As an educator, I’m curious about what could be done to improve education and learning. When people say, “Our schools are failing” what does that mean exactly? Does it mean test scores are too low, attendance is poor, or the facilities aren’t up to standards? It is undeniable that politics is highly entrenched in the discourse of education. There are many people from several sides whom have their own set of ulterior motives. However, in order for education to succeed in today’s society, we need critical pedagogical thinkers.
The demand for accountability of teachers has been very persistent. From the ‘No Child Left Behind’ act to standardized testing, lawmakers have aimed to ‘quantify’ learning and progress. The criticism I have is that education isn’t something that can be charted on a graph with numbers and statistics. How are standardized tests supposed to measure areas such as creativity, critical thinking, and curiosity? Many aspects of learning aren’t easily definable at a macro level. In essence, it is more of an art than it is a science.
This isn’t to say that education should be primarily based on emotions. It is quite to the contrary. To provide teaching that will best help students grow and develop, we need to think more philosophically about what education is and what we should aim to achieve. Essentially, education is about these key principles: (1) the two-way exchange of information, ideas, and skills (2) the critical analysis of thought, perception, and reasoning (3) The synthesis of concepts to generate new works and ideas (4) The application of concepts to both the world and the self.
These principles may sound nonsensical to some, and as a result produce a curriculum that is rooted in pseudo-intellectual arrogance. So to put it more simply, students need to learn more than just little bits of information here and there (which they may quickly forget anyways). They need to learn how to think and act better.
Just because something is hard, does not necessarily mean it is important. For example, it may be difficult to remember the color hat Napoleon was wearing during the battle of Waterloo. But is that as important as being able to describe the political legacies Napoleon left on Europe? And sure, it might also be hard for students to do well if the teacher only uses one method of instruction. This is why “hard” and “challenging” does not inherently mean good and important. These are the key components of what is important for students to learn: (1) Should educate about the objective world (both physical and social) (2) Should be pragmatic of a student’s personal life (3) Should educate on a student’s curiosities.
Out of all of my philosophies of education, the most important one is the idea of student-centered learning. In many classrooms, students have the least say when it comes to their learning. This comes from the assumption that adults (teachers, administrators, lawmakers, parents) know best. However for education to work, students need to be able to make their own choices and follow what’s most curious to them.
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