What’s Wrong With Education?

From time to time, I am going to be posting entries from other people besides myself. I think this is a good idea to get some discussion started. As you may have noticed, I can be one dimensional at times. Now, I will identify which posts are not mine and will give credit to the person who sent them to me, if they want. I want to let you know that I may or may not agree with what is written in these posts…I am not going to say. Hopefully these points of view will stimulate discussion. Also, I have only asked that people I respect write for me and I also review what is written, so as you read, you can rest assured that what you are reading is absolutely brilliant.

Here goes…some insight from an educator…

Written by Steve Henry

The state of public education in the United States is in shambles. From pre-k through 12th grade, American students are suffering from the lessening of Arts education and Physical education. Apparently the school boards of America feel it is much more important to impose “sit and get” strategies for students to “buckle down” and get “back to basics.” Teachers are held hostage with the threat of losing their jobs if their students do not meet certain percentages on some standardized test at the end of the school year. Because of this, teachers are forced to shove facts down the student’s throats for rote memorization. This country was founded on individuals who thought outside the box. These were Men and Women who relied on ingenuity and hard work. What we are doing to the students of this country is a crime of massive ramifications for our future.

Research data from Improving Basic Education for All Learners: The Role of Arts Education Arts education helps raise SAT scores by an average of 34 points higher on the math portion, and 48 points higher on the verbal portion compared to students with no Arts education. Current research has led researchers to hypothesize that continual participation in Arts education stimulates brain development in areas that are critical to higher-level thinking, emotional maturity, and social functioning. Similar research shows that children who also sweat a lot, because of continual physical activity, score higher on exams, and are more socially stable.

Arts education and Physical education

– helps students understand “quality” as an important value
– helps guide thinking across subjects by teaching students to integrate knowledge and “think outside the box”
– builds an understanding of the diversity of our multi-cultural world
– strengthens academic performance, and
– teaches students how to work cooperatively

It is not too late to save our future. We must stand up to the politics that are ruining our educators and students. A message must be sent to the public school boards across this country, a message that says we want our children to learn how to learn, and not worry about end of year testing. A message that says we want out children to be life-long learners, to take chances, try new things, and not worry about a score on some so-called standardized test. Ten years from now, do we want leaders that just stick to the “basics?” Perhaps we want leaders and citizens that use ingenuity and hard work, citizens that can think outside the box and forge a place for the United States in the coming global community.