I have always been surrounded by Educated Adults, My Mother who attended College in my High School years. Achieved her masters in Administration, Her sacrifice and struggle though important for where she was headed, was at that time despised by me because she was not around durring my difficult challenges with High school. I was expected to succeed because she was successful. But there was no one around to address what i concidered to be unfair situations with my high school teachers. An Important factor to this writing because it is actually the foundation of my thinking towards Education.
John Taylor Gatto stated in his Article; Against School that "we have been taught(that is schooled) in this country to think of success as synonymous with, or at least dependent upon schooling, but historically that isnt true in either an intellectual or a financial sense. And a plenty of people throughout the world today find a way to educate themselves without resorting to a system of compulsory secondary schools that resemble prisons"
In my own experience in relation to that statement the High school setting was just that. A setting that resembled a prison. But in reality home life was not any better. it was a structure of very little affection and lots of rules that had consequences if they were not followed. Which brings me to my original point that without the proper structure of Education , the achievement of excellence for all is unatainable.
Way before K-12, I am of the oppinion that Education should begin in the Home. There is something to be said about the parent that takes the time to nurture their child, Talking to them about their dreams and incouraging them towards them. Teaching them nessesary principles of communication and the value of their own creative thoughts. There is important value in a hug, or a simple i love you. A comforting lap when a fall has left a scar there in establishing their worth. These things contribute in my mind to the well being of that child. Establishing the things that most class room's will not supply.The most informative years of a child are the first 5, in this time frame the child is like a sponge soaking up every word , every action, every visual, litterally everything that comes into that childs immediate space is caught, captured and has some kind of effect. by the time the child reaches their first teacher, the foundation has been set.
In his article dated monday September 24,2012 in the Seattle Times, Jerry Large spoke of a gentleman named Paul Tough that wrote a book called "How children succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the hidden power of character," which in some ways eludes to this point. Tough pulls together research and real world experiences that indicate the relentless pursuit of higher test scores and greater proficiency in this subject or that is not the way to produce success ful people. As the title says, if you want success, build character and the rest will follow. The book addresses the ways in which middle and uper income families have forgatten that. Togh used the analagy of a Rat that cared for its babies by licking and grooming when they were young and feeling stressed , do much better in life than those who were not comforted in that way. the rat study was a step toward proving strong early attatchment also helps humans overcome a lot of bumps later.
In fact Barry Boyce also mentioned some things in His article in the Shambhala Sun/May 2012 on page 75, That I found interesting and in some ways substanciate the same ideas from a different perspective. He began it as an introduction of an excersise for parents: They were to imagine that their child had excelled in school and college and then embarked upon their career. When they go for the Big interview they are bewildered that their education has not prepared them for the essential skills for the job, such as being able to calm yourself and regulate your emotions in a variety of situations; understand your own emotions, accurately percieve others' emotions and empathiize. In essence he states that these are the social and emotional skils that a person who experienced "optimal nurturing conditions" would develop durring childhood and adolescence and bring with them to their Adult lives.
Far too often the focus in classrooms as stated by Paolo Freire in Pedogogy of the Oppresed, Chapt 2;
Education becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. In stead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This is what is called the banking concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing , storing and deposits. They do, it is true, have the opportunity to become collectors or catalogers of the things they store. But in the last analysis, it is men themselves who are filed away through the lack of creativity, transformation, and knowledge in this (at best) misguided system. For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, men cannot truly be human. knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient , continuing, hopeful inquirey men pursue in the world, with the world with each other.
While this may seem as if then there is no hope of and educational system that truly meets the needs of our children, I am incouraged by; "The Answer Sheet:Mike roses resolution on Education." Within it there are several of his resolutions that increase the possibility of a better educational structure to help All of our children succeed.
1) To have more young people get an engaging and challenging education
2) To stop the Accountability train long enough to define what we mean by "achievement" and what it should mean in a democratic society.
3) To stop looking for a structural or technological magic bullet
4) To stop making standardized test scores the gold standard of student acheievement5) To assure that teacher professional developement gets increased and thoughtful support
9) To re think, or at least be cautious about, the drive to bring any successful practice or structure "to scale"A simple replication of practice in one community might not achieve the same results it di in its original setting
These are just a few, but I am of the oppinion that they caryy strength when it comes to finding the answer to developing a better way to address and impliment education so that all of our children not just all can be successful.
Works sited
JohnGatto
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“Against School: How School Cripples our Kids….”
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