There are a vast number of learning styles out there, from good test takers to bad ones, from very articulate individuals to those that have a stutter, from mathematical geniuses to English Pulitzer Prize winners.
My point is, everyone is at a different level at any given time, yet our government is obsessed with TESTS!
I personally SUCK at taking tests. In today’s schools I might be lucky to make it past the third grade. Have you ever played along with Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? I can tell you right now, that I know I’m not. Why? Because of the things we are teaching in school today - eight classes, 12 textbooks (not counting the library checkouts) and peer pressure. That is a lot to carry in a backpack.
We send our children to school where they are graded on how well they “learn,” or as I like to call it "retain the information that is thrown at them." But, what the hell are we teaching our future leaders?
Now, I know there are valuable things coming out of this process, like basic math, basic grammar, et cetera, but tell me, why it is that we are not teaching more about real life and today’s current events?
I understand history is important; it happens to be one of my favorite subjects (now), but how much history do we need to know by school standards? Kids of today are learning to be BOOK smart instead WORLD smart. We are teaching our children that if they get good grades they will go to college, and if they get good grades in college they will go on and be very successful.
Where does that leave the kids that learn differently?
Children are such bright forms of life and they are forced into a bureaucratic regiment where they are all to progress simultaneously. Forgive me, but isn’t being unique what makes us so special as human beings?
We are over-filling our classrooms and told that our kids are falling behind, but the teacher doesn’t have time to pull each student aside and “teach” individually because they have a class of 35 other students. Therefore, our children come home and ask for our help, when we stand dumbfounded because we have not seen that schoolwork since we were in those grades, which was a few years ago.
Who’s to blame? I as a parent feel it is 100% my fault if my child is failing or falling behind, but I cannot do the work for them. I have to remind myself that teachers are the TEACHERS…no one forced them to go to college and major in education. They had a drive to change things and make differences in children’s lives. However, they too have fallen victim to the government's overbearance and inability to structure student learning.
My hat is off to teachers around the world, but I ask them to take a moment and remember where their love to become a teacher came from: the students. Those that move slower than others shouldn’t be punished because the teacher couldn’t take time out for them while the rest were moving forward. Instead maybe they should stand up to for the education they believe in. Teachers are some of the most important people in our lives growing up and most often make the largest impact.
All families have different stories and lifestyles, but all students have the right to be taught, not pushed to take a test…a test does not teach or give answers. We as adults with or without children of our own owe it to the teachers, society and our future leaders to stand up against the education system.
Children should be learning about life. When is the last time you heard a kid ask a question about real-life situations? They know all about timelines and multiplication, but can they tell you how to cope with stress or why we grow up in different social classes? Do they even know what 'social class' really is?
This unfortunately will probably always be an issue in our educational structure. We can never make everyone happy, but I can’t help but wonder if maybe all the school shootings and issues we have had lately could have been eliminated if our adolescents had more knowledge of what LIFE truly is.
To be on this earth is such a wonderful gift to us all, but we never have the chance to slow down long enough and understand that. We are always assuming that what is in front of us is all there is to learn and all that we have. Let’s change that and allow all children to be affected with LIFE.
I challenge each of you to challenge yourselves: Take a moment and remember what school is for…it’s for learning, so maybe we need to “learn” from our past and “teach” our government what education is for…OUR FUTURE! Like it or not, that’s The NAKED TRUTH!
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