After viewing this morning's show, I decided to sit here and think about a few things. To my amusement, I found that Dez had beaten me to it. I will try to keep the plagiarism to a minimum.
What happens when growth is uncontrolled? It doesn't matter what area of life you are speaking about, most people would unilaterally agree bigger is not always better. Churches (for a variety of reasons) collapse or suffer when they become too large. Societies and governments throughout history have time and time again succumb to vast growth and expansion. Even the human body cannot thrive when growth is allowed to proceed unchecked. To narrow the field a bit, I'd like to talk about education.
I suppose the concept should be fairly simple. You send your child to school. A teacher teaches a class. Your child returns home after a few hours. However, the education system our government has put into place is miles away from anything so plain. Complex testing systems and scores that most teachers can't agree on, decide the fate of students on a daily basis. Union labor officials wield millions of dollars and political clout over who teaches our children. Tax dollars determine if a student will have a football team to play on. And many, if not all, of these decisions are made hundreds of miles away from the place you and your child call home.
How does any of THAT add up to a sound education for your son or daughter? Just for fun, add into the mix the increasing mix of violence in schools, and an ever increasing amount of accusations of sexual misconduct among educators. Clearly, there are many quality teachers working within this system. Many good people who genuinely care for the students they are charged with teaching. However, simple math will tell you, as you bring more and more people into this massive system of education, you will inherently net just as many bad employees as good. If you just managed to break even, is that fair to the children? Would you like to say..."Hey Joey, work hard in class every day, pass every test we give you. There is a 50/50 chance your teacher cares about you and your future."
I see our present way of teaching kids to be too big, too cookie cutter, too industrial.
I don't believe that any given choice of a curriculum, by a school system, can be the ideal method of learning for EVERY child in the classroom. Every person learns differently. Some are very tactile, some are more verbal. Others learn at a rapid pace, some are more leisurely. How can one teacher, dealing with 30 students, using one method or curriculum, hope to reach all the students effectively every time? It can't be done. And don't forget....keep the taxpayers who pay for all of this happy, make sure the union officials are satisfied with the contracts. And keep the salaries for all the teachers, coaches and lunchroom workers as high as possible. Wow, that's a lot to keep straight. Hurry up! We must keep pace with other countries! We can't allow the children in China to be smarter then the children in Pennsylvania! We have to keep pace with other "developed" countries! I would prefer my child be measured and evaluated my me, his dad, and not taught so he can simply keep pace with a kid halfway around the world he will never meet.
My friends, size matters. It allows for increased accountability. Both on the part of the student and the educator. Smaller allows for unlimited personal attention. Smaller allows for a customized approach to learning. If all of this leads to smaller paychecks for our kids in the future, so be it. If it leads to smaller cars, fine. If it leads to smaller houses with smaller mortgage payments, fine.
It has been said, there is a vast difference between success and greatness. Which word would you rather be used to describe your child?
5 comments:
"just a shout out to my willow street militia peeps!"
haha
btw, i LOVE the success and greatness post. i wasn't a follower then and had never read it, but it's wonderful. made me feel a little bit better (a LITTLE) about our in-home project, as you called it.
I can't seem to elicit a response from the professional educators that I know personally.
Very interesting.
As a parent of two children in the NYC Public School System I have LOTS to say on this subject. One thing I can say for sure is that the quality of the teacher standing before them makes all the difference. When my kids have been fortunate enough to be in a classroom with teachers who care about them and take their job seriously they thrive. They enjoy the learning process and their confident grows. When they are in a classroom with teachers who very obviously dislike their job (and seem to resent the children they teach) they may as well be home watching Spongebob Squarepants all day long.
They can test students from now until the end of time, but our education system will never be reformed until educators are held accountable for the quality of the services they provide.
I read your post today and at the most poignant of times. I am personally dealing with school issues and my child. I have a child, who for all intensive purposes, is brilliant and a relatively good student up until this year.
It is a struggle and we are only 5 weeks into the mess. I've been in contact with the school and assured they will do what they can and we will set up a meeting at my request so we can both understand what the "game plan" is for this very important step in education, 7th grade.
Do I think the only 20 minutes they have to set aside for me will yield any progress? NO.
Do I see any potential for the "teaching to the slowest child" curriculum going to change? No.
Do I see my son continue to be bored and disruptive as this year continues? Yes.
I want to pull my son from this form of methodical teaching that really has no lateral aspects to the method it is taught. It is robotic, rhythmic and almost factory.
If I pay for him to go to military academy, which is a great option; I not only have to pay for his tuition there but still the $4000 a year school tax to keep public education funded from my household.
I would love to see that removed. If you "suck" at teaching my kid and I have to pay to have someone else do it, then you should not get my money.
Anyway, great point, thank you for letting me find it today and not a few days ago when Rage was at a Premium High!
Jeanine, well said.
I don't believe a system exists that properly allows for teachers to be held to the high standards you(and I) seek. In my opinion, there is far too much red tape in the mix.
Vic,
It is a terrible shame(in my opinion) that money needs to enter into this sort of decision in any regard. It is an equal shame that tax dollars, to begin with, often fund a lost, or less then ideal cause.
We would all be enraged if we had an opportunity to see where our money goes, and what’s more, where it does not go, from one paycheck to the next.
Something will give.
Money is getting in the way far too often when it comes to maters of REAL substance, like this one.
Like for the well being of your son
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