I keep thinking about a girl I went to high school with who had Down's Syndrome. We'll call her Kelly for the sake of anonymity. Kelly was in a lot of my classes, and she had an aid that came to every class with her. However, she was never actually part of any class. Teachers never called on her. She didn't take the tests or quizzes. When we split into groups, Kelly and her aid always qualified as a whole group.
What was the point of having Kelly in the class? If the teachers and her aid felt that the material was too hard for her, they should have had her somewhere else learning skills that should would actually be able to use. If they felt that the material was within her comprehension, they should have worked to engage her more.
I can think of numerous other experiences where I encountered behaviors that, frankly, had students wasting their time in classrooms. There are so many cases where teachers give up on students who do not work hard. The students would sit in class with their heads on the desk, and sleep until the bell rang. However, they would go to auto-shop class, and they could practically teach the class. What was the point of forcing these students to sit through a Calculus class when they were clearly so enamored with and passionate about auto?
I have this very deep belief that the most important aspect of education is collaboration. I'm sure you have all heard me say this before. I have been thinking a lot about where this conviction came from. I'm starting to think I created this idea based on what I have NOT seen in my educational experience.
Our educational system is aimed at students who intend to go to college. However, not everybody wants to go to college. And that's okay. There are a million ways to contribute, to make money, to be happy, to be intelligent, without going to college. We need to find a way to accommodate students with a diverse set of goals.
For me, collaboration is the answer to a problem. Throughout this class, I have formed a very strong opinion that the reason the educational system fails in so many places is that it was not created to accommodate everyone. When I talk about collaboration in education, it is not limited to a classroom. I mean there should be collaboration across districts, states, etc... If we worked together to implement a variety of programs, we may be able to create an educational system everyone benefits from.
"You don't want to go to college? Okay, what do you want to do? You want to be a mechanic? Mayfield had a great vocational program for you! Let's get you signed up!" All of the sudden, a student who was once wasting his time sleeping in classes is now learning life skills he or she will be able to use passionately. This, however, will not happen until we work together to discover what students want to learn and how we can make that happen.
As long as we have students in classrooms who are not engaging or collaborating, we have students who are in the wrong place. We have students who are wasting their time. We have students who would benefit from learning something else that they believe to be pertinent to their lives.
Chrissy, I think you provide a very good point. I've never thought of this until now. It does seem that our school system is focusing on getting students ready for college, while at the same time alienating those who do not want to take that route. Just as our students have varying abilities and learning styles, our students also have different interests and goals for the future (that doesn't necessarily involve college). What type of research could we conduct to connect to these students? I wonder if there could be some type of national survey as to areas that students may want to pursue after graduating high school. If we are aware of areas of interest, then we could construct curriculum accordingly.
ReplyDeleteYour blog also made me think about the economy and education. We are currently experiencing a tough recession. As the cost of college rises, it is getting harder and harder for families to afford to send their children to receive a higher education. Because of the cost, there will most likely be a growing number of students that will not be able to attend college in the coming years. Again, just as you point out, how can we prepare these students to still go on to be successful in society?
You provide a very provocative conversation here. I think it is an issue that needs to begin receiving attention immediately as the cost of higher education continues to rise. It is now more affordable for most students to forgo the whole college experience. We no longer live in a world where a college degree translates to an expected job upon graduation. In fact more and more young people through a variety of channels especially entrepreneurship are realizing they no longer need college to be successful. It seems odd that the average income level for a household continues to drop and the average cost of a four year education rises. If a four year degree is no longer good enough should we start telling kids to start planning on obtaining additional degrees?
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