The list for, "Flaws of Education," could go on for an eternity. There is one matter that I would like to touch upon- the teachers role in the classroom. One can look at this matter several ways, but no matter what way you look at it, everyone can most likely come to the conclusion that every classroom is different and that there is no specific, "right way," of teaching.
Teacher A provides only the facts to your child. Teacher A gives assigned problems every day with very specific structure, leaving no room for the child's own thoughts to be included. Your child must simply memorize information and spit it back, and must excel through a certain amount of information in a small period of time. If your child fails to complete this, he/ she will be expelled from the school. Your child will be held responsible for learning the information, and if he/ she were to fall behind, or struggle in comprehending any area, they will be required to transfer to another school.
How many people would send their child to this school? I know that this is an extreme version of how some teachers teach, but it makes my point. Some teachers simply throw out the facts; students must jump, leap, and run to retrieve these facts, only to be tested on them just to move on. This is considered, "bad teaching." I realize that some people in this world do not agree that this happens. A teacher just shoving information and testing us over it happens more often than our society would like to admit.
I don't believe that teachers intentionally do this, but school systems have to have these great test scores in order to continue to run. Teacher A is considered the, "bad teacher," and only provides facts and expects children to apply it to their live on their own.
Teacher B begins his/ her lesson by telling everyone what they will cover in the next unit. Teacher B then informs the students how this material will be related in their lives now, and in the future. Then, he/ she will begin to teach the facts after a few days in class covering how this unit will apply to their lives. In this classroom, it is almost care-free and there is a lot of wiggle room for kids'. There is rarely standardized testing, and they are graded over projects that they present. All learning abilities and disabilities are accepted into this classroom.
This classroom would be considered unorganized and having a lack of proper structure. Parents would feel as if their child is not learning anything in this classroom. The dilemma one can find in this classroom is the fact that the students must take the teachers word that what they're learning will one day apply to their lives. Schools have different children coming with different backgrounds and not many backgrounds are the same. This level of teaching is not sufficient or very productive because the kids' aren't able to learn the concrete, stable facts that they will need in life.
The point is that no classroom can be perfect or ideal. Every person has their own mindset of the perfect classroom, but reality tells us that does not exist. The ideal classroom in my mind would be a mix of both teacher A and teacher B. The teacher would tell the students how they will apply the information in their life. After that, they would teach the basic, concrete knowledge of the subject matter. Then before they test, there would be a written assignment of how the child may have already used that concept in their lives. If they hadn't already used it, how they think they may use it in their future.
I can't guarantee this method would work, mainly because I haven't ever seen it in practice. All I know is this: there is no ideal classroom and everyone needs to realize this. A good classroom is possible to achieve, but it takes more effort. Unfortunately, this is effort that most people aren't willing to put in.
A great teacher learns from their mistakes and can admit when they have made one. A bad teacher will make the same mistake several times, but not accept the blame. Teachers should not be deemed a failure until they refuse to take initiative and responsibility for their poor actions. It's okay to make mistakes; we all have to learn some way.
I will leave you with this poem I wrote,
"If I could inhale just one breath and exhale the wind, my mind would surely flutter away. The butterfly wings on the tips of my imagination would thrust into the world. Flapping in the breeze of all I exhaled would be a rise in the next revolution. Changes would erupt and explode as the wind varied in shapes. Gusts of energy would burst as the revolution broke through. Altered, we'd find one another, scattered like leaves that the wind blew about. If I could inhale just one breath and exhale the wind, surely society would change."
-Sydney Pickle
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