How does one become educated?
My philosophy of education is constantly evolving. It’s a topic that’s on my mind a lot in these days of testing, testing, and more testing. What exactly makes up the sum total of an educated individual? Or perhaps on a more practical level, what makes a person ready to enter the job market?
Obviously a person needs to be able to read and comprehend, to be able to communicate clearly via written and spoken word. Problem solving skills are important along with a mathematical set of skills and understandings. But I think some of the most important attributes are intangibles, things that are never tested, things like self-confidence, leadership, the ability to get along and work with others, tenacity, work ethic, diligence and honesty.
Under what I will term old school educational methods, when California schools were model schools for the rest of the country, elementary school was a journey through the curriculum created by seven distinctly different teachers. Some were strong in science and that year you got lots of science. Another year you might have a lover of books, so you’d get a year of wonderful literature. Another year might bring a journey in math. In the past teachers had the opportunity to teach to and emphasize their strengths. But that was old school, now we are in the age of scripted instruction, all teachers on the same page, doing the same thing. After all we have to increase those test scores.
I believe it is the manner and care with which children are instructed, rather than the content that makes a well-educated person. It is the collection of experiences gained and the interaction with a series of good teachers that is the substance of education. Few people fall back on high school chemistry to make a living. Rather it is the great experience in high school chemistry that may kindle the passion for science that leads to further education and career in science.
However, education is moving towards a scripted curriculum, all teachers doing and saying the same thing, delivering the same message, in the same manner. While this assembly line mentality works quite well for building toasters, the process of education deals with humans. If teachers are forced to do and say the same lessons the same way, the best you can hope for is mediocrity. Teachers are human, they have strengths and they have weaknesses, left to their own designs, they will teach in such a way that enhances their strengths. If forced to perform to a master plan, every teacher's effectiveness is diminished.
Today everything is focused on testing and academic performance. However, tests, especially multiple choice, machine scored tests, do not measure the most important elements of humanity, nor do they measure the most important aspects of education. To the extent that a test measures the accumulation of knowledge, I think they are a waste of time, and perhaps even misleading in their result. Never before has so much information been available at one’s fingertips, it’s not the quantity that you recall, but rather what you are able to do with the abundance of available information that’s important.
If you look back on your elementary and high school education, the teachers who touched our lives did so with their manner of teaching, rather than the substance of what they taught. Everyone can learn how to read, but a love of reading, education and books is essential to a solid education. Few people go through life unable to add or subtract, but great teachers sharing their passion, rather than the pages of a manual foster the love of numbers, problem solving and mathematics.
We need more exploration in education and a lot less teaching to the test and test preparation. We need to kindle the passion to learn, because passion is source of motivation. I have encountered many kids who are just going through the motions of education. They attend, they sit in their seats, they do the drill, they turn in their homework, they might even get “A’s”, but they are in school because they have to attend.
Instruction is wasted if the learner lacks motivation. I have never seen anyone struggle with learning something they are motivated to learn. Unfortunately, education is moving in the opposite direction. Scripted lessons, everyone on the same page, teaching to the test, will motivate no one.
On a personal level, think of the set of skills you call upon to in your daily life at work. Weigh and compare you “character traits” versus your “knowledge set.” Which is more important to help you be successful in your work life. And of your knowledge set, how much of it was due to the last couple of year of college or graduate school, or was most of it acquired on the job.
How did you get your job? Do you have a degree in sociology? The degree that got you into the interview so you could get the job selling pharmaceuticals? How often is it that you degree represents you ability to jump through a series of hoops, just so a big company will take a chance on you. After all, if you made it to a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies, you can probably master our six week training course so you can manage the production of our “widgets.”
Take my educational experience for example. I have an AA in business and a BA in liberal studies. Did that in any way prepare me to teach elementary school? My English classes were useful to hone my writing skills. Art for young children and children’s lit were useful. My science classes were good, especially life science and physical science, but how much more useful if I cold have taken them concurrently with an actual teaching assignment to focus on grade level curriculum building. However, so many of my "required" classes, including my student teaching seminars, were a mind numbing waste of time.
What has really been useful to my teaching career is raising five children, running my own business and the degree of maturity and life experience attained before I chose education as a second career in my mid thirties. I could have used a giant helping of child psychology. I wish someone along the way had engrained some organizational skills in me, so my desk wasn’t always a mess.
What do I count on every day? Confidence, I know I can accomplish whatever I set out to do. That came primarily from coach's and my experiences in sports. Communication skills and “kid skills” have developed out of experience and the interaction I have had with some great teachers and one exceptional administrator. In my current assignment, my computer skill set is all self-taught, an technical education motivated by a passion for technology, a passion I share with my students daily.
