Dissecting education
Dissecting educationDissecting Education
Think about how much of your life is spent trying to learn all you can and make yourself better prepared for the “real world.” We start schooling at age five or six. Kindergarten is about finger paints and learning the alphabet. Before we know it, we are standing in front of our class and parents accepting a high school diploma. That is thirteen years right there. Then, if we really want to “succeed” we have to get through another 4 to 6 years of college. That is almost 20 years total in school. Are those 20 years well spent? Are we all satisfied with the education we received? The answer is “no.” It is apparent that today’s education system in the United States is not satisfying the needs of all people.
One of the main controversies in the education system of the United States is the content of what is taught. Everything that is taught in school is uniform for the entire grade. However, not every individual student is uniform in what they already know and how capable they are of learning new things. Not only that, but also is each student interested in learning what everyone else is learning? Today there are many schools that have put more emphasis in teaching learning skills rather than the knowledge that is needed to move on to the next level (Hirsch 129). Some schools have gone to what is known as “core knowledge” to make sure that each and every student has the same foundation upon which to build the rest of their education. They believe that through the method of “core knowledge”, everyone can benefit together (Hirsch 129). Opposite that idea is the idea that we shouldn’t be filling a child’s mind with “miscellaneous facts”, but rather be trying to extract the knowledge that is within each person’s mind (Harris). The main argument with that opinion is that without some filling, there won’t be anything to extract from a person. One positive thing that our children are learning is the ability to think creatively and be innovative. Many Americans overlook the fact that in this country, children are able to experiment with ideas and learn to believe in themselves and in their own creativity (Ho 126). But is mere creativity enough to make up for the other shortfalls in education? Another big controversy in education is the way the children are taught.
Many of the same arguments that are made regarding what is taught, can be made regarding how it is taught. Those who are naturally talented and intellectual say that filling a child’s head with various types of knowledge is not very productive, but what about those children that need that knowledge just to be at an equal level with the other students. Children who have not learned very much at home...
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