1 of 59

Write now Article Tools

Boards of Education take pride in student averages. Teachers are rated by the number of students who meet or exceed the expected average. The merit of a school is based, not on the number of students who are gainfully employed after graduation, but on the grades scored consistently over a number of years. We measure the system based on how well students memorize formulas, dates, names, and words, and how well they recite what they have been taught.

Does it matter what they really know?

What we fail to accomplish in the process is a greater numbers of students who know how to think beyond the curriculum. Is it any wonder that some of the most scholarly cannot find suitable work? Did you know that many of our homeless are well-educated professionals, who just don't know how to use the education they have? Do you ever question why so many of our youth do not know what to study or seek as a career after high school? Is it possible they have been stripped of imagination, denied use of their creative power, and been subdued to a point where they no longer know what their options are?

Think of some of the most successful people you know. Isn't amazing how many of them didn't complete grade nine, let alone high school or college? What is the reason? Could it be that having been expelled from school for being unruly, objectionable or unable to meet the standards, they found the key ingredient that is missing in our school system? That key is the ability to think, to use sound reasoning, to imagine the impossible and belief in making dreams come true.

We praise our toddlers for their keen imaginations. We encourage their curiosity about everything they see, touch, smell and hear during those first years. We support them as they stumble and fall, and admire their attempts to be small, but important people. We do not chastise their attempts at greatness.

Then we send them off to school, where they are taught to sit quietly, color in the lines, using appropriate colors and interact with others on a socially acceptable level. Here their worth is based on the grade they achieve, not what they know about life in general.

We should be offering more awards for creative talents, expressive use of imagination. We need to add goal setting and inspiration for living into the curriculum. We need our children to keep up the process of growth long after the toddler stage. It is time to allow our children to express their emotions and teach them constructive ways to do that. Our course

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about The missing ingredient in education?
We want to hear your view. Write now!