Obviously a person needs to be able to read and comprehend, to be able to communicate clearly via written and spoken word. Problem solving skills are important along with a mathematical set of skills and understandings. But I think some of the most important attributes are intangibles, things that are never tested, things like self-confidence, leadership, the ability to get along and work with others, tenacity, work ethic, diligence and honesty.
Under what I will term old school educational methods, when California schools were model schools for the rest of the country, elementary school was a journey through the curriculum created by seven distinctly different teachers. Some were strong in science and that year you got lots of science. Another year you might have a lover of books, so you’d get a year of wonderful literature. Another year might bring a journey in math. In the past teachers had the opportunity to teach to and emphasize their strengths. But that was old school, now we are in the age of scripted instruction, all teachers on the same page, doing the same thing. After all we have to increase those test scores.
I believe it is the manner and care with which children are instructed, rather than the content that makes a well-educated person. It is the collection of experiences gained and the interaction with a series of good teachers that is the substance of education. Few people fall back on high school chemistry to make a living. Rather it is the great experience in high school chemistry that may kindle the passion for science that leads to further education and career in science.
However, education is moving towards a scripted curriculum, all teachers doing and saying the same thing, delivering the same message, in the same manner. While this assembly line mentality works quite well for building toasters, the process of education deals with humans. If teachers are forced to do and say the same lessons the same way, the best you can hope for is mediocrity. Teachers are human, they have strengths and they have weaknesses, left to their own designs, they will teach in such a way that enhances their strengths. If forced to perform to a master plan, every teacher's effectiveness is diminished.
Today everything is focused on testing and academic performance. However, tests, especially multiple choice, machine scored tests, do not measure the most important elements of humanity, nor do they measure the most important aspects of education. To the extent that a test measures the accumulation of knowledge, I think they are a waste of time, and perhaps even misleading in their result. Never before has so much information been available at one’s fingertips, it’s not the quantity that you recall, but rather what you are able to do with the abundance of available information that’s important.
If you look back on your elementary and high school education, the teachers who touched our lives did so with their manner of teaching, rather than the substance of what they taught. Everyone can learn how to read, but a love of reading, education and books is essential to a solid education. Few people go through life unable to add or subtract, but great teachers sharing their passion, rather than the pages of a manual foster the love of numbers, problem solving and mathematics.
We need more exploration in education and a lot less teaching to the test and test preparation. We need to kindle the passion to learn, because passion is source of motivation. I have encountered many kids who are just going through the motions of education. They attend, they sit in their seats, they do the drill, they turn in their homework, they might even get “A’s”, but they are in school because they have to attend.
Instruction is wasted if the learner lacks motivation. I have never seen anyone struggle with learning something they are motivated to learn. Unfortunately, education is moving in the opposite direction. Scripted lessons, everyone on the same page, teaching to the test, will motivate no one.
On a personal level, think of the set of skills you call upon to in your daily life at work. Weigh and compare you “character traits” versus your “knowledge set.” Which is more important to help you be successful in your work life. And of your knowledge set, how much of it was due to the last couple of year of college or graduate school, or was most of it acquired on the job.
How did you get your job? Do you have a degree in sociology? The degree that got you into the interview so you could get the job selling pharmaceuticals? How often is it that you degree represents you ability to jump through a series of hoops, just so a big company will take a chance on you. After all, if you made it to a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies, you can probably master our six week training course so you can manage the production of our “widgets.”
Take my educational experience for example. I have an AA in business and a BA in liberal studies. Did that in any way prepare me to teach elementary school? My English classes were useful to hone my writing skills. Art for young children and children’s lit were useful. My science classes were good, especially life science and physical science, but how much more useful if I cold have taken them concurrently with an actual teaching assignment to focus on grade level curriculum building. However, so many of my "required" classes, including my student teaching seminars, were a mind numbing waste of time.
What has really been useful to my teaching career is raising five children, running my own business and the degree of maturity and life experience attained before I chose education as a second career in my mid thirties. I could have used a giant helping of child psychology. I wish someone along the way had engrained some organizational skills in me, so my desk wasn’t always a mess.
What do I count on every day? Confidence, I know I can accomplish whatever I set out to do. That came primarily from coach's and my experiences in sports. Communication skills and “kid skills” have developed out of experience and the interaction I have had with some great teachers and one exceptional administrator. In my current assignment, my computer skill set is all self-taught, an technical education motivated by a passion for technology, a passion I share with my students daily.
posted by Gary at 2:55 PM
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