Having endured a long thirteen years of required schooling, I feel like I have earned the right to say that education is not what it should be. On a lighter note, I can say that I learned more than what was necessary for my educators to teach me. For example, I learned quickly that many teachers aren’t cut out for the job, but that doesn’t stop them from barely trying. I also learned that even the most creative teachers are usually uninspired by lesson plans that revolve around standardized testing. Also among my lessons: a student can barely try and still succeed. (This is a lesson I’m recovering from in college. It’s a hard habit to break.)
As you can tell, my view of education is pretty dim. But alas, I’ve chosen to enroll myself in a university, so I must have some faith in the system. Here is what it comes down to: I love the freedom that college promotes. I can choose what classes I want to take. I am encouraged to wander out of my safe zone, whereas in high school, we had strict guidelines we were “encouraged” to follow. (Although, I will say I do believe this is because the more time that I waste, the more money the college will make off of me.) In high school, I never strayed from the recommended curriculum. I took four years of English and math, three years of Spanish, three years of social studies, three years of science. I hardly took the classes that actually interested me. Looking back, I would say the thing I regret most about my class choice is neglecting the opportunity to take art. I felt that because I was in choir, colleges would look down on me if I was enrolled in two “blow off” classes. I never would have taken an art class as an opportunity to slack, though. I genuinely wanted to learn how to create art. I missed my chance, though, and all because of the restraints I felt were imposed on me.
That’s the thing about high school: any free will that a child is afforded is discouraged. I found it difficult to really take advantage of my education when there were so many guidelines. It all seemed pretty pointless to me. So I’m here to stick it to the man. I realize that when I’m a teacher someday, certain things will be expected of me. I will meet those requirements, but I fully plan on implementing lessons that really light a fire for students. I chose my blog title (Make it EPIC) based on the goal of encouraging students to take learning into their own hands. My current classes inspire me to the point that I walk away with mental lists of everything I want to learn about that is beyond what is required of me. I can hardly keep up! Learning has become exciting. It has become an adventure. It has become mine. I hope to teach high school students this concept someday.
In the meantime, I will be griping about one of many issues that I believe stifles this enthusiasm toward learning: the dreaded standardized testing. It seems as though teachers do not have enough time anymore to teach about the things that really matter because they must conform to the limits of standardized tests. This is a blow to intellectual curiosity of both teachers and students.
I realize that standardized tests have their perks. Schools can get more money if their students are performing better. But what kind of system is that? Shouldn’t the role of an educator be to teach a child so that the child may excel, rather than to teach the child so that the school might? It all seems pretty twisted to me. I am aware that schools also need to make sure students are measuring up to their peers. If that were the sole reason for giving students standardized tests, I would be much more sympathetic. That’s not the case though.
To continue my case against standardized testing, I will staying up-to-date on news related to the issue. I have subscribed to several RSS feeds, which as as follows:
The Washington Post (education section only)
New York Times (education section only)
Google News Query: Standardized Testing
Academic Search Premier
Feel free to rant and rave along with me! This is only my first of many. Now tell me how YOU feel.
