Knowledge is Power

"Knowledge is power." -Francis Bacon

Coming from a household with two teachers as parents, education has always been an important part of my life. Unlike many kids that go through school, I enjoyed going to classes and I enjoyed learning. I give credit to the Washington Local School District for hiring teachers who made learning fun. I can honestly say that I don't believe I ever had one bad teacher until college. Maybe some weird ones, but they were still good educators.

College is a whole different ball park. Class participation in jr. high and high school was used to gage a student's interest. In college, class partcipation is just a section on a professor's syllabus, but has no real meaning to the class or your final grade. Very rarely does the class participate, and VERY rarely is there any student interest. Can you blame us? How are we supposed to stay interested in class when our professors stand at the front of the room and simply talk or read from the chapters. No visual aids, no group discussion, just, lecture. And it's not just like it's one class a day. Last semester I sat through three classes, from 8-12:30, listening to professors talk at me. Tell me that wouldn't put you to sleep.

What has our education system come to? Let me tell you...

We constantly hear about how education in the US ranks so low compared to that of other countries. In order to make sure kids are learning, we test them, and if they don't pass, we hold them back. While this seems like it would make sense, I personally believe it decreases the quality of education. Many teachers teach because it's what they love to do. While many of my professors are very boring, I can tell by the way they speak that they have a passion for the subject they teach. But by providing required tests in gradschool and high school, the teachers are not teaching students what they believe is important, but they are tailoring their cirriculum to match these tests. As long as the kids have the information to pass the test, their job is done. How does that help?

If I remember correctly, I took standardized tests every year from 3rd grade through 7th. Seriously? As 8 and 9 year olds we are expected to pass standardized tests that determine whether or not we can move to the 4th grade? Talk about pressure. And talk about heart break for those kids who don't pass.

As we move on to high school and college, as I said, we have the problem of boredom by lecture. Many college professors don't even have an education degree, but have a degree in their field of interest, which they then teach. Problem? I think so. These professors have not learned how to relay information and relate to their students. Being a business school, they constantly harp the importance of communication in any company. Well, I think they should take a look in the mirror. If professors learned to communicate with their students and find what motivates us and what makes us go, they might have an easier time keeping us awake in class. Not only would it keep us awake in class, but it would help us absorb and retain that information.

Oh wait, there's more. The rapid technological advances makes it almost impossible to keep current. When Microsoft comes out with new office programs every 3 years, well by the time 2010 comes out, some of the schools have just implemented 2007. It's stupid. How much more can you do in 2010 than you could in 2007. Is it really necessary to make all those changes?

These are just some of the flaws in the system. Hopefully someone will realize this and make a change. They say the children are our future...Well, if that's the case, we could be in a whole lot of trouble if we continue to teach them this way.