Nov 29 2008
New Beginnings in Education
Please allow me to introduce myself before I begin. My name is David Martin, and I have been teaching in various settings for the past 12 years. I have been a one-on-one tutor, an ESL teacher, a college Freshman comp teacher, and most recently a high school English teacher. In all of these settings, what I’ve noticed most is a need for changes based on differences in how society is structured.
My biggest pet peeve as a high school teacher is the student who says I can’t because [any number of reasons]. I chasten them to reorganize their thinking, but that seems to only work temporarily. Unfortunately, this is not so much a statement of what the student is capable of but what our system directs their thinking toward. No Child Left Behind is only one symptom in this illness that has infected our educational system, however. As educators we can have mixed feelings about NCLB, but the root cause runs much further back than NCLB.
After World War II, we created a system by which colleges were inundated with new students riding on the coattails of the GI Bill. This started a push toward higher standards in our education system and more pressure on students to become college bound. Of course, other educational opportunities existed, but because of the fact that college was now seen as a safety blanket against the draft, and more military men were leaving the service to enter the colleges, it was inevitable that schools would change drastically and educational policies would adapt to cater toward what students need in order to succeed in college. The intentions behind these changes, as well as with NCLB, were good. However, not every student is cut out for academia and the stresses it places on those who partake of it’s fountain of knowledge.
We have created a system that, instead of pushing kids forward into a successful adulthood, leads to higher and higher dropout rates, increased disciplinary problems, and more and more kids being labeled as ADD/ADHD. Whatever happened to letting kids fall into a track that was comfortable for them that would cater to their special interests, needs, and abilities? Tracking has become a dirty word under NCLB, but why does it have to be? After all, not everyone is going to be a budding poet or an Einstein. What will it take to change our one-size-fits-all educational system into one that is truly effective given the parameters of the 21st Century? This is what I would like to accomplish, in part, through this blog. I encourage you to add your ideas, criticisms, examples, etc. to the conversation. Only when we create a dialogue that includes parents, teachers, politicians, factory workers, and more can we make the changes everyone keeps begging for.
2 Responses to “New Beginnings in Education”
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I’ve heard this argument many times from educators, the idea behind the argument is that if the students don’t succeed in the system we have then they should leave it and go somewhere else.
Fortunately s more scientific approach is emerging that adapts the system to the student. This results in the student being taught to capacity instead of forcing them to fit the one size fits all model.
Computer based training is now providing the adaptable curriculum that flips the paradigm, teachers will provide more of a triage service to students while they learn in a fashion that helps them reach potential instead of suffering through hours of talking heads that might as well be talking Urdu.
It is interesting that you would reply as such. I once got into a discussion with an Economist, which is basically a lose-lose scenario because we come from two different perspectives. However, in this case, you have mistaken me with the stereotypical (in the eyes of politicians and administrators) whining teacher who doesn’t want to teach the unmotivated. Actually, we are not coming from that different of philosophies in the sense that we are both saying that the system needs to be more adaptable. I totally agree with having a free public education that is adaptable to various needs.
We have to be careful in saying that computer-based training is the answer to all of our educational woes. I say this because not all students have what it takes inherently (without learning some pretty harsh lessons in time management and perseverance) succeed in computer-based training. It truly does come down to throwing out the notion that one size truly does fit all. The system then needs to include a balance of hands on and direct instruction. However, I will discuss this issue more in my next blog.
The long and short of it is that we need to stop the pattern of criticizing each other and learn how to work together in creating a system that is adaptable to all students’ needs, not just the needs of a few.