Solution, Part 2/2

Enrichment

  

     As discussed in the previous entries, education in the world is in somewhat of a bad way.  There are many problems, such as the lack of enrichment, the lack of cultural importance, and in general a rather lethargic attitude considering education.  Until those in charge of the scene take a step back and realize that education is a paramount force in the life of every single person, education of the less privileged will continue to be neglected, and humanity will continue to tumble in this vicious cycle, the blind leading the blind, until someone breaks the cycle.

     A large portion of this cycle is the lack of enrichment for gifted children throughout schooling.  Teachers and programs are required to make sure as many students as possible pass the course, which results in teaching to the lower end of the intellectual spectrum by default, rather than taking chances the smarter students would ultimately benefit from.  A combination of these two issues, both poverty and enrichment, is found in a collective effort in the Western Journal of Black Studies, entitled "Experiences of Pre-Service Elementary Teachers in an Urban Summer Enrichment Program" found here.  It is written:  "For children from low-income communities this phenomenon means that they always have teachers with little experience when what the children truly need are experienced and highly motivated teachers who have high expectations, a caring demeanor, and knowledge about how to teach them."  This problem is massive, as these children are given a lazy education, and while the slower of them receive the same grades as the gifted ones, neither group wins, as both require an educational curriculum which caters to their specific needs.

Solution, Part 1/2

A small classroom, an important solution

    Education today, as outlined in the previous posts, is inefficient.  Many students are not being taught as they should be, whether the material be too complex or not challenging.  Class sizes in many schools are far above the numbers they should be, which forces students to be herded into large, broad groups instead of being taught in smaller, more need-specific classes.  Dr. F. A. Fan writes in the journal Research in Education, in his article Class Size: Effects on Students' Academic Achievements and Some Remedial Measures found here that "For first through to seventh grades, using student–teacher ratio as a measure of class size, Ferguson found that district student achievement fell as the student–teacher ratio increased for every student above an eighteen to one (18 : 1) ratio."  It's a simple inverse relationship; as class size increases, the quality of teaching decreases.  This leads to an obvious conclusion, which is that the size of classes must be diminished.  This is, of course, not immediately possible, due to many constraints which reach beyond the realm of education, such as economics and sociology.  As such, an important solution to the problem of education would be to reduce class sizes, which involves getting more money into the education system, and placing more cultural importance on individualization education.

     Building on this idea, it is also important to redefine the importance of education for all people.  In many cultures, it is still the norm for women to and the poor to not receive a good education, assuming they would receive one at all.  It is imperative that everyone be offered good educational opportunities, otherwise many potentially great minds will be squashed, as intelligence knows no social boundaries.  And furthermore, those who are given the right to education will be taught to restrict education to other, which will only perpetuate the problems that are currently faced.  These are only some solutions; more ideas will be discussed in the next feture.

The State of the Situation, Part 2/2

The liberal arts diagram

    All around the world, a new style of higher education is taking hold.  This style, liberal arts, is a type of education that centers around creating a well rounded individual, rather than focusing solely on particular and specialized fields of study.  Students that are taught this way tend to have more cultural awareness, look at problems in unique and varied ways, and have a better understanding of ethics.  Robert Harris writes in his article "On the Purpose of a Liberal Arts Education" found here that "The diverse body of knowledge you will gain from a liberal arts education, together with the tools of examination and analysis that you will learn to use, will enable you to develop your own opinions, attitudes, values, and beliefs, based not upon the authority of parents, peers, or professors, and not upon ignorance, whim, or prejudice, but upon your own worthy apprehension, examination, and evaluation of argument and evidence."  The benefits of this style of learning are clear, and as a result, it is becoming a vital aspect to universities around the world.

     Liberal Education is an important aspect of many universities in the United States, but also is found around the world, a shining symbol of the improvement of education around the globe.  For example, Ashesi University in Ghana is a liberal arts college which focuses on the improvement of the self, as well as education, which creates a better learning environment and gives a good education.

In the next section of this feature, we will look at possible solutions to the problems with education.

  

The State of the Situation, Part 1/2

Boring Classroom

     Education today, despite all of its evolving and improvements throughout times, is still riddled with problems.  Students today are unchallenged, and this leads to boring, unfulfilling work which has become a infused with the average drone of the school day.  This boring day is not just restricted to those who do not care about school, either, as each day intelligent children are intellectually starved of enrichment they need to reach their fullest potential in the name and service of teaching the the entire class, instead of specializing education to tailor each student's needs.  

