Now, I'm not going to bitch about how little kids are learning from public schools, that's not really the failure I had in mind to talk about. In actuality, I'm going to talk about how I have been put into a position where I believe I have failed. Now, technically, I'm not an employee of the public education system, technically I work for a Community Education program that is associated with the local school district. So really, this is a story of how I have failed, and how I was put into a place where I felt that I was inadequate for the task I had been given to do. A story of how I was set up to fail by the way that the system runs.
Generally, I feel that I am smarter than the average person, moreso the average person my age. However, last week I was given a lesson plan that was pretty simple, but could illustrate a problem with the education system. Specifically, I was given a simple lesson plan which was a history lesson followed by some rudimentary Spanish vocabulary. "Ok", I thought, "Simple enough". As it turned out, though, the vocab was already known by every age group, including the Kindergartners. In fact, the Kindergartners were correcting my pronunciation. Past the history lesson, I was basically teaching them things which they already knew. Now, it seems to me that the number one rule for teaching something is that the teacher should know more than the students, but barring that, I'd like to comment that this points out an error that might be a bit more indicative of the failings of public education, at least as it is currently run. We, as educators, seem to not realize that the kids are smarter than we think they are. Yes, there are some who don't know Spanish, but many of them already know the numbers and phrases like "Hello", "Goodbye", etc.
What does this mean for public education? To me, it means that too much time is being spent on teaching and reteaching basic things that students already know, and that means that we are keeping the best and brightest from reaching their full potential. Our insistence on including all students, making sure that the slower ones don't fall behind, is keeping the kids at the front of the pack from continuing forwards. I know some of my problem with constantly getting grades (in elementary school) less than my intelligence would predict was that I didn't feel challenged. In fact, I got better grades in classes that actually challenged me in ways that I felt useful and enlightening. This was a pattern for me all through high school; I didn't try unless I felt the project was a challenge. I didn't do homework unless I felt that it was crucial for me to do it in order to learn. This is the mindset which kept me from applying myself, and frankly I believe that it has created a habitual mentality in me that has persisted throughout my college career. In short, dumbing down the curriculum doesn't help anyone. The mentally lesser endowed kids stay on their trail of slow, mediocre progress, while in the attitudes of the smarter students is engendered an attitude of apathy. Lowering the standard is not increasing the reward, rather it is CRIPPLING those students who would SUCCEED.
And part of me can't help but take this idea and apply to it a touch of Objectivist thought. In essence, the push to "help out" those students who are at the back of the pack is in actuality a move to stifle those at the front. It is like how socialism aims to "help out" the poor, but only cuts the wealthy down to size. Is the ideal way of things really to create equality by making everyone mediocre? Do we really despise greatness so much? Why is it so chic to hinder the progress of those who aspire to accomplish greater things?
Of course, the rationalist in me reminds me that this isn't an act of malice, these bleeding heart types just want to see everyone succeed. I cannot, however, understand how anyone can possibly not realize that some people are just not geared towards academic success. In order for there to be winners, there have to be losers. In order for success to occur, there has to be the chance of failure. In order for greatness to exist, there must be... smallness. There can't be a positive unless there is also a negative.
Thankfully, my role in this problem is not a big one, and my resolution to this problem was to eschew the lesson plan for the older kids (who would have gotten even less out of the lesson than the younger ones) in favor of taking them outside to play. Rather than increase the likelihood of fostering hatred towards education, I felt it better to allow the kids to get some fresh air, excersize, and a chance to increase social aptitude through socialization. The good kind.
I might have a chance to do some good this summer, if I get a chance to gain more control over the lesson plans I'm given.
To wrap it up, I can't say I can blame the kids for their failures as much as the education system. The way our culture treats education needs to be changed. Lesson plans are good, but scalability is key. Furthermore, it's not enough just to teach the information, connections and real world applications are crucial in making sure information is retained and sought after. Teaching times tables is boring and pointless if the kids can't see that multiplication is useful in many places of their life. I'm not just talking word problems, I'm talking multi-component real world examples, like building birdhouses, planning parties, that kind of thing.
Kind of gives me an idea for a new type of school. Note to self...
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