The following is a personal autobiography detailing my personal pull towards the field of education; this was written in the fall of 2015, and my major has since shifted to history and secondary education. Despite this, these sentiments are all still very real and describe myself and my deepest passions.
How are human souls, spirits, and intellects developed? For years I have pondered why my brain moves at the speed it does, and why I feel the emotions I do as strongly as I do. Growing up in a household full of music, literature, and exploration has given me opportunities many children have not and still do not have. These opportunities have led me through immense learning; they have brought me to a summer camp where I discovered my love for being part of children’s lives, and they have brought me to Luther College, where my degrees of knowledge, interest, and spirituality have been stretched farther than I could ever imagine. However, these opportunities have also led me to seeing the American Public School System as immensely flawed, and in need of insurmountable change.
When I began college, my frustration with the way schools ran, more as a detriment to children than a benefit, led me to major in Anthropology. Then one day, after a long and impassioned conversation with an education professor, I decided my powerful thoughts that relentlessly churned in the back of my mind were too important to ignore. Both this professor and I knew my calling was with children after that conversation. I knew my upbringing had brought me to a point where if what I wanted was change for children, then I would die trying to make that change. My passion for a life as an educator was sparked when I realized that public schools (where a majority of students attend), are structured to encourage conformity and not creative individuality and natural exploration (Strauss, 2015).
As the daughter of two educators, and one who has dedicated her life to bringing music and movement into the lives of young children (ages 0-5), early childhood has always been of huge interest to me. A person’s earliest years are, in my opinion, the most important. They are the foundation for all subsequent life experience and learning. Many preschools now are forcing brains to work on what they are not ready for; this discourages innate motivation to learn, and in turn is a huge detriment to the possibly unprecedented natural learning children of all ages can accomplish.
America’s education system needs a drastic increase in diverse learning environments, or I fear we are headed for a dystopian future of complacent, bored, and unprepared citizens (Lewis Brown, 2013). There is magic in the human mind; restricting that exploratory magic in schools, where children spend a prominent majority of their childhoods (approx. 943 hours per year), is restricting the potential present in our world (Chalabi, 2014). We expect so little from children in America, whereas in the right environment children can create worlds greater than the worlds’ best fantasy novelists, and bio-psychological connections no “traditional” classroom could ever offer (Rosin, 2014). This world needs students who think critically and deeply, understand the power in silence and debate, and know themselves and the defining factors that make them and their motivations unique. This world needs passionate humans who want to make their world a better place for all, and I believe powerful preparation for this kind of world starts with our youngest.
The most indisputable point a person could make is that children are society’s future. If we want a better and brighter future, then we have to look at what will truly provide our children with a better and brighter life of learning. My desire to be a teacher comes from my innate drive to help as many children as I can live the happiest, healthiest, and most thoughtful lives they can. Education is one of the most important realms of discussion and experience in our world, and everyone is worthy of it. I want to reach children in their prime, so that they have a foundation of love and yearning for learning. I want children to feel inspired to do what they feel driven to, so that we have a world filled with as many masters of the art of living as possible. I know that we can only "get there", if we listen to our children and actually try and meet their needs, rather than those of greedy testing companies and an even greedier government. It's time to take a hint from the regional master of appropriate, joyful, and holistic education itself: Scandinavia. Let's learn to love and play again, and I believe we will all be better for it.
References
Chalabi, M. (2014, September 4). American Kids Will Spend An Average Of 943 Hours In Elementary School This Year. Retrieved from FiveThirtyEight.
Lewis Brown, L. (2013). Comparing Preschool Philosophies: Montessori, Waldorf and More. Retrieved from PBS Parents.
Rosin, H. (2014, April). The Overprotected Kid. The Atlantic.
Strauss, V. (2015, April 21). How to really change education — excerpt from Sir Ken Robinson’s new book. Retrieved from The Washington Post.