     When the average pre-collegiate teacher looks at the notion of homework, they see a task, often meaningless, which must be given to students.  This is not just an educational decision, but it is also used to instill discipline as well.  This is an incorrect decision; Students require homework to be an important part of the classroom experience, instead of the busy work it has become now.  The consequences of this are outlined in an article on education.com which can be found here, the author compares a good teacher to a misguided one, saying "his class’s homework average was 87, but the class grade average was only a 72. Talk about a negative correlation. The interpretation here is that the homework which is done is not done properly; the students just rushed through in order to have something for this teacher to look at when it was checked".  When the homework is not just boring, dull work assigned to students to keep them busy, it can actually have a positive impact on the student.  

     Students face a number of problems presently, and while some of them are not placed upon them by the system, a lot of them are, and teachers and administrators need to look at how they're choosing to educate their children, and then decide if there are better alternatives.

The History of Education Part 2/2- The United States

US Department of Education, image here.

     

     Education in the United States began in a far more advanced state than that of say, Britain or France, since obviously the North Americas were not discovered until the 15th century.  And furthermore, education began in the Americas before the United States officially came to be, as before the Revolutionary War the eventual states were but colonies.  These colonies had education systems, and even passed laws which required children to be educated to understand religion and laws of the commonwealth.  Privatized education was also a big deal then, and wealth and intelligent people such as Benjamin Franklin opened their own private academies to educate.  

     Not many events in history had a large effect on American education, as but a major one was the civil war, and the racism before the civil rights movement in the 1950s.  Minority students were denied a good education, and this hampered American education through the entire 19th century, and its effects are still felt today.  In his article The Man With The Dirty Black Beard in the Journal of the Early Republic here, Harry L Watson writes on the holding back of minorities: "warning that schools must strengthen the 'social distinctions between races . . . , not only for grave political reasons, and to preserve a proper respect for authority, but, also, on the most obvious grounds of moral propriety.’"  It is clear here that Students who were not white anglo-saxon protestants like the majority were held back, and this has created a cultural divide which exists to this day.

     As time went on and educational sciences became more prevalent, schools began to become a necessity in the States.  In what is dubbed by experts as the "Compulsory Era", states were eventually forced by federal mandate to offer public grammar and secondary schooling.  By 1913, all states had compulsory school attendance laws.

     Despite the great advancements made in the 200 or so years of American education advancement, there were some large problems too, which have created serious problems which will be discussed in the next two features.

The History of Education Part 1/2- The World Abroad

An old photo of a Japanese Classroom found here, demonstrating the history of education abroad.

     Education has had a long and storied history throughout time, one that begins at the start of human existence. The transformation of education, however, remained static for a large portion of this time.  Before writing, obviously, it was completely oral, and even after the invention of written language, social stratification restricted the passing of formal knowledge to only a privileged few.  The first evolutions in the field of education started in the Medieval era, albeit these changes were slight.  Nicholas Orme writes in his article "What Did Medieval Schools do for Us?", which can be found in History Today here, "In 1382 William Wykeham founded Winchester College - the first school to be a fully-endowed and self-governing institution. It provided education, board, and lodging for seventy scholars. Previous schools had been largely (though not totally) dependent on charging fees. Winchester offered teaching free of charge, but it was not available to everyone."  This college, Winchester College, is a landmark in the history of education in Britain, and in Europe in general.  These colleges began springing up throughout the continent, and similar institutions found elsewhere in the world, and advanced the ideas of education irrevocably.  

     Continuing throughout history, many eras come and go.  The Renascence, for example, had a massive impact on education as religion began to become less important to education, and theology was no longer intrinsic to education, though its importance was undeniable.  Decades later the printing press was invented by Johaness Guttenburg, which allowed knowledge to be imprinted, and then mass produced and distributed everywhere, whereas before Guttenburg books had to be hand written.   Moving on into the Victorian era, European influence spread across the globe.  Organizations such as the Jesuits spread education all over, and the more traditional values began to take hold through colonization.  This created some problems as well, however as a gulf between Europeans and "westernized" peoples began to uncover knowledge, and the indigenous people remained illiterate, the ill effects of which are still felt today.  Sylvia Schmelkes writes in "Adult education and indigenous peoples in Latin America", found here in The International Review of Education "In the case of Mexico, for example, the 2005 illiteracy rate of the non-indigenous population (6.7%) aged 15 and older must be multiplied by a factor of five to obtain the illiteracy rate of the indigenous population for that same year (36%)".

    In short, the evolution of the educational system has been a long and winding road, ending at multiple paths, depending on where one looks.  In the next segment, the history of American education specifically will be examined.