Something I have observed is that people are becoming more and more concerned with doing only the bare minimum, and "passing that test", rather than becoming truly educated. So as we move through the next couple of paragraphs, please take note of each experience and the trouble that our society is headed for if this pattern continues.
- I tutor english. I have usually 4 to 6 appointments any given day. Foreign students aside, most of these individuals don't know how to write. I don't blame them- they want to do their best, or they wouldn't be coming to me for help. I blame it on the teachers, who don't take time to teach the kids in middle and high school great literature. I blame it on focusing on pushing an agenda, rather than teaching what a great paper is composed of. When these kids come to college, and all of the sudden they're expected be able to argue, to theorize and speculate, and to show patterns, they can't. Many can't even define what a paragraph is, let alone keep the basic grammatical structure taught to me in grade school.
- I also tutor Information Technology 102, which is a basic introductory course. This course is a prime example of teaching to the test. Most of these kids' lives, they're taught to conform to the basics. In all other aspects of college education, they're taught to learn, and to grow, and expand knowledge in their own areas of preference. In this course, they're taught to all conform, and basically bow to the mighty test, not to learn computer skills.
It's really annoying. I just wish there was something I could do about it.
Dennis, after 33 years teaching secondary ed, in my experience most English teachers would prefer to teach the classics but are hampered by the demands of school boards and parents and "experts" who mandate that English classes should include exposure to all facets of society: "current" literature, minority authors, a certain % of women writers and on and on. So what gets pushed aside? The classics. Don't blame the teachers - they aren't always the problem.
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ReplyDeletei blame "no child left behind" and the government pushing standardized tests so much and cutting funding for schools that do poorly..
ReplyDeletefirst of all the tests measure a standard that's way too low; i could've passed the 10th grade "WASL" (the standard test in washington) in 7th grade, if not before. there should be more of a challenge if america wants to remain competitive in years to come...
because of the pressure and threat of funding cuts from the government, the curriculum becomes more and more focussed on getting kids to pass these tests, and since the tests are not challenging enough to begin with, all kinds of things DO end up getting left behind. math classes are repetitive and focus on the basics that will be on the test. same in science and english classes.
and, teachers sometimes *are* to blame. i know there are plenty of good teachers out there, first of all, but there are plenty of horrible teachers too. i had a science teacher in 8th grade who i regularly corrected because she had no idea what she was talking about; i'd learned about the same things in 3rd and 4th grade. again, a lot of the teachers i had in high school were passionless and didn't want to be there. if the teacher doesn't want to be there, how can you expect a student (let alone a group of 20, 30, 40...) to want to be there to learn from them?
this is why i dropped out of high school. i wanted to learn and teachers to learn from at my school were very very scarce. i took the classes they taught and left. luckily college is a completely different story. most if not all my teachers want to be here, i want to be here, i learn, and it's great!
Just curious... wouldn't a "lack of miseducation" be an abundance of education? When writing about education, as a little advice, you might want to check your post for grammar prior to posting it online. ;)
ReplyDeleteFixed it, Brando, thanks man. I wish that there was a grammar check here... ha. Even tutors aren't perfect :)
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