The education system in the United States seems to be in need of an overhaul. Although there are many great ideas being discussed, not many of them are being implemented. There are several issues which need to be addressed:
-Flexibility in curriculum- All students are not equal. They may have equal rights to an appropriate education, but appropriate for a rocket scientist is not necessarily appropriate for any other field. Why can't education celebrate a child's individuality? Convenience? That hardly seems a worthy excuse, when we are deciding the future of a person. Cost? What about the cost we entail in stunting our future leaders, inventors and artists? Can we even put a value upon that? Individuality should be addressed and I believe that this issue may not be so inconvenient or costly if addressed with the modern convenience of the computer and distance learning. Each child should be able to access a teacher anywhere in the world, teaching any subject known to mankind.
-Mobility-Simply put, the information age has arrived with or without our approval or recognition. Most students can utilize this technology quite proficiently, when exposed to it. Taking advantage of that proficiency seems to be the key to restructuring our education system. Compact disks, DVD's and e-books use no paper, take up less room, and don't require our children to lug around those monstrous backpacks!
-Career planning- If the basis of a good education is desirable future employment, then let us address this early in a student's education. The career and technical schools have done many good things for students in high school, but what about middle school? High school is a pressure cooker of earning credits and passing graduation exams. Middle school students are old enough to develop an interest in a career, if some of the choices are placed before them. This would also give the school the opportunity to observe a student's like and dislikes, aptitudes and help them develop a good work ethic. Many careers are changing due to employers exploring new, more efficient ways of working, such as telecommuting, which saves fuel and requires a totally different skill set from those employed using face-to-face interaction. The education system stays behind in teaching careers because the education system itself is inefficient. By the time our educators are able to teach a hot, new career, the wave of the future has already passed.
-Multi-paced learning-All children do not learn at the same pace, nor do they process information in the same way. Variable learning styles have been discussed for years, but why are we not taking advantage of this knowledge? Why not allow children to progress at their own pace? Why is it so necessary for children to be lumped into a category based solely upon their age level? When they go to work, will they only be working with their age group? Not likely. If it takes a child longer to learn math, but he quickly processes language skills, why not let him progress in the language classes and stay behind to fully comprehend the math? Maybe in addition to No Child Left Behind, we should add No Child Shoved Ahead.
If a child learns visually, by all means teach him visually. If the child is an auditory learner, give him something audible. Most students are taught exclusively with these two methods. Who is addressing the tactile learner? The classroom environment with the teacher lecturing is not very conducive to tactile learning. Why must this type learner be relegated to the end of the line? Many teachers probably could teach one style or the other better, too. With all the money we could save in books by going to computers, why couldn't we hire teachers with teaching styles geared toward specific learning styles?
-Financial guidance-Nothing brings this lack in education to the forefront more than the financial crisis in the United States. Our children have been spoiled into thinking that anything they want is coming to them. Many of them have no clue as to where the money comes from, or where the money goes. Teaching our children financial responsibility and the skills needed to properly invest for their future is paramount. What good will come from a great job, if they can't budget their money?
-Volunteerism- I hear this term bantered about, but I haven't seen much evidence of it in our education system, except for the poor education employees who are required to volunteer time before and after the workday. The children should be allowed school credit for worthy volunteer activities. This not only gives them work experience, but it opens their eyes to issues within their very own community. Some of the volunteer activities approved should be political. Our children must know how our county makes decisions in order to participate in the process as adults.
-Mentorship-Mentorship is one of the wonderful ways our children can benefit from their education. When they are young, they can benefit from a mentor, and when older, they can be a mentor to others.
As a general rule, our children should have more choices in the type of education they receive. When they are forced into situations that are not suitable for their particular skills, and denied situations which are suitable, it affects them for their entire lives. As of 2005 the cost to educate a child in public school in my county was almost $7,000.00 per year. How could we adapt the education system to make the most of that $7,000.00? My state has begun to meet that challenge by implementing the statewide distance learning program, which gives access to more choices in curriculum for selected schools. I have high hopes for this program and hope it is accepted and will maximize the opportunities of a worthwhile institution.