New Athenian Academy

I am currently a high school social studies teacher and love my job…  There’s the disclaimer, now to my real thoughts of the topic of education.  Some days I find myself wondering why any teacher does their job. What is the purpose?  Some days I feel like a prison warden, just keeping the inmates from escaping or hurting others.  Other days I see little glimmers of hope for society.  But why do we do it?  Why do we deem it important, something that every child in America must endure for at least 12 years?  I’ve been comtemplating this lately and cannot find a good answer.  What is the purpose?  I used to think it was to give our children the skills they would need to survive and succeed in the world.  But when I look at what we actually do day to day in education, that cannot be the answer.  We don’t teach children to succeed, we teach them to be mediocre, to get the “right” answer and finish their worksheets on time.  I’m not putting myself on a higher pedestal than most, I’m guilty of this.  There are some days that I would rather just give my students a fill-in worksheet than really “teach.”  The education system as a whole does not operate anything like the “real world.”  We teach students to not ask questions, not think of any innovations, not strive for beyond the established curriculum, not think for themselves.  Don’t get me wrong, I have seen a few bright spots at all the schools I have been in, but overall we are drowning in a sea of standards and worksheets.  What are we trying to get out of education?  What is the ultimate goal? My answer — I don’t know.  Maybe we need to start with that question before talking about education reform and willy nilly passing laws and regulations.  Start with the end result and work backwards.  Now… on to the task of actually answering the question….

Tobe

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Education Process by Tobe