There are four things in this world that I would drop everything I was doing to engage myself in. They are, in order of priority, 1. Helping a student with general chemistry, 2. Singing Les Miserables' "One Day More", 3. Entering a chicken wing eating contest, and 4. Sitting down to talk about education. So, it was no surprise that when Prince Ea dropped a slam poem entitled "I Just Sued the School System", I needed to put myself into the discussion. As a senior who has endured all but the student teaching aspect of my collegiate education degree, I have a nine hundred and six different ideas about secondary education and what it means to be a teacher.
For those who have yet to see this incredibly well orchestrated slam poem by Prince Ea, I would highly recommend searching it and spending six minutes of your time watching and listening. The poem is gorgeous and beautifully illustrates what an average public school looks like in the United States. Outdated, traditional, grade focused, and teacher centered. It is an illustration of what millions of students in elementary and secondary education endure for eight hours a day, 180 days a year. How can we as Americans have state-of-the-art technology that is rapidly evolving but still be using an education system that is over 100 years old? Why does our education system hold all students to the same academic ability when each individual student is gifted in a different area? What is the deal America?
In his "The Process of Education" book published in 1960, Jerome Bruner indicated there were two ways for students to learn. The first way a student can learn is by learning a skill. Take for example solving an algebraic equation for x. Once the basic algebraic steps are learned, that skill can be further applied to solving multi-variable algebraic equation or it can be applied in the sciences when solving for an unknown mass or volume. The second way a student can learn is by learning a general idea or concept. An example of this can best explained through the sciences. Understanding the Law of Conservation of Mass helps rationalize what chemical stoichiometry is (high school chemistry will never leave you).
Along with the two basic ways of learning presented by Bruner, there are different presentation styles. In 1983, Howard Gardner published his famous work, "Frames of the Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences", which explained eight different presentation types, intelligences, that teachers could utilize to reach different types of learners. These eight intelligences (musical, logical-mathematical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, and linguistic) lend themselves to different teaching styles teachers can utilize to present content material. In any given classroom, a teacher is most likely using a combination of two or more intelligences every time they teach.
These are two educational theories of probably 42 (or more, I am not counting) that exist. So why have teachers not taken the time to develop a teaching philosophy and pedagogy off all the 42 possible theories out there? It seems as if teachers could easily individualize all their lessons to highlight the potential in every student because there is a solution out there for everyone.
Not only do we expect our teachers to find a way to reach every student they have, teachers also have to adhere to standards, which capitalize on the fact that every student should be receiving a balanced education that somehow needs to be measured. The easiest way to measure if a student has learned a standard? Assessments. Assessments to measure the content objectives the students need to meet; assessments to measure the success of the school district or the state; assessments that are government mandated such to decide how much government funding that school receives.
Our public school teachers are mandated to teach certain curriculum, objectives, and standards. Students then need to reciprocate this wealth of knowledge teachers are expected to teach, by taking standardized tests, state competency assessments, and do not forget, students also need to be assessed by the teacher to make sure they are learning.
It is not possible to just change public education overnight. Much like we respect doctors to practice medicine, we need to respect teachers to practice education. There are thousands of young adults who are devoting their entire collegiate careers to educate themselves on education (metacognition, or no?). Have faith in this slow transition from our traditional education system to the modern, hip, progressive education we all want so badly for our young students. It is not always exceptionally easy to respect every teacher, but know that the majority of the educators you have had, did care. They just might not have been able to push through the high walls that is the political and bureaucratic government that is behind all public education.
