We call for a new system for education. A system where everyone is happy, from the student to the teacher and there is actual education going on. Kids will learn what they want to learn that will prepare them well for the real world. There will be no ‘No Child Left Behind’ policy where teachers are forced to teach students that would rather be smoking and getting drunk all day. A system where there is less focus on a test for a number but focus on the actual material being learned. Sadly no one knows how this is possible.
The current educational system in the USA is turning more and more into memorization of facts to pass a test. There is no more asking ‘why’ things happen, just memorize that they do and darken in B on the scantron. The students are unmotivated and dread the class. The teachers don’t like this because they can’t teach any of the actual fun stuff because they have to prepare for a test. If a classroom is in turmoil like this, the only kids that like this system are the robots that say nothing, hide in the corner reading that textbook, and memorizing every word possible. And when they get out in to the real world they get a fancy piece of paper called a degree.
See the problem here? Now how do we fix this. Some people bring up the old system of master and apprentice where people specialize in a trade and learn it for life. But this doesn’t prepare you for real life either because the world is so interconnected today that basic knowledge is necessary to get by in the world. Someone else suggests mixing both systems and enabling a freedom for students to choose their style of education. Some people learn by hands-on, some by hearing lectures, and others by reading. Then others argue that without tests, kids don’t feel necessary to do well on anything and won’t be prepared for real life either.
Many American educational organizations have been arguing that countries in Asia particularly China and India have smarter students because of various stereotypes and critiques of their educational system. The way we look at it, stop bitching about what other countries are doing and start fixing the problem here in this country. We have been too concerned on ‘assessing’ the educational level in each state or age group by administering a stupid pointless test. This test has no advantage to students and is just a way for politicians to be snotty and show that they’re state is smarter than yours. During my recent trip to China, I only saw two major differences. The kids that are doing good in school actually want to learn and all the dumb kids are punished until they learn. It’s another way of showing ’survival of the fittest’ so of course the ’statistics’ are going to show that there are really smart kids in school because those are the only kids in school! The other kids drop out, sooner or later realize their mistake, have a huge regret, and then start the slow journey back into a normal lifestyle.
One can still argue cultures, genes, government, blah blah, yadda yadda but when it comes down to it, it is the student and teacher relation in the classroom and most classrooms in USA are unhappy. This post might seem like a harsh critique but we hope this opens the eyes of many citizens. We alone do not have a single solution to this problem but hopefully one day someone will or we will. The educational system needs to be changed by someone and anyone can be that someone.
~CanTheWorldHearMe
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