Education at A Glance Both Forward and Back by Kerry L Marsala (01/05/05)

As we step forward into a New Year the majority of educators and administrators within leading countries are resolved to learn from their past mistakes and try to move forward for the betterment of the students.  Let us look where we have been and where we, as a society concerned for our youth’s education, want to go.

In the United States, we have tried to implement the “No Child Left Behind” Act and its components have been viewed both positively and negatively.  Most Republicans and Democrats alike agree that there should not ever be children left behind.  We recognize all are created equal and many opportunities need to be offered so one can obtain a complete education.  However, with any government run idea… too often-good intentions veer from reality.  The discussion of “No Child Left Behind” is not a part of this article though- that debate stands all on its own.  The point is the premise of fair and equal opportunities for all children and this attitude is the prevailing force behind not only the United States educational system, but for all developed countries as well.

Hear Lies an Educator- Overworked and Underpaid:

We find within the walls of fair and equal though a deluge of several frustrations and problems.  Many of our educators are overwhelmed, underpaid, overworked, and have become nothing more than “glorified social workers.”  The demands on our teachers time, bank accounts, mental and physical well being has not only the United States claiming we have teacher shortages, but there are shortages amongst all the leading developed countries.  It isn’t that there aren’t those dreamy eyed students going to college to become the next “Dead Poets Society” teacher, it is those tenacious dreamy eyed college bound students that become teachers and in five years of getting kicked in the groin decide it isn’t worth it.  The teachers that are leaving in large numbers are not saying the students are not worth it- what they are saying is that it is impossible to meet the demands of our educational system, the parents of their students, our government and our society.  Who in their right mind would work 24/7/365 for mere crumbs- when all they have to do is take their same degree brush up on it with a few college courses and have Intel lure them away with a 9-5 job? How enticing to have weekends off, and live above the poverty line with an excellent benefits package.  Would not the possibility of job promotions, pats on the back and the chance to have a life outside of a job, be tempting to anyone?

With more than a quarter of a million teachers leaving teaching every year, are we not undermining the quality of education our children deserve?  There is not a shortage of teacher’s coming into the profession, but there is an epidemic of them leaving.  Could this lead us possibly to deflating the teaching quality? The shortage has developed countries now looking to recruit teachers from overseas.  Any teacher, school parent volunteer or administer understands the impossible is being required of our teachers.  We give honor, money, and time too often to the wrong institutions.  Can you imagine asking our entertainment industry to work under the conditions we are asking those who are helping mold the next generation’s intelligence and views?  More teachers will leave within the 3-5 year margin- reality has it- in the case of being a teacher the grass is definitely greener on the other side. 

Testing, testing…

“Many tests appear to be more about responding to public pressure than about providing timely, relevant and meaningful information”  Nola Hambelton, International Confederation of Principals (BBC News 02/03)

To advance in our societies we have decided to begin testing to see where academically our students in the leading nations are standing.  We need a guide, a rule of thumb to understand where we have come from and where we are going with our educational system.  The problem with our design is we are becoming testing paranoid.  Easy enough to do with all the stress educators handle daily.  Teaching to the test has almost become an obsession with schools across the board.  Education is more than curriculum driven testing.  Having teachers coaching their students to the “test” is not a gauge for anything- it is harmful.  If all we are doing is teaching the children what we want them to say or which black dot to fill in with a number two pencil, how have they retained anything to help them with their lives?  When we compare testing scores within one city and marks are tallied against other schools within that town or city- without any room for all the variables- we are failing once again in another facet of our educational system. 

A measuring of performance to make sure the basics are being learned and digested is necessary.  However, is responding to lobbyist groups really providing relevant and meaningful information to parents, students, and teachers?  How we have implemented this plan is neither helpful nor beneficial to anyone.  Are we going to continue to keep throwing one band-aid on top of another to stop the problems within our educational system?  “No Child Left Behind” has some great components, but until we take care of all the other problems within our educational system and until parents begin to become a part of their child’s educational needs and overall well being- testing will be nothing more than the frustrated joke it has become.  Most educator’s are not opposed to testing- what they are concerned over is the misuse and misinterpretation of the imbalanced form of testing. 

Can Learning Our History Help Us?

