If you feel like thinking critically, you can thread the three articles together into whatever fashionable mindset you like. They are all worth the read, and easily connected if you take the time to process and evaluate the words of each.
The first article offers a basic overview of where our nation stands as a result of standardized testing. The second opens our eyes to the bigger picture of critical thinking and its relationship to democracy, as seen in Thailand. Finally, the third article awakens readers to the real effects of our competitive society, reflected largely in our educational structure, on developing adults.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sagar-tikoo/it-lies-within-the-key-to_b_3725840.html - It Lies Within - The Key to Education Reform (Huff Post Teen Blog 7/30/15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/07/30/thinking-critically-about-democracy-and-education-reform-in-thailand/ - Thinking Critically About Democracy and Education Reform in Thailand (Washington Post 7/30/15)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/education/edlife/stress-social-media-and-suicide-on-campus.html - Campus Suicide and the Pressure of Perfection (New York Times 7/27/15)
The first half of my summer was spent in professional development classes and working with kids at a STEM camp at my school. Although I had good intentions in signing up for all of it, by mid-July, I was still exhausted from the previous school year, having had little time to rejuvenate myself in preparation for the upcoming school year.
So, instead of spending the remaining weeks of my summer reading more strategy books and planning various activities for my new class, I decided to make different use of my time. I decided to focus my reading energy on real world issues and current events. My sister recommended a book called Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The book outlines gender inequality throughout the world in developing countries, and a large focus of this influential couple’s writing focuses on the need for education in the rural areas of developing countries. Kristof and WuDunn offer a plethora of examples outlining the various ways education could decrease, and in some cases, prevent much of the maltreatment of women around the world. In other words, in certain areas of the world, education could save lives.
Through reading the stories, statistics, and social philosophies noted in this book, along with current articles about educational reform in the United States, a huge disconnect began to form in my own mind. How can it be that the poor women in developing countries are being exploited and killed because they live in an area where education is largely nonexistent, or because they are being trafficked to countries where, because they are uneducated, they are enslaved as personal property and often meet their fate at the pleasure of another? Yet in our country, both male and female, regardless of social status, are required to go to school and we see an incredible increase in those people, the educated ones, taking their own lives because they can’t, shall I say, perfect perfection.
What is wrong with this picture? What are we doing to our kids? In developing countries, education’s purpose is empowerment. It is valued as a privilege that one can use to better himself and the world around him. Have we lost sight of that in our country? Do we really see education as a privilege? As something we can use to solve real world problems and help people around us? Sadly, I think the majority would have to honestly answer no. The regulations from the powers-that-be have beaten us down with the unrealistic expectation of nearly perfect test scores and we, as teachers, have resorted to teaching test-taking skills and breeding a generation of high strung, competitive individuals whose strong suits are answering fact-based questions to get a piece of paper that says, “You passed!” or “You got an A!” Oh, we are missing the mark! With our current standards and attitude toward education, we are cultivating extrinsic motivation in our kids. They view school as something routine that is awarded with letters, numbers, and fancy stickers. They aren’t exposed to many situations that motivate them intrinsically, nor are they taught to appreciate the educational process as a means by which they can one day achieve positive world change. Yes, many kids see education as an opportunity. But an opportunity to do what? Grow up and get a job that makes lots of money? There we go with more numbers and extrinsic rewards. These kids are learning to define themselves by test scores and numeric results, and this is heart breaking to me.
Let me take a brief moment to pose a disclaimer: I know that we live in a capitalist world, and that competitive structure is, in large part, what makes us successful as a country. And believe me, I truly do love my country. I am thankful every day to be living in the free world; to be part of a government that is by the people and for the people. However, no matter how incredible our country may be in most ways, it isn't perfect and things can certainly be done to make it better. We need to harness the competitive nature of our citizens and channel that energy in a more selfless direction. It is my belief that this trend can start in the classroom.
We need to do whatever we can to teach our students to think critically and compassionately, with a worldview at our core. Kids need to know that their education has a purpose. I am very thankful to be teaching in county whose superintendent is embracing and endorsing the Project Based Learning approach. I am tremendously excited about being a part of a small step seeking to change attitudes about teaching and learning. It is my hope that this strategy will improve the identity of our future generation. Unfortunately, though, this change can only reach its full potential with buy in from from both our state and federal government - our whole country, really. The ideology needs to change. As the Huffington Post article argues, this won’t change with more money being poured into our education system or new laws being passed. We need a paradigm shift; a fresh perspective on the purpose of education and the intended outcome of it.
When kids have opportunity to think critically, they begin to learn to think for themselves and they find out what they’re good at. When they figure out what their skills are, teachers should be in a position to encourage them to hone in on those skills and target real world problems that can be tackled using them. In my opinion, if a young adult finds out what her gift is (even if it is not taking a test), she finds purpose and can rest easy when she reaches the difficult realization that she won't be perfect at everything. As adults, we typically use one or two major skill sets to do our jobs, right? Why are we teaching our kids that they need to master and perfect everything they learn before they enter the working world?
An appropriate education reform cannot and will not be achieved merely by pouring a few extra pennies into the budget or by a passing a few newly modified laws (although those things would certainly help). I think we will begin to see real change, though, when the country as a whole takes on the idea that we need to educate our children with purpose. We don’t need an education system that produces numbers that impress the world - which ours clearly don’t. And we certainly don’t need a system that creates robots who perpetuate the problems we currently have by following orders and legacies left behind by former leaders. No, we need a system that encourages students to take ownership of their education, to be thankful for it, and to use it to solve problems, become active members of society, and to make the world a better place for all people.
No comments:
Post a Comment