"Schools should be designed to prep human beings for real life."
-@KanyeWest
First, much thanks to Kanye West for his Twitter rant on Wednesday night which brought much attention to a topic which both the federal and state government have been trying to tackle and improve for decades now: our nation's education policy. It's already a well known fact around the world that for a developed country, we don't fare well in comparison to other countries when it comes to academic performance. Once you get past the nonsensical rambling and grammatical errors, Mr. West raises some good points for a celebrity who wants to become more involved and make a difference as far as improving education policy is concerned. But we can't always expect our celebrities to fully grasp the core and depth of the issues we peasants face. Using his tweets, hopefully I can make sense of them and take this window of opportunity ,now that Kanye grabbed everyone's attention, to explain what we truly need to know about education and how to improve.
First, yes, Kanye is right our school system should prep us for real life. We can use this tweet to raise the issue that many schools are currently teaching to the test. Our our students really learning if the curriculum has to be centered around the standardized tests used to determine student's performance in comparison to other student's around the nation? Not many teacher's have the leg room or the time to develop a curriculum that works for them and is also based on the strengths and weaknesses of their students. So in fact, especially in urban inner city schools, our school system is '"prepping human beings" for TESTS.
"Math classes should teach addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, accounting and money management aaaaaand cut!!! "
I agree with "math classes should teach" up until accounting. For second graders, I am not really sure that accounting would work out to well. But is it worth a try, perhaps? Yea, Maybe not. Essentially learning the basics of addition and subtraction is important in elementary school. Money management essentially uses all those basic mathematical operations. So in fact kids are learning money management but in a gradual step by step process which can lead to more complex mathematical formulas learned later on in High School (algebra, trigonometry, geometry, etc). However, I do suggest that math classes on money management be taught to our current elected officials in Washington so that they will be able to handle our financial national budget and debt crisis for 2012 (Just had to throw that in there sorry!). However whatever "cut" is, I am not completely sure.
"Instead of kicking kids out of schools for using there iPhones... why not promote it? Allow kids to use search engines to do test..."
I don't know where this happens, but I sure hope students are not really getting thrown out of their school for using their phones. Promoting kids to use search engines for tests? Eh, that would defeat the purpose of studying making our already technologically savvy students even more reliant on technology to think for them. However, the advancement of technology should not only be utilized for pleasure and angry birds, I do agree more schools should promote the use of technology to make lessons come alive and information more readily accessible.
"Some kids have better memories than others... what about emotional IQs... what about kids who do bad in school because of how bad there.."
Tis true. Some kids have better working memories than the next students. There are also different types of intelligence. Psychologist Howard Gardner lists 9 types of intelligence (click) which emotional IQ would probably fall under "Interpersonal Intelligence" also described as "people smart". Kanye West makes a note of his strength labelling it "creative", something Gardner would describe as West's "Musical Intelligence" or being "music smart". The American school system places such strong emphasis on general IQ without taking into consideration that while a student may not have the best IQ, they probably have strengths in other areas. We need to foster an academic environment which embraces all the different types of smarts a person can possess so kids don't have to feel "dumb" just because they experience difficulty memorizing their homework or they aren't "book smart".
Yes, it's a given. A typcial "bad" school probably won't have a high graduation rate of 88%, but the problem in America with education has a deeper stem then politicians and school districts would like to acknowledge. When it comes down to it, our "seriously in need of improvement" education policy boils down to our nation's apathetic attitude towards it. Other countries which excel in academic performance are the very ones that place education as a top priority and on a pedestal. Here, our students are treating it as a chore instead of an opportunity which many students in third world countries have to fight and face hell and high waters just to see.
Education need to be a priority and it is not, it usually gets knocked down to the #8 on our nation's agenda. Do we really value education? If we did, then maybe we wouldn't allow students who read on a third grade level to go on to fifth grade and expect them to do well on a standardized test which uses a fifth grade reading level. It should be seen as injustice to have students cramped up in a classroom of 32 with just one teacher while in a wealthier district the classroom size is smaller with a teacher who isn't burnt out. If we truly valued education, all children would be given the same educational opportunities to learn and advance in this country. But instead, our education/academic programs in our nation are usually among the first to get cut. Kanye West you're right we do need to put our ideas together to create more ideas. However, first, we need to change our attitudes and promote equality and social justice in our school systems if we are ever going to alter the school system, improve academic performance on a national level, and begin to actually prepare students for a life based on this "American Dream".
Education need to be a priority and it is not, it usually gets knocked down to the #8 on our nation's agenda. Do we really value education? If we did, then maybe we wouldn't allow students who read on a third grade level to go on to fifth grade and expect them to do well on a standardized test which uses a fifth grade reading level. It should be seen as injustice to have students cramped up in a classroom of 32 with just one teacher while in a wealthier district the classroom size is smaller with a teacher who isn't burnt out. If we truly valued education, all children would be given the same educational opportunities to learn and advance in this country. But instead, our education/academic programs in our nation are usually among the first to get cut. Kanye West you're right we do need to put our ideas together to create more ideas. However, first, we need to change our attitudes and promote equality and social justice in our school systems if we are ever going to alter the school system, improve academic performance on a national level, and begin to actually prepare students for a life based on this "American Dream".
Link!
The Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence.
Don't forget to follow ---> @JusticeisBliss1
Don't forget to follow ---> @JusticeisBliss1
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