I figured it was time I started actually writing down some of the stuff I am constantly thingking about. Of course being a stay at home Mom of 2 young boys, I doubt I will ever really acomplish writting anything that is more than stream of conscious babble about how I fear for the education of our children and in the long run the state of our country because of how flawed our education system is. But, I dont think the reform and plans we have to fix our schools now is the least bit right...it is a step off the edge of the cliff instead of towards safety. I will try to explain why I think that in this blog to the best of my ability.
I am a former teacher. Mind you I was an art teacher, so take that however you like. But I got to look in the education system and see some of the faults and some of the bandaids and watch hoop jumping for teachers and students alike in an effort to prove to Washington or whoever that our education system could improve...but in all that effort to measure accountability and figure out how to qualify education, a love of learning and creative thinking have been throw out the window.
Before I start to really babble let me try to set forth an outline of the things that I hope to address and where I see the issues. Again, I was an art teacher, not an english teacher and this is just a step towards trying to get my thoughts in order. A rough draft if you will.
- Standardized testing crushes creative thinking and captures only a moment in the learning process, it is not the answer to understanding student performance (or teacher performance, cause lets face facts...that is what this is about)
- Strict curriculum standards and guideline halt teachable moments and enrichment that could pull students into the learning.
- The loss of vocational education in our schools is a step in the wrong direction. For many kids this was the reason to go to school and helped students who would not achieve in college understand their own talents and gifts
- We need to be OK with failure and the fact that not all students are A students.
- Our teaching to the lowest common denominator has lost our best and brightest students to apathy and boredom.
- IEPs are a guideline, but they have become a prison for some students who begin to think they cannot achieve outside the structure of their IEP and therefore could not achieve in the real world since your boss in the real world does not give you an IEP.
- C's are OK...it means you are average. How giving away A's to make students feel good about themselves and keep parents happy is not helping anyone.
- Why differentiation is good in theory, but doesn't help anyone in the long run.
- Why teachers should be in charge of education, not government.
- Why our American education system should not be compared to other countries; and what America does best in education.
- It is time to stop teachers unions in their current form and restructure how the union supports education.
Okay, so there is a start to my thoughts. I figure if I can just begin to try and articulate why I feel so strongly about how the current education plan is ruining our children and our culture I might feel better to have just gotten it out.
As a former teacher, it is good to see some of the ideas you will address. I hope others will join in this discussion, too. I am tired of the "everbody gets an A" attitude and the cookie-cutter approach to the children. They are not cookies, and I certainly want someone who learned from their failure instead of someone who constantly avoided failure to be the one caring for me when I am old.
ReplyDelete-Beth