Ameriducation
Posted on Monday, November 14th, 2005 at 20:36.
A discussion in my Community Involvement class today debated education systems, as discussed in Releasing the Imagination by Maxine Greene. Teaching and testing factual, procedural knowledge is critical in math and some science. However, my liberal arts education at Emerson leads me to believe that an experiential style of education is far more useful and powerful than the traditional teach/test style. Unless students engage themselves in critical thinking, book knowledge and ability to regurgitate facts mean next to nothing.
A major problem is that the methodology of the education system motivates students entirely on external forces (the only reason to get a good grade is to not get in trouble, get praise from authorities, get into a good college to get a good job) rather than fostering self-motivation to learn. The structure in which students can be graded and passed is absolutely the cause of The Great Apathy of American students. The system does not give students any reason to care about education because the system does not care about non-gradeable development.
Innovation is simply manipulating what we already know. Certainly, a nuclear scientist must know a significant amount of factual information. However, had abstract thought not been fostered and entertained, the field of nuclear science would not exist.
Consider how many geniuses in history have rejected the education system. Leonardo da Vinci never had a formal education. Albert Einstein never did well in school. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. Essentially, the education system is a track developed by not-geniuses to create more not-geniuses. We’re not learning from our most capable. Why?
Dude, I agree 100%. Have you heard about how some school districts have eliminated recess because test scores aren’t as good as in Japan? Who put these clowns in charge of our kids, anyway?