think we should demand a system analysis of the entire system. As in, we should try and figure out exactly how the system works and then figure out where the holes are that cause so many people to get chewed up by school. Then, once we figure out what SPECIFICALLY needs fixing, then I think we should observe other education systems.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think we should offer an alternative to academic education. Instead of standardized tests we should spend the money on something that enriches students outside of the classroom like after school programs or something along that vein to encourage other kinds of intelligence like artist or athletic or... just encourage something besides memorization.
Ideally, I'd like to see the end of grade inflation too. In the 60s during vietnam grade inflation started in universities so that students who were just there to avoid the draft could stay out of war... but now I meet people who expect A's for effort. I admire the value on effort and hard-work, but education, while it's definitely a struggle-- is also about knowledge. If we remove the stigma from getting a F and encourage people with adages like, "if first you don't succeed, keep trying..." then maybe we can encourage students who don't get everything right the first time to keep trying.
I have so much more to say... I hope we can talk about this in depth sometime soon.
of course the entire system needs analysis. there's too many things wrong with it to fix it overnight.
ReplyDeleteand i wholeheartedly agree with your second point. if children are engaged, the learning happens automatically. curriculum needs to be improved drastically.
and on your third point, grade inflation and similar policies are terrible. though effort has its merits and should be rewarded, it shouldn't be the backbone of a grade. if you put enough effort in your grades will match anyway.
I watched this a couple months ago, so I cant account for remembering all the ideas in it, but this guy blew my mind, so you might wanna watch him
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
he has some other videos on education as well.
Personally though, I think it's important for one - students to get homework, and two - students to be assigned reading. Now homework is important purely because it forces students to study, without even really realizing it. It's a way of refreshing the memory as well as a good tool to get more in depth discussions in the classroom. Classroom discussions is what its REALLY all about, because then there is not only a dialogue between student and teacher, but between STUDENTS as well.
Assigned readings (outside of some standard course textbook) are extremely important, because it is the teachers who supply these readings, supply from a store of both their academic careers and personal lives. A good professor assigns readings they care about/think are important, and sometimes you are forced to read things you never would have read, never would have thought to pick up in the library.
I will say I fucking hated public school, and I do not agree with the at times degrading pressures of deadlines, but kids need to start being taught under the ideals of college earlier: proper grammar, the ability to read more than 10 pages at a time, these shouldn't be things fresh college students are surprised by.
That said, I think that public schools should start reflecting college ideals earlier, meaning to get rid of all those made in Texas textbooks, and make teachers use more articles and essays written by a variety of authors. Utilizing academic resource sites, teaching through the words of many and not a few editors. Not to mention the fact that Anthropology should be a required course at the very least in high school.
Learning at ones own pace and reading for leisure is important, but without a structured education to guide one, people will have biased views, and few will have the tools to branch out and explore the more uncharted territory. It's about giving people well-rounded views of the world, so that when they observe it, they can see it holistically, and so make decisions in such a manner that DOES consider the freedom of all. This ability to consider the freedom of all, is one I believe we should strive to educate every individual in.