Recently, on Worth A Mass, Anna posted her thoughts on our education system.
She is quoted saying:
As much as I agree with listening to educators and psychologist's interpretations of our education system, students views should be considered. After all, the most valued opinions in business are that of the customers, because the customers are the reason the business exists. Shouldn't the same be said for students? I think, given the honest chance to voice their opinion on how things should be done, most students would give their two cents in a mature and truly analytical way. In fact, my two cents are something like this:
I have mentioned before that I did not think that standardized tests really proved that something was learned, and I stand by that, but having something like them may be the most practical way for some students to impress upon us that they have learned something. On the other hand, a concept map may be the best way for another student. Everyone learns differently, and more should be done to address this. Especially in subjects required to graduate. Teachers have a very different teaching style from one another, and there should be a system, if only a light one, that gives students preparing to take a class some idea of how the class is run. A syllabus is a good way to start; only include typically used methods for teaching for the class, for example, in my language arts class, last trimester, we used the following pattern:
Here is the author you will read pieces from and their background information
Here is the pieces you will read and annotate, then write a response to.
Now we will discuss the pieces you've read.
In fact, my language arts class provided a handbook on what class would be like and what kinds of assignments would be handed out, etc. Something of this nature would be beneficial to give to students beforehand when they are applying for classes.
Speaking of applying for classes I have a complaint. The method my school uses is damn near idiotic. Their lives would be much easier if someone would program their system to let US build our schedules which could be sent for review to the Counselors, who would give the schedule a yay or nay. Students could select what classes for which hours and the program would automatically prevent them from entering a course that is full for that hour, so the student may rearrange their schedule until they have one that will work. The most pertinent students would naturally get first pick. But I digress.
My real point is, I should have more say in what I am signing up for, a better idea of what I'm signing up for, and the power to sign up for it myself. Also, I should be able to submit feedback about any course I like to the school, and be promised that my complaint or suggestion would be considered.
Another aspect of Anna's post that I found compelling was her mention of Reed College:
"My view of what education should be is somewhat of an anarchist idea. Do away with grades. The most useless classes I have taken have earned me A’s. Instead of the grade system that doesn’t show anything about what we’ve learned, I propose a teacher evaluation. Reed College does this. Professors give written evaluations of what the student has learned and how they may improve. It is more thorough than a grade can ever be. We can truly see what our strengths and weaknesses are. We can be evaluated for what we’ve learned rather than what we know. Tests and quizzes aren’t always the best evaluators of learning."
I would love to experiment with this sort of education because I feel that the pressure of earning a grade belittles the actual education in the sense that the only improvement the students become interested in is better marks; not self betterment. I want to learn things to improve my perception of the world, and to better understand. I do not wish to be ignorant, but I do not wish to be an encyclopedia either. I do not like being told what to think; I prefer to reason things out on my own. I want to have an understanding of nearly everything, not in a factual sense but in a reasoned sense, and educated opinion sense.
Most of my real education either comes from my family or myself. I think about and analyze things, including what I've been given to learn, or my family teaches me about survival and tips for being a citizen. My father has been teaching me how to drive on the ice, but I've been analyzing the Vietnam War and the War on Terror myself.
What educators are forgetting is this: Education begins and ends with the student. In the end, it is they who decide whether or not they learn, or have learned, and if it suits their purposes, they will find a way to learn things, even if the way presented isn't the way for them.
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