While Ezzie has been swamped with moving, he hasn't forgotten about his blog. In desperation, he spoon-fed me material with which to guest post about. Luckily, he picked something that I strongly believe in - education. So...I took the bait.
He pointed me in the direction of this video by an organization called TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). The video is about 20 minutes long, which I have to admit is a bit long for my usual Internet attention span, but the content is definitely worth it.
Along with the video from TED, I received my copy of Newsweek yesterday. And the cover story was also about education.
Both the video and the article in Newsweek made some extremely important points. The video focuses on the fact that only certain kinds of intelligence are valued in education today, while the truth is different people are gifted in so many different ways - some classically academic, some artistically, some musically, etc. I've often felt that the educational system is deficient in making students who excel in areas other than math, science and writing feel like they can match up, when the truth is, it just depends on the specific arena in which they are performing.
The speaker on the TED video points out that today, due to the focus on specific areas of expertise, we are teaching students to be boring. Okay, he doesn't use that word, but he does say that we scare students from an early age from being innovative. We teach them that there is a right and a wrong. We don't teach them how to look at a problem and use their own logic skills and their own mind to creatively find an answer.
I don't complain about my education, because the truth is, I received an excellent one, and we were given a lot more freedom and encouragement to think than many (I was fortunate to be in a very good program), but I still experienced some of this. When learning algebra and calculus in high school, I would look at the problems and figure them out my own way. I would get the right answer, using my own logic. And my teachers would tell me that I was wrong, that I should specifically follow the steps they were showing me. Why? Why wasn't I encouraged to use my own brain to figure these problems out? Who knows, if I had been encouraged to do so, I might have learned a lot more, and come up with whole new ways for accomplishing math (okay, that could very well be an exaggeration, but I do remember being very frustrated by feeling like I was held inside a box and not understanding why I couldn't do it my own way).
The speaker from TED laid out three factors of intelligence - it is diverse, dynamic and distinct. Intelligence comes in many forms, it changes and grows throughout time, and it's different in each person. I think he certainly has a point.
The Newsweek article dovetails nicely with the TED video. The point of the article is that education has become so focused on basics, at such a young age, in part due to the No Child Left Behind Act, but also due to pressure from parents to "perform" from birth, that it has lost its flavor, its creativity and its appeal to even the youngest students. According to Newsweek, "instead of story time, finger painting, tracing letters and snack, first graders are spending hours doing math work sheets and sounding out words in reading groups."
The earliest years of education are being stripped of their fun. And I think that's incredibly detrimental to most. If a student learns at age 5 that school is about pressure, stress and sitting still while filling out a worksheet, why on earth would they want to endure a minimum of 12 more years of it? Much less continuing on to college?
Five year olds have a natural curiosity about the world, and I think the best form of education for them is one that doesn't bash them over the head with tests and facts. It's a more subtle education. For example, Newsweek speaks of a school in Chattanooga, Tennessee where "two weeks ago newly minted kindergartners were spending the day learning about the color red. They wore red shirts, painted with bright red acrylic paint. During instructional time, they learned to spell RED. Every week each class meets for a seminar that encourages critical thinking." That's education.
I remember my kindergarten teachers hosting units on a variety of interesting subjects - from astronauts to scuba diving to nursery tales. The lessons were made creative and interactive. We put on plays, we colored pictures of the topics we were learning and we put together books about these topics. I still remember it, because it was fun. The years I spent sitting still were certainly not imprinted in my mind, and I probably remember little that I "learned" during those periods.
It's not easy to balance everything that an education should be. I would love to see it much more individualized, and tailored to each child's unique needs, skills and talents. But that's not easy to do when you have a classroom of 25-30 (or more) students, each needing individual attention. I don't have the answers, but I do have to say that after hearing reports of the state of kindergarten these days, I wouldn't want to go back.
UPDATE: I was just talking to my co-worker who was ecstatic that her 3-year-old "got in" to preschool at the last second, after being rejected by five other preschools. The amount of time, money and stress that goes in to these preschool applications, interviews, tests, etc. is retarded. I wouldn't trust such people with my kids.
Cross-posted at Sweet Rose.
Great post. So much to say, so many boxes to move for the painters...! :)
ReplyDeleteWe may actually see some of this in action in at least one school. I showed the video to a friend, who loved it and showed his mother. His mother loved it as well, and has been pushing to implement certain ideas based off of it as an influential board member in their school in Milwaukee... the same school that was among the first to implement the use of vouchers. The principal (a former neighbor of my parents) is, if I recall correctly, interested as well from what my friend's mother has said.
Perhaps what is needed is not the answer, but to start at least getting rid of what's wrong: Teaching kids that things *must* be done a certain way, for starters. I had similar experiences to Shoshana's; and I was far from the only one. Maybe we can help fix education... even if only in a few schools (even if they're only Jewish schools).
