Today’s Education System: Friend or Foe?
The bell rings at 10:37 and my AP US History class has now begun. No longer preparing for the exam, my teacher walks over to his computer to continue the movie Lincoln. Since it is a historical movie it’s “educational” (a.k.a meaning school acceptable). Twenty minutes later, my teacher pauses it to point out to us a very important scene. At that moment in the movie, Lincoln makes a pivotal decision for the course of the Civil War. But, it was not this decision of Lincoln that my teacher pointed out. Rather, it was the fact that Lincoln did not have a background of formal education. My teacher made a point to explain to our class the fact that the total amount of schooling he received as a child was no more than twelve months. Despite this, he became a very strong writer, reader and mathematician .
Each day when I am sitting in class, I think about this self-educated and highly successful man, because in this traditional schooling system I am supposedly “learning something”; learning about sine and cosine in math, or the chemical formula for acetate in chemistry. I always find myself thinking: will this be beneficial and necessary knowledge ten years from now? Often, the answer is no. Regularly, there are times in an another environment where I learn lessons more valuable than those in chemistry class. In my opinion, education is able to be conceived on a daily basis both in and out of the classroom. It is everyday experiences and opportunities which lead us to learn, many times learning lessons that are far more valuable than that which could be taught in a high school biology class. Many people may think that learning in a traditional setting is essential. But, everyone’s definition of “learning” is different. To me, learning does not need to mean memorizing the anatomy of a crayfish from a biology textbook. Rather, learning is anything that causes intellectual curiosity and growth. In truth, studying a biology textbook at midnight is quite the opposite of that. Although traditional schooling helps to mold a person’s “abilities” and establish a basic set of skills, more lessons are often taught outside the classroom than in.
Defined as “to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically especially by instruction” by Merriam-Webster, the verb “educate” can be used in a variety of contexts. The dictionary defines “educate” very broadly due to the fact that “instruction” is not necessarily that in a building. Because of this, I believe that being educated in a formal schooling setting is only as beneficial as how far one carries their knowledge gained.
In a traditional high school setting, such as one that I experience each day, many different definitions of someone being “smart” float around. One may believe that being smart means having a 98 GPA. Others might say that being smart is characterized by being able to have an intelligent conversation with an adult. Some may think that even if one has an 80 GPA but makes good choices and is responsible, they are “smart”. It is because of many different definitions of the word smart alone why educational systems today are a broken system. Children starting as young as six are being defined by a number. It is the schools that claim they are educating us which cause juniors to cry in the bathroom because their AP U.S. History grade dropped. Are these values which are being instilled in today’s generation truly creating an educated population? Or, maybe, is it working in the opposite effect? For my whole life my family has always subjected me to the traditional schooling system, thus, the traditional learning I know is that in a classroom. It is because of this that my belief in the root of being educated lies outside the classroom rather than within. Although the new learning system Farmington High School is implementing tries to appear as encouraging “leaders of your own learning” and “communication and collaboration”, there are very few opportunities to get out of the classroom and insert cultivated knowledge into a real life situation. In turn, learning in a classroom 100% of the time can be futile in a society like ours today.
One of the main problems of traditional schooling systems today is how learning is presented. For many students, information is presented and “learned” (a.k.a memorized) simply for tests and quizzes. If students didn’t have to take exams, they wouldn’t. Exams mean one thing: memorization of countless equations and laws the night before, simply to regurgitate them the next day on paper. Ask a teenager the last day of school what equations they still remember from chemistry, and the answer will be “none”. Is this truly the type of education that is valuable in today’s culture? No. In order for kids to truly learn anything, schools must begin doing a better job of actually teaching children life long skills which can be applied in real-life situations. A general term, essential “skills” to me include problem-solving, hard-work ethic and the ability to communicate with peers and adults. Although schools have attempted to teach these skills, these skills need to be applied in a real-life situation. Once this occurs, our generation will truly be getting educated.
My strong opinions contrary to traditional schooling systems are seeded in my experiences as a student. The pressures that have been put on me throughout the years from a variety of sources have lead me to re-evaluate how and what I have learned. From such a young age, I have been compared to my peers by both other students as well as teachers. It is because of this that kids are constantly in such competition with one another, and schools have a very negative environment. Schools must begin to educate their children with lessons that can travel far beyond the classroom walls.
Don’t get me wrong; I strongly believe that it is necessary to receive an education of some sort. School is necessary, but real-life experiences are essential as well. Depending on each person’s station in life, the means of receiving that vital education will differ. To some, receiving an education might mean working at a specific job all year and learning real-life lessons and skills. To others, receiving an education might mean studying abroad and visiting every art museum in Greece in order to learn more about the past which enriches our culture today. Despite this, although everyones means of receiving education will differ, the end result is essential.
Some may argue that if traditional school was this harmful to the development of adolescents minds, then why are children still enrolled in this system all over the country? I would never deny that school establishes a firm basis for a child’s skill set. But, it is these skills which are established at an early age that need to be nurtured in a real-life environment. At a young age of sixteen, I have already had the opportunity to travel overseas multiple times. During my times there, I was exposed to more first-hand examples of history than any history class could begin to explain. It was these experiences that taught me valuable lessons, in truth more valuable than school has ever taught. It is because of this that studying abroad in college is offered, and why it is one of the greatest opportunities students could ever take advantage of. Yes, fourth graders are not able to take a trip to Europe. But, skills could begin to be transferred to a real-life situation at a young age on a local level. Once this happens, I will believe that the true purpose of education is being achieved.
