Failure of Public Education

So, as I mentioned before I'm a teacher. I wanted to start a blog, in part, to deal with all the frustration I face in my profession. Being part of the system, I really feel that we are failing. I'm not sure there is the possibility for the kind of success I'm looking for: a system where every child can be reached and motivated to succeed to the best of their abilities and in their areas of interest, while still providing them with the backgrounds to be contributing members of a democratic society and the opportunity to choose to be whatever they want, even if for now, they don't know what that is. It is a daunting goal, one I thought was possible when I went into education, but now I'm not so sure.

Look back at the history of education. Was there a time that everyone was properly taught? Of course not. 100 years ago, only a portion of young people in the country had access to education. Now all children have access, yet only a portion seem to actually benefit from it. We make education a right, not a privilege, and now it is balked at.

Educational professionals conduct studies, study other cultures and continue to try new things and yet students are continually left behind. Governments step in and make it worse.

Okay, so maybe it isn't possible to reach every child in every class every year. I don't believe that means we stop trying. But I do believe that some of the pressure put on educators needs to be released. If it isn't possible to reach every student, then we should NOT be held accountable to do so. It would be like holding parents accountable for raising their children properly. Now how silly is that?

What all this wondering has made me realize is that the system doesn't work. And it won't. So either the expectations need to change or the system needs to change. I've been increasingly interested in non-traditional learning and alternative schooling.

And in addition, since I'm rambling all over the place anyway, why is it so important that students of today meet the educational standards? Isn't the workforce filled with professionals who don't understand fractions? Do you know when the 100 years war took place or who fought in it? With the internet giving us information at our fingertips, some of the skills and knowledge that was important in the past is no longer so. Of course that means that new challenges arise - how to know if what you're reading on a blog is true, how to reasonable check that the computer calculated values properly, how to synthesize all the bytes of information out there into something useful....

But honestly, won't the world go on? If half of my students graduate without knowing algebra, won't they be okay? Weren't you?

If it's self-confidence or civil rights we're worried about, non-traditional education may be a better choice anyway. The quiet kid gets overlooked among the smarties and the behavior problems no matter how good your intentions. It's extra-curriculars where she develops a sense of who she is and what she can contribute to society. And she chose her extra-curriculars -- she wants to be there. The young black male who comes from a good home but fails his classes anyway often finds solace in sports, where he feels confident about his abilities, not in the classroom, where he feels he stands out. Sure, our culture needs to change in that respect, and honestly, I don't have a good grasp of this issue, but I keep coming back to this idea of allowing students to follow their own paths, write their own goals and seek their own sources of education.

In that world, some will find success right away. Others may rebel and walk down the wrong road only to find what they were looking for years later. I suppose that's what our education system is trying to avoid. It's trying to keep everyone in the same place, making the same leaps and decisions at the same time. More and more, I find that ridiculous. We're supposed to toil in this world. We're supposed to walk down the wrong road so we can learn what the right one looks like. Is this world I'm creating in my head fair for everyone? Not by current standards. But I'm not convinced that our current system is fair either, by any standards.