Like I said, great post.
ezzie really must have wanted someone to post on education, 'cuz he tried coercing me into writing too. i refused, as i have been on both sides of the teacher/student dicussion and have come to no real conclusions. Yes, many teachers do not allow for creativity, real thinking, or different ways of thinking in their classrooms. I was one of those stifled youngsters who finished work quickly and was reprimanded for not spending enough time going over my answers. From around grade 3 through high school, i was able to make many a teacher sweat with my chutzpadik, yet truthful, comments on their style of education and discipline. And i swore i would never turn out to be one of them. And yet i found myself last year teaching- and loved every minute of it. And i saw some of the challanges my teachers faced and i understood a bit more just why it is so difficult to cater to all the needs of all the students all at the same time. The school in which i taught gave numerous workshops on "tiered lessons" and "creative learning" - yet many teachers spoke of struggles to still get in all the necessary material while teaching to as many as 5 different levels (in a class of 12) and trying to make the lessons "come alive". This isn't an excuse- but for me, it made things a little clearer, like maybe my teachers weren't all pea-brained and unaware of what was flying in the classroom. I was fortunate to assist in pre-school, teach 2 middle school classes, and sub/specialize for grades 1 and 2. And you are right about one thing- at the end of the year, students of all ages remembered thing we taught using methods which required thought, discussion, and creative elements, while the lectures and homework did not make a lasting impact.
ReplyDeleteThis is the big problem with "No Child Left Behind." Teachers (at least the ones I know) complain bitterly about having to teach to the test, which takes a lot of the creativity out of teaching and learning. Also, since the tests are multiple choice, they cannot adequately test what children need to know, so if children are being taught specifically for the tests, they are missing out.
ReplyDeleteEzzie -
ReplyDeleteThanks. It helps when you are working with good material from a helpful source ;) I think education could definitely use an overhaul in many ways, and allowing students the freedom to learn in their own way would be a huge step in the right direction.
Pobody -
It sounds like a lot of people have suffered through their school years. It is difficult to teach everyone individually and cover a good amount of material - there are only so many hours and a lot to be covered. However, I think as some innovative schools have done, creative ways of teaching will make more of an impact than lectures and repetitive recitations. And while that takes some creativity itself to come up with, and some effort to get into a new mindset of teaching, I think it could have dramatic effects.
JA -
I think the no child left behind act had good intentions, but unfortunately, like many other things in life, the outcomes are not worth the disturbance. Schools are being stripped of their ability to make learning interesting, and that's what makes kids learn.
This is an issue I feel very strongly about. I have always been impressed with friends who graduated from Montessori schools -where individuality and self-pacing is encouraged, and my youngest sister, now 12, is homeschooled, and is doing fantastically - she is learning more in less time and in more creative ways than I ever had the opportunity to. Still, when what is valued in society is making money, why would schools care that a student who excels at dance is not able to express themselves through dance? We need an overhaul in where value is placed in society. Are schools the place to start? Maybe, but it is kind of a chicken and egg situation and no one wants to be the chicken...or the egg.
ReplyDeleteThat pre-school story is ridiculous. How could a kid get rejected from PRESCHOOL!? That sickens me.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that is a mostly NY-NJ thing... I never heard of that in Baltimore or Cleveland.
mcaryeh -
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point, that schools are educating towards what society has deemed important, which makes it really difficult for those children whose natural inclinations are different, to flourish.
Ezzie -
I think it is mainly a NY thing, specifically Manhattan, from what my co-workers were saying. Regardless, I am disgusted by it, and like I said, I wouldn't want my children taught by such elitist snobs anyway.
Shoshana,
ReplyDeleteYou know how much it pains me to disagree with you but I vehemently disagree with your criticism of the "No Child Left Behind" standards. I think your perspective on this issue overly narrow. It is a fact that college students in the U.S., after going through the public school system, are abysmally ignorant of classic literature, current events, basic civics and, of course, math. In great part, this is becuase of the relaxing of standards in schooling over the last 50 years. There are certainly other factors that cause this problem but I do not believe that what children are being asked to do is too intellectually demanding. I agree that teachers these days impose an unreasonable amount of organizational and administrative work on children but the work itself is not overly challenging.
Joe -
ReplyDeleteMy issue with the "no child left behind" act is not that it is too academically challenging, it's that it's taking the fun and creativity out of learning, which is desperately needed, especially at a young age.
I don't think the way that teachers are currently being forced to teach is going to ensure that students learn classical literature - it's going to ensure that they don't enjoy learning - even a five year old can enjoy shakespeare, if it's taught in a creative and interactive manner
But that's not what's happening, what's happening is that teachers are being forced to teach children by rote specifically what is on the exams, and that doesn't encourage them to foster any special interests, or to learn on their own.