Education

I am not from some fancy school.  I didn't have private teachers and a first class education that cost millions of dollars to get.  I went to religious private school through second grade, then switched to public school.  And I went to many different schools.  If I recall correctly, since Kindergarten I've switch schools 5 times (not counting the mandatory elementary-junior high and junior high-high school switches) and attended 7 different schools.  I've had to work at making new friends everywhere I went, had to figure out where classes were, many times getting lost in a school.  And yet through it all, I've managed to come out of it pretty damn smart if I do say so myself.

Why do I say all of this?  Because I meet way too many people that are morons.  And I'm not talking about having some sort of disability that makes them have a limitation on information and logic coming from their brain.  I'm just talking about people that don't think, don't want to think, and get angry whenever they do think. (I imagine it's because their head hurts from lack of use)  These people must have passed school with a D average, if they have even completed high school.

Education is something that we actually need to do better in this country, and we should probably take some ideas from other countries.  One of the worst ideas America ever came up with was "No Child Left Behind".  Basically, they didn't want kids held back.  Why?  Well, I can only think of two reasons knowing what I know of this country.  Either A, behind held back would 'hurt the child's self esteem' or B, the teachers didn't want to have to deal with a 13 year old in a class for 8 year olds.  Probably some combination of the two.  This concept was the worst thing in the world.  First off, fuck the kids self esteem.  If (s)he's not able to pass a class, then he probably has some sort of learning disability, or (s)he's not applying themselves.  In the case of the former, another year can determine that fully.  In the case of the latter, another year will embarrass the child to no end and they will apply themselves from then on in order to keep it from happening.

Then there is our government system.  We pay out teachers horribly, yet expect them to work hard, go above and beyond, except that we just want them to teach curriculum for standardized testing.  First off, standardized testing doesn't work.  Period.  At least ours don't.  Putting aside the fact that certain people do better on tests than others just because of nerves and concentration, the thought that one simple test can tell you how smart you are in a particular subject, or even what jobs you can and cannot do because of what you know is absurd.  History, for instance, was my worst subject in school.   I'm terrible at remembering dates and names and treaties and just about everything else.  Yet, I managed to get a B or higher on every test just by cramming all the information into my head, chanting it like a mantra until it was memorized, then after the information was useful, I deleted it.  Do I remember when George Washington was born?  When he crossed the Delaware?  When he took office?  Nope...only reason I remember that stuff is because I remember a picture of George Washington crossing the Delaware.

That's not to say that tests aren't bad.  They are decent for assessing a base line of knowledge, or how well the students are gaining the knowledge being taught.  I just think we use them in the wrong way.  Hell, I think we have the entire concept of school wrong in America.

So, here a few suggestions on how we could improve.

1: Pay our teachers: The amount they make is abismal.  Teachers, even Kindergarten teachers should be making at least $80k a year, regardless of what they teach.

2: Let out teachers teach: There is becoming less and less room for teachers to be creative with how they teach their curriculum, namely because the government is forcing them to stick to a strict regimen aimed for standardized testing.  How about letting the teachers have some fun with their class?  I've seen English teachers that dress up as characters from a book, and science teachers that bring in interesting experiments and specimens to their chemistry and biology classes.  I've even seen a physics teacher teach class by explaining how to do calculations through launching a cat from a catapult over a wall. (He also let us shoot him with Nerf guns if he got a calculation wrong.  It made sure we were all paying attention.)

3: Critical Thinking and Logic:  The problem with much of the way school is taught is that it's pretty much monkey repetition.  I give you fact, you remember fact.  Rinse, repeat.  There is very little critical thinking and logic taught in classes.  Very little opportunity to force a kid to put the pieces of the puzzle together.  The reason why this is important is this is what intelligence is.  Anyone....hell....anything can remember something if you repeat it enough times.  It's how we train pets.  Logic, problem solving, critical thinking...that's intelligence.  That's what happens when you try to open a door and it won't open.  You go through the possibilities.  Is it locked? Is it jammed?  Am I pushing when I should be pulling?  Am I pulling when I should be pushing?  You question all of those and then experiment.  You pull, then you push, then you check to make sure it's not locked if possible.  Then maybe you just knock and wait, rather than break the door down with excessive door rattling.

4: Fail me once, shame on me:  Teachers, now hopefully making $80k a year, should be on the lookout for kids that are struggling.  They should find out the reasons why.  And they should do everything in their power to help them pass that year.  However, sometimes a child needs to repeat a grade.  Maybe there were extraneous circumstances that caused him/her to miss a bunch of the curriculum.  Perhaps they just didn't get it, or didn't apply themselves to getting it.  Another year isn't going to kill a child, and could possibly set him/her up for success later in life.

I would also like to suggest that we take a hint from the Japanese school system, and have high school and college exams, and make it so high school isn't required.  Some kids don't want to learn.  They just want to work.  Which is fine, McDonalds needs those people.  For those of us that want to learn more, and gain a higher level of understanding, then we have to take an exam in order to find out what high school we can get into, or if we even can get into high school.  Does every school need to have one, no.  But the ones with a better educational ability probably should.

And don't be afraid of failing classes or grades.  I failed a few classes in college and even one in high school.  It wasn't because I didn't get the subjects, but in most cases there was something that happened that caused my thoughts to be elsewhere, which means I didn't apply myself.  I ended up retaking those classes and passing later, and I understood even more than I did the first time going through.  There are some classes I wish I could go back to just to get a refresher.

And also don't be afraid to educate yourself in your free time.  It doesn't have to be something terribly mind-racking, but don't be content in becoming a vegetable.  I'm constantly on the search for new information, mainly in the science and technology field.  Also remember that Google is your friend.  Every time I have any questions, a simple Google search usually figures it out.  So if there is one thing you should learn, it is how to use Google.  Whenever you have any question, ask Google.  Don't know what a song is on the radio or YouTube?  Listen to it, pull a few lyrics out of it, and type them into Google.  It'll come up.  Did you see something on a TV show that shouldn't be there?  If it's a rerun, odds are typing the episode season and number into Google will bring up what it is (I.E. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Episode 8).  It may bring you to Wikipedia, but Google isn't information itself.  Google is basically the library, but instead of having to find the book yourself, you ask the librarian a question and she hands you a stack of books for you to pick from.  Ninety-nine out of a hundred times, the first 5 books are what you need.

My point is, America's education is horrible, and it needs to improve.  I've given a few suggestions, but as always, I have one more.  If you are upset because public schools aren't teaching creationism and God and are teaching evolution instead, I have a few words.  First, shut up.  Second, if you are seriously upset about it, send your kid to private school.  Separation of church and state includes the schools.  If they teach one religion, they have to teach ALL religions.  If you are mad because your child is learning about evolution and discussing it with you over dinner, imagine how mad you would be if they were learning about the Koran?  Or Shintoism?  Or, shock, they wanted to bring Mormonism into your Christian household?

But again, these are just my opinions.  Since we are on the topic of education though, I think today I'm going to learn something, and I urge you to do the same.  Learn something new, in a topic you've never even really thought about.  Microbiology, quantum physics, anthropology, Czech history...there are so many subjects.  Also, what do you do in order to keep your brain from turning to mush?  Do you challenge yourself daily, or do you try to expand upon a class of knowledge you already know and come up with more creative ways of using it?  Do you study new topics, or maybe you just exercise the creative or logical brain hemisphere by simply thinking up new ideas?  Let me know in the comments below.