by Matthew J. Geiger

Created on: August 03, 2009

Unschooling is a very poor and unhelpful term that describes a movement to push education beyond and outside of traditional classroom environments to the point of even rejecting the school model in extreme cases. Although there is certainly a need to redefine, as well as reform, education in the United States, it cannot be improved by simply throwing out the textbook. Instead, education must better utilize the classroom environment, as well as alternative settings like the Internet or home, in conjunction with far more dynamic textbooks and other resources to provide students with the learning tools they need so they can learn in the real world, where it counts. While learning can be accomplished in a variety of environments, wetting the thirst for learning is the only way of ensuring students can be successful.

Not all public schools in America are disastrous failures; however, the primary education in America needs improved greatly. Aside from discouraged teachers, a lack of supplies, poor learning environments, and students living in disparaging home environments, failing schools in American are not successful because they require a proper directive that can help students be successful in life. Giving students tools and opportunities to learn through invention is the only way to improve the school system. Too often, Americans focus on education in other countries and use standards that measure success in a few subjects through quantitative means. In doing so, we allow our education system to be devalued versus defining it in a distinctly American way and measuring success in terms of creativity, innovative thinking, and individuality through the expression of unique talents that contribute to our society.

Testing too often focuses on questions that could be answered by an encyclopedia or an analytical computer program. The strength of the American education system comes from our ability to ask questions which have not been asked and push beyond today's knowledge. For example, schools, especially those with violence issues, do provide an excellent training ground for social interaction that forces children together in a closed environment instead of allowing differences to push them apart. America has long guided the world in resolving international disputes and building strong relationships, so schools can be a valuable resource when it comes to training students in conflict resolution and social networking. Moreover, American schools

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