The whole post will be written from my personal point of view and spoken from my experience.
In my country school system works in a ways that you have to go to primary school which lasts for 8 years, high school lasting 4 years (I think few years ago the law was passed that it's not mandatory anymore) and college which is mainly 3+2 years (3 for Bachelor - bacalaureat, 2 for Master's degree and usually 2 for doctoral degree).
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Since we were kids we've been told we must go to school because it's our future and we're nothing and worthless without it. You have to have diploma or you won't get job and you'll be poor. I think totally contrary and I don't agree with that at all. In matter a fact I'm still a student, but I want to share my thoughts with you.
I've heard a lot of times that education and school systems are not well, that they have to be changed, it's ruining creativity bla bla bla.. but nobody is giving out ideas or trying to change that. Yes, I agree with that, but it seems like everyone is just repeating like parrots and that's what bugs me the most.
So, in that name I'll try to elaborate my thoughts well, refer to bad sides and give few examples and ideas how to improve school systems and make it better.
PROBLEM:
Grading system is bad, even wretched, because students, in general, learn for grades and just to pass. Students who are cramming and filling their brains with information they in a big part don't understand are usually rewarded well with good grades which is really really bad knowledge indicator. In many cases, those who're just copying information and paste it in their brains without comprehension, forget that "useful" knowledge in a very short time.
So, tell me... What is a point about that? To pass a school and college, get a diploma, certificates... and leave with empty head? Come on people, stand up against that! Don't teach your kids to be parrots and sphere shaped into a cube (pretending it's faster way because someone said so).
IDEAS:
The one who made the best progress and who improved the most should be encouraged and graded better than the one who learned a material without understanding.
Learn through a game - that's the fastest and dearest type of learning.
I would remove all grades from primary school and first of all children should learn how to learn and why is that good for them.
Schooling should be balanced, meaning that teachers should pay more attention to those with weak knowledge or with learning difficulties. We're all not the same!
Teachers should get to know their students! Communication expands the horizons. They're not a barcodes nor things. Maybe they have rough time at home or some problems in life so don't be harsh on them. Sometimes they need to be spared.
People who're applying for teacher's job should truly love that job, have a lot of nerves and understanding. Sometimes they'll have to be psychologist or a friend not just a teacher.
If we're talking about college where students are adults, the control and style of education should be in hands of students because it's about us and our future.
As I said we all are not the same. Let's paraphrase: "You have a class of 5 students and all of them are different; monkey, tiger, fish, bird and insect. Give them a task to climb a tree. Does it mean that fish is stupid because it can't climb a tree or you would blame a teacher?"
In such a visualized example we would all agree that teacher is dumb, but what is happening in a real world? It's not so much different, you know?. So why do we blame kids that can't pass math class e.g. We should encourage his creativity, maybe he's good in building things?
For second example imagine 2 person looking for the same job as programmers. First one, let's name her Katia and second one is John. Katia has Master's degree but not even her knows how did she pass and John has just a high school but is rocking programming in several programming languages. In too many cases Katia will get a job just because she's "smarter on a paper". Where is justice here and why the diploma itself makes a difference. Maybe, Katia is more creative... but surely that isn't written in the damn diploma.
Children are curious, playful and creative. Who are we, adults, that have a right to take that from them? Let their creativity grow and be different from standards. Parents are teachers throughout whole life so if your child plays with an oven or breaks a glass don't yell. Try to hide your anger (maybe the glass was expensive but that's just material) and explain why is that bad. Also, if you let a child breaks a glass it will learn some of the laws of physics, he'll understand that 1 piece can be broken into many ones, if he cut himself accidentally he'll learn for sure that's bad and he won't do it again because child understands. There's no effect of yelling or giving a bad grade if a child doesn't understand why is that bad.
A lot of teachers are telling students not to live in their dreams, to wake up and to be like others. In one hand that student became a potential target of bullying and in the other hand his creativity is destroyed --> but those are usually who make a change.
Einstein was dubbed a fool and was not accepted in society at the time. Would you know about him if he was like everyone else?
School system is molding students to be as one but they're just not.
What's the difference between me and you?
I asked my mother what subjects did they have in their time and what she thinks about the change. I respect her opinion a lot. They had a subject called "household" in which they were learning a lot of useful things for a life.
- how to sew
- how to knit
- how to cut the meat
- how to cook
Also they had a subject "general national defense", "social self-protection", "survival in nature", "model-making (like models of a city)" and "shooting from a rifle" - I'm totally against wars and weapon so I'm not for this one. Admittedly, they lived in Communism.
But all these subjects were highly useful and needed. Today, in schools we learn different kinds of stuff we don't know what are they used for damn. It's like you're learning a language and you don't understand it, that's kind of the same.
Schooling should be fun and instructive for life. You won't learn about taxation, politics and laws, how to survive in nature, how to cook, how to raise a child... Is mathematics more important than this? I don't think so.
Of course, I'm not saying you should quit school or college, I want to inspire you to expand your mind and think with your head. Think outside the box sometimes
And never forget we're learning during our whole life, not just in school.
