What should education provide students in Modern America?
This could be a simple question with a simple answer. Education should provide students in Modern America with the ability to earn a living after they leave school. Students should be able to provide for themselves and be a productive member of society.
Fortunately I don’t believe that this is an easy question to answer.
Yes, I believe that education should provide students with the ability to earn a living or go to college or travel the world, or, or, or… I also believe that students need to be educated as critical thinkers, learn to read, have a set of values, as well as, students should be taught to be respectful, to be proactive, to know that mistakes are good and acceptable, etc.
Now the next question is…how do we regulate/standardize education? Is the same standard taught in Hawaii as they are in Alaska? Who is in charge of deciding what standards are to be? Funding? Is this a state-by-state issue or do the peeps in DC decide? The list could go on and on. This question is for another time…one because I’m not sure I have the answer (actually I know I don’t) and two it would take me all night just to write down that I don’t have an answer.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog. You are right, so manythings to consider when determining what to do with regard to standardization of education. Initially I thought I wanted the various school districts to me more standardized to help ensure the same level of education at a particular grade level nationally, but then I started seeing the disadvantages to that....which you touched on. Is our country too diverse to try to implement such a system? I don't know. Like you said, I could go on all night about this, but I am ready to sign off. On another note, my little girl is a figure skater. She skates at Outpost. I would love to talk to you about it sometime as this is all new to me!
I think the issue becomes more complicated when we think that not every person learns the same way. I confuse myself by thinking, yes we need national standards and yes, we need to consider the individuals. I am afraid that that answers in education are not always win-win, and are more often "good enough". I am not excited by that.
ReplyDeleteProviding students with the ability to earn a living after school is an important piece of education, but couldn’t we just have a bunch of trade schools that would serve the same purpose? Your points about other things that are learned and important i.e. think as critical thinkers, learn to read, have a set of values, being taught to be respectful, to be proactive, to know that mistakes are good and acceptable, etc. mostly could be achieved in “charm” school right?……except critical thinking, like you said. Critical thinking can’t be taught. It can only be nourished. I’m a believer that innovative and critical thinking has made this great country as advanced as it is relative to others.
ReplyDelete1/5 people in a food line is a child? That’s astonishing! No doubt, that improving education will improve on a number of New Mexico’s problems. Problems like poverty, teen pregnancy, crime, etc.