The past is there for our learning, could it be possible that many of societies problems that have seeped into our educational system over the last twenty or more years be due in large part to the lack of understanding and knowing where we come from? 

We have a generation of parents who did not receive the best educational opportunities becoming parents of the next generation who attend public schools with barbed wire fences, metal detectors, and security guards.  If we are not giving our children anything, substantial to identify with of who they are where they come from, and what we stand for could we be creating our own chaos?  Without lessons from our ancestors and the generations of history that make us who we are have we robbed ourselves of grounding?  What do we have to compare what we are living now with if we do not take the opportunity to learn from our past?  Our history may not have all the answers, but our past is there for our learning.  It helps us develop our dreams, desires, needs, and wants.  When we cannot state with confidence the year of the war of 1812, what took place, and the outcome of the battle then we end up with idiot comments that all the United States was doing was trying to do was overtake Canada during that two-year war.  When in fact it was Great Britain, the United States on June 12, 1812- declared war on.  The United States declared the war because of long disputes with Great Britain and the impressments of American soldiers.  In addition, disputes continued with Great Britain over the Northwest Territories and the border with Canada. Finally, the attempts of Great Britain to impose a blockade on France during the Napoleonic Wars were a constant source of conflict with the United States.  How many of us know the difference between the American Revolution and the Civil War?  What was the Battle of the Bulge?  Why did the decision to enter into war against Japan bring us into WW II?  How did certain political environments bring about Vietnam?  Desert Storm? Our current war against terrorism?  Who was it that Hitler wanted annihilated from the face of the earth and why?  If we don’t study and learn why certain events took place in our history we will continue to repeat the rising powers that take advantage of strained economics and promote hatred, murder and obliteration of any tolerance for all humankind various views, cultural and religious beliefs.

Is the lack of knowledge by our students over slavery, hatred of the Jews and the abhorrence of radical Islamic followers to behead anyone they deem unfit to live why we had incidents such as- Oklahoma City Bombing?,  Columbine?, The Menendez Brothers? We must ask ourselves these tough questions, our children are depending upon us. The future generations to come who will run our nations are teetering dangerously close to the edge of oblivion.  Is it the lack of knowledge that leads our educators stress levels of playing teacher, social worker, parent, doctor, coach, mom, dad, provider, etc… to leaving their positions after only 3-5 years?  We must address the indifferences we have displayed for far too long.  If we desire teachers to teach then we as parents and society must take our responsibilities seriously and let our teachers get on with teaching.

With the importance of history in place, our children can form a sense of strong identity.  Identity brings about a strong sense of community and caring for others.  Children need to understand when things happened and why they matter to the lives they lead today and the events that our shaping our world today.  Basic knowledge and learning timeline dates helps us to understand the impact on our world today.  The value of integrating history into many facets of our education presentation would be priceless to the betterment of all humankind.  History does not have to be just a part of social studies it needs intertwining with math, writing, reading, art, and music.  History gives a sense of belonging to the bigger picture.  It helps direct our footsteps around incidents that were catastrophic.  It is the nurturing tool that feeds humankind to care, grow, and learn.

As we, step forward and reflect back let us carry with us the valuable lessons needed to save our developing countries educators, students and our ability to help others become a part of moving forward in their evolution towards a stable, well working country of their own.

We need to value our teachers, pay them their worth, and ease up on the responsibilities that are not theirs to carry.  Parents need to become parents and stop handing their children over to become wards of the state.  We need to implement a gauge of sorts to make sure our children are not only learning, but more importantly, they are retaining the education given them to help them with their future vocations.  Teaching our children only to a test that has not been established within a framework of apples to apples will only continue to leave our children behind. It is imperative that we give our children a sense of self through teaching history.  When a person has a strong sense of whom they are, where they are going and what they can do singularly and collectively you raise a society to the standards of continuity and peace.

Lastly, if we fail to learn from our past prior to our push to move forward it will not work.  People will just continue to become more selfish, lack ambition and motivation to better themselves, their homes, their schools, their communities, their cities, their nation, and their world.  Should we dwell on our past? No- but we need to study it, appreciate it, and learn from it.  Moving forward to a better and brighter tomorrow is within our abilities to fulfill.  Will we do it?

K L Marsala

cnuseeme@cox.net

http://www.right2think.8m.com