Fixing Education

I’m an educator. I have been for decades. I’ve taught in high school. I’ve taught college. I have guest-taught everyone from pre-school to Ph.D. candidates. I beat to my own drummer. I listen to those I teach and meet them at their level, not the level dictated (and I use that word intentionally) by someone else, especially those who are not teachers. So, if you are interested in education, are in the educational system, or have children in the educational system, I want to discuss what’s wrong with how we are expected to teach and how to fix it.

In schools, lower educational institutions, and college institutions, students are told to stay in their seats, color within the lines, be quiet, complete monotonous work, and conform to a standard set by the educational system to create living robots preprogrammed with set thoughts that some hidden evolutionary or political process has instilled as important. Students are left frustrated, disgusted, uninspired, and unknowledgeable of their undiscovered selves, strengths, and future opportunities. (For example, my spell check just told me that “unknowledgeable” is not a word; well, if it isn’t, it should be, and I plan on keeping it here. We need to teach our students that same sort of boldness.)

We must redefine how we view the true meaning of learning, self-expression, gaining knowledge, and even wisdom.

Conformism is the same as communism and totalitarianism. It has no place in the classroom.

There must be supervision, provided direction, and knowledge assessments, but what are those? Can’t they be structured to see what students know versus what they regurgitate? Formalized standardized testing or teaching to a test or subject are conveniences of a lazy educational system, not the teachers. Instead, we should go to the whole meaning of education, which is to draw out.

It’s all about direction. Learning comes when we mentally want to take a journey. That’s the purpose of education. To inspire students to pack their known belongings and head into the unknown of the dark recesses of themselves.

Education comes from discussion. Education comes from guidance. Don’t send kids home with homework. Send kids home with things to read and view and have them return to school in the morning ready to discuss, not test, not regurgitate. Teachers can quickly tell who read the material or viewed the streams because these children are deer in the headlights when asked questions. Evaluate from the source, not the test. This isn’t to say that problems are not to be taken home to continue, explore, or enhance, but it does say that learning through discussion, not lecture alone, should be the essence of what takes place in the classroom. Doing this opens the door to learning for all students, regardless of their best learning modus. Some students learn best through auditory, visual, written, or writing experiences. Contrary to most teaching methods, this philosophy allows students to learn in a way that benefits them regardless of their learning methods. One size does not fit all when it comes to learning. Equal education means allowing students to learn the natural way their minds work, not the way that makes it standardized homogeny. We, our kids, and our students are individuals. Let’s start treating all of us that way.

The best thing for education is to ensure every student and post-student has access to the Internet so that information and a cheap computer or tablet are available. If we really want to do something to increase the quality of education, this is it. Let kids get out of textbooks and boring lectures and explore things that inspire them based upon the core knowledge we expect them to have, daily knowledge we intend for them to walk away with. Use textbooks as the launching pad, not the destination. This is learning. It is how the individual mind works. It makes education fun and personal. The concepts come in a manner that inspires learners, not makes them feel they are doing busywork or drudgery. Encourage them to explore.

Here’s a list of what we need to be teaching in school because these are the things employers look for, these are the things that open doors for individuals, these are the things that inspire individuals and make them unique, these are things that indisputably ensure people succeed, not just in work, but in appreciation of life: Strong work ethic, communication skills, problem-solving ability, teamwork and collaboration, adaptability, time management, technical skills relevant to the role, positive attitude, confidence in a subject, initiative and self-motivation, reliability and dependability, leadership potential, creativity and innovation, emotional intelligence, attention to detail, and conflict resolution skills. As educators, did we teach those today? As students or life students, did we learn those today? How many classes in school take their subject and then focus on these items to make the person’s education truly applicable to real life? Standardized tests don’t do that. All standardized tests do is make the teachers I’ve spoken with frustrated, crazy, and want to quit. They don’t frustrate me because I refuse and don’t care if they fire me or don’t ask me back. Want to know a fundamental clue for fixing education? Get politicians and others who don’t have a clue about education out of the education business. Get parents with political agendas out of education. Ban them, not books. That would fix more problems than any other solution. Give students skills and knowledge they can use for the rest of their lives. Give them things that matter. Give them something that makes them realize the unity of the whole world and all things taught, and give them a curiosity to look beyond the textbook. Let kids, no matter their age, know that they and their questions and curiosities matter.

Learning should be a passion, not an end goal. It’s up to us as teachers, parents, and individuals to create the environment that makes that happen for others and our lifelong learning selves. When learning is wrong, when the wrong people set the agenda for learning, maybe the best thing we can do to teach children is to buck the system ourselves as teachers. Watching us as educators do what is right rather than what is demanded from standardized teaching and the influences of those who are not trained educators is another way for students to learn, which may be one of the most significant skills a teacher can impart. I sure wouldn’t want a non-surgeon to take out my appendix. Why would I want a non-trained educator to tell me what needs to be done in my classroom? And I certainly wouldn’t want a non-surgeon to write the textbook or dictate the procedure.