Surprise! Here comes a post from a teacher about education! I just have some general thoughts about education that I'd like to share. This would probably be under the ruminations portion of the blog.
First, I hear several people often bemoan the education system in America and all of our shortfalls and how we're not measuring up compared to the rest of the world anymore in math and science especially. While I understand this as a concern, I guess I just see it a little bit differently after traveling abroad. In today's world, only a little more than half of the boys and a little less than half of the girls even receive an education at all. Should we not be grateful that at least every student in our country has access to education? People in the third world see education as the primary way out of poverty and would do anything possible to send their kids to school. And yet we living in the US complain about our terrible education system. Sure, there are plenty of flaws and obviously I don't agree with everything that comes down from the federal education system, but I am so grateful that we provide education for every student and that we even have an education system to begin with. Several countries even today will not let students continue in school if they prove to be deficient in learning at a young age.
Second, with that being said, as a teacher I have a huge problem with how much emphasis we place on standardized tests. The problem is, I'm not exactly sure of a better alternative or how we achieve that. What I do know is that by 2015 we are expected to have 100% of our students passsing standardized tests, no matter their IQ or learning ability. This means that a 5th grader, for instance, might have a very low IQ and not even be able to write their name but they are somehow supposed to magically pass a reading test that tests deep comprehension skills. Clearly, this needs to be changed and/or done away with completely. If you pay attention to news about education, one thing you usually start hearing about is that we need to teach to our 21st century students (and hence, we need to become 21st century teachers.) There are youtube videos like 'shift happens' that are excellent eye-openers to how the average employee doesn't stay at the same job for life like they did before. Quite the contrary, they will change jobs quite often, that just seems to be a part of the modern-day workplace. So, as a teacher I look at that and ask myself, "How can I teach adaptability?" The second question, and maybe this is due to the fact that I've been in the system for a while, "How do I test that or know that my students have gained a firm grasp on being adaptable and/or are able to adapt their knowledge to a new situation." If students don't know how to apply knowledge to a new situation, what good is that? Along with these thoughts about standardized tests, is why are there so many things on the tests that have no pertinence later in life? For instance, how many of you know how to do a stem-and-leaf plot? How many of you even know what I'm talking about? How many of you have actually used a stem-and-leaf plot post-5th grade? And yet, it's on the standardized test for 5th grade math. Don't tell anyone, but I've personally boycotted teaching that (if you tell anyone...picture me shaking my fist like Homer Simpson here :)
Third, and perhaps finally because I'm running out of steam here, it always cracks me up when I hear people say something along the lines of, "Kids should be given the choice of if they want an education or not." And then they inevitably go on to discuss the obvious reasons as to why this would work. Okay, not even sure where to start with this one so I'll just go right into it. The very reason you can articulate an argument is due to your education. You wouldn't even have that argument if you weren't educated. I don't know too many kids who would choose to go to school, I dare say they're not mature enough to make that decision? What good, exactly, would be gained from not having an education? Education is pretty vital to every aspect of our lives whether we even know we are being educated or not. The most obvious way we get an education is by going to school, but I'm willing to bet you've been educated by other sources as well and just haven't called it 'getting an education.' For instance, hopefully you were taught by a parent how to budget your money somewhere along the way. Maybe you were taught how to repair your car or house. Maybe you were mentored and taught what to watch out for in premarital counseling. Maybe you were taught morals and values by your parents. Can you walk? Yep, you were taught that. Can you talk? Again, you were taught that. Same with reading and writing.
So, if you please, value your education and realize it was a huge gift. I have no doubt every adult has had at least one bad teacher but I'm also sure every adult has had a good teacher. Realize that your education gave you a huge advantage in this world before you even started in the 'real world.' I was dumbfounded when I taught for a couple of days at a primary school in Kenya. When the 'bell' rang (which was actually a stick being hit upon an old tire rim) my students didn't run out to recess like I expected. Instead, they asked if we could please finish the lesson. That has stuck with me ever since. I asked some people why, and they informed me education is valued in Kenya as a means to get out of poverty. Also, they usually have to pay for secondary school and so if they get a good score on a test they can hopefully get a scholarship. Otherwise they don't get to go to secondary school. But people are right, our education system here is horrible (insert sarcasm there by the way.)
