Is there really the need for school or compulsory schooling in the system of education in the country? This is a system with six classes a day, five days in a week, 9 solid months in a year and a whooping 12 years in a lifetime. There are several individuals who did not go through this system yet they are still prosperous than those who went through the rigorous system.
It is indeed very vivid the public education system cripples the learning standards of children or pupils in these schools. John Taylor Gatto indicates that he has been to several schools as a teacher within the Manhattan. Both the top and bottom performing schools have fundamentally the same system of education. To the teachers, there is a lot of boredom in the schools since it is indeed very difficult to teach students who were only interested in the grades that they were to attain. The teachers claim that the students are indeed rude and very difficult to deal with in terms of fostering the education system in the country. Most teachers believe that they should be doing some real work rather than just sitting back to watch the students go about this funny system of education (Gatto, 34).
The kids claim the work was stupid with teachers who knew very little about their subject matters. The students are not interested in the learning process anymore. The students were equally bored just the same, way their teachers were. Both of the parties have the dispirited, whining, and overworked attitudes. It is amazing because the teachers were also the same unwilling students during their years of schooling. The question is who is to blame for the circus.
There are several reasons to blame this unfavorable system of education in America. There is a federal role in education in America that has been evolved for over sixty years. This means that no coherent federal policy in education existed before. When dealing with the education system in the United States, it is fundamental to know that NCLB is authoritatively at the helm of this education system (Wade, 92). The other factor contributing to this is the social and political advancements that are a menace to the public. Generally, the factors that have led to this are in five groups. These are the National security and defense, international economic competitiveness, civil rights, religion and war on poverty. When dealing with national security and defense, the issues surrounding World Wars come in handy.
The learning style in the United States has moved from the traditional model to the methods that address children’s multiple intelligences and are at the same time appropriate measures to different groups of learners (Wade, 94). This is synonymous to the K12 education system. Teachers go a long way in learning how to teach the students and even in the process of assessing them. The assessment criteria do not cover the entire student population. This is because it is on tests and quizzes that may not work well with students who think verbally.
The system asks different questions to students. This will help a lot in the end. It accomplishes about two goals. It allows students to express the various learning styles they have come across in class. It also helps in discovering various levels of thinking. The levels of thinking would be from recall of information to analysis, application and evaluation of the progress (Wade, 94). Since each student has a different way of thinking, it is best to leave him to decide which course to take. The student is able to explain why he took the approach. He could also go ahead and explain why it worked for him. This kinesthetic question goes beyond the comprehension.
Most students learn better from one resource than another. Young children will want to learn with hands’ method, but this system drives them to learning by listening in a couple of lessons. Some parents tell their children to emulate the better performing students; that is a vigorously wrong approach, as it may not work for that individual. Different individuals learn singularly differently. With the advancement in technology, learners can find a variety of resources regarding the instructional facilities (Wade, 98). They can then select the right path that could work for them. This transforms the search of knowledge from an extrinsic one to the intrinsic. The learner becomes more motivated than his counterparts do because it is quite easier for them to learn.
The education in the country or even in the global arena can be better in indeed several ways. It must serve the interest of the whole individual. The success of a school is to produce students who will help the community besides helping themselves. In order for students to maximize their potential, they need to do what is best for them. Identification of the talents of each student will ensure that students learn what they can do best (Gatto, 30). Although the academic part of education is extremely important in a learning institution, other co-curricular activities are equally important. The co-curricular activities will ensure that students identify their talents. To achieve this, funds must be available to the co-curricular activities. The school committee will distribute funds equally on sports, arts, music, and other co-curricular activities. Students will then spend equal time on the academics as on their talents. There will be an improvement in the school if it will be able to identify and nurture the talents.
Adequate learning facilities will ensure a better performance of students. Equipped science laboratories with modern facilities will ensure that students perform science experiments efficiently learning intensively. The library will have all the important resources such as the broad assortment of books, magazines, journals, and other written resources (Gatto, 33). The written resources will cover all aspects of life. The library will also have computers to access online information resources. It would benefit that each classroom had modern learning aids. The aids must include computers and projectors that will help the learning of students using graphics. Exposing students to a variety of information ensures that the students have a wealth of knowledge on different issues. The information will be on issues far from the requirements of the curriculum. Therefore, the students will be able to solve different situations that life presents. Producing students who can solve different life problems will be an improvement for the school.