Do you need to learn in a set school environment to be successful?
With every opinion comes a counter opinion, therefore one must truly find unplagued and unbiased facts to know the full truth of something. How they interpret this truth is how a person forms an opinion, which can either alter, add on to, or completely change the idea(s) of another. In this modern day and age there is a constant struggle to discover the best ways to learn, teach, and grow as people, and in order to have this criteria met, a certain question must be asked, “To be successful, do you need to learn in a set school environment?” With this important question comes two contrasting ideas and answers, but they both overlap in a sense, and neither can exist or be successful without the other.
Initially, some professionals and most teachers believe that a public school, with all its diversity and social aspect, is more beneficial for students trying to retain knowledge and grow as individuals. One huge advantage that being in a public, set (by State law) environment has is that there are many qualified teachers specifically trained in certain subjects in order to best educate students on topics they know little to nothing about. Teachers are the framework of a set school environment, and if a teacher fails to reach their students, they are causing a disconnect between the educator and educatees. Also, as an online article about successful classroom management states, “If the teacher has built a positive reputation for the child, and if the child senses the teacher believes in them, and then the teacher is disappointed in them, that can be jarring…” (Schwartz, para. 6). This quote can be no more true than in this day and age, especially since being offensive, ignorant, or misinformed can cause many issues among complete strangers or even close friends. One flaw that can be seen in the public school system is this very thing, that students idolize their teachers too much at times, taking all that they have to say as pure fact and information, and never realizing that even teachers express opinions in their teaching. If a teacher explains to a student why they might be disappointed or upset with the student in any way, the student should take what is heard as constructive criticism, and not as words that are meant to tear them down (even if the words/actions are used to do just that). Still, with the negatives that can be seen in set school systems, there are still many pros, such as access to electronics, supplies, top tier education, athletics, extracurriculars, etc. that many people who are taught at home, in a detached private school, or elsewhere do not experience. Going off of the topic of teachers giving criticism towards students, in “Me Talk Pretty One Day” David Sedaris discusses his interactions with a critical teacher in the past. In the essay he wrote inside the book he speaks about how the criticisms he received from his French teacher inspired him to work harder in order to be successful, which in turn helped him achieve more in a class that he originally thought he was prepared for. His desire to learn more than just his basic understanding of the French language, and his teacher’s constant insults and verbal assaults on her students, were what brought him to learn faster, study more, and perform well in order to impress him teacher, classmates, and self. In the set schooling environment Sedaris was put into, he was not only able to learn French, but he was awakened to new aspects of himself that being alone, or in a more lenient or personal education, would not have allowed him to see.
Contrastly, others argue that having a more personal, face to face, learning environment, such a being homeschooled, can better teach the next generation of students. An example of a person who would argue that a restrictive set schooling environment doesn’t help with learning is Holden Caulfield of The Catcher in the Rye. He states, in a conversation with Mr. Spencer early on in the novel, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That’s all” (Salinger 13, para. 9). This reason is a viable reason to resent or dislike a public/set school environment, as it shows that outside of the learning and educating of the school there is a social hierarchy of people constantly trying to best one another, which is understandably an unwanted aspect of learning. In a face to face homeschooled environment, or in an online fashion of schooling, a person can find themselves an escape from all the competitiveness of popularity contests, and from the other “distractions” that some students wish to not participate in. Holden disliked his schools because he always felt distant from all the “phonies” and other kids, and he never truly felt as though he belonged. If a more superior, less restrictive, form of schooling was provided to him, then maybe he would excel in his classes. At least some of this can be seen with Holden talking to his old teachers, and to other adults for this matter, as he was able to portray more of his thoughts and desires in an easier fashion than when he would talk to other minors. “Most important, teachers should never tolerate mocking, cruelty, impatience or disrespect directed at a classmate” (Schwartz, para. 15). This aspect of public schooling is what many consider to be a prominent reason why many individually taught students are able to be more successful in the long run, as they don’t deal with the bickering, annoyances, and human instinctiveness of fellow classmates. Online school classes, for example, either are solely done using computers, or are classes that only have students appear in a classroom for a few times a week. This is effective in keeping students away from a truly set form of education since they are able to learn better time management skills when the physical class is not in session, and they only really see other students who are interested in doing their “own thing”, mostly alone, since many students who take online courses do so out of desire.
Consequently, many students can be successful in different classroom environments, set or lenient/loose, as long as certain types of criteria are met within their forms of education.
