Response #4

Reforming Education

How do we educate our children to prepare them for their place in the economy and for cultural identity(Robinson)? The children of today are leaders of tomorrow. We as a society must raise and teach our kids so they can take over someday. As times change so does our children and the way they need to be taught. In order for teachers to teach our children in the proper way education needs to be reformed. The question is, how do we do this?

According to the video "Changing Education Paradigms" by Sir Ken Robinson we are trying to meet the future by doing what was done in the past. In the past kids and parents didn't see the point in children going to school. They felt it was a waste of time and pointless because supporting the family by farming and hunting was more important for boys to learn. For girls raising a family and taking care of a home was more important then reading and writing. As times has changed children were taught that if they did good in school they could go on to college and get a high paying job. Now children don't believe that according to Robinson, because college doesn't guarantee a job.

Public schools was a great idea. It enabled all children to receive an education. In public schools children advance according to age. This I feel is one way public schools should be reformed. Children learn and different level and means. Some children learn faster then others, and some learn slower then others. I think that children should advance through school according to their learning not their age. I, like Robinson, feel that certain tasks should be mastered before a child can move to the next grade. This would allow the student the time they need to master a subject. If a student is having trouble then they could receive the extra help and if a student is more advance they could go on and be challenged. If a child knows the information being taught they are more likely to act up or cause trouble because they are bored.

In the article "caring in education" by Nel Noddings he states that "it is sometimes said that 'all teachers care.'" The definition of caring teachers could mean two different things. There are the teachers who push you hard to do your work and want you to learn, and then there are those teaches who are more laid back and don't push you to your potential. I think with more students in a classroom it makes the student feel like they are not getting enough attention from the teacher, which can cause them to think the teacher is "tough".

There is no doubt that education needs to be reformed. So many children feel that education is not important. They feel this way because even with a college degree jobs are scarce. In order to changes children's views on education teaching strategies need to change. With so many electonic devices such as iPods, video games, iPhones and computers children attention span in school is shortened. They need more stimulation in school from the teacher. They need new ways of learning, and ways to keep them focused and motivated. If children of today are to be our leaders we need to make sure they are prepared.