I believe that the role of education in our society should be to teach the basic facts of learning: Expand students' knowledge through the subject matter, and to prepare the next generation for a future in our society in a local, national, and international scale. I believe that we, as a nation, have moved away from teaching the basics of education toward including so many areas to broaden the horizons of students that our core areas are being sacrificed. Our system seems to be moving to a more philosophical system rather than a factual system. We need to get back to the basic mechanics of reading, writing, mathematics, and science. Teachers are feeling the need to teach to the tests rather than teaching to the subject matter. They are also so caught up in the paperwork required, that they have little time to do any actual teaching. I have heard a teacher say that with testing and test preparation, she has lost an entire quarter (16 weeks) of instruction time.
I believe my personal values and beliefs conflict with today’s overall societal function of education due to agendas being pushed through education. I feel that today’s system is being used to plant the seeds of ideas into our youth. Learning is based on the philosophies and agendas of those who write the textbooks rather than actual fact.
My role as a teacher in this system is to make sure that my students are learning the basic mechanics of the subject matter. I want to nurture each student, make sure that I am a role model to look up to, encourage students to expand their knowledge, keep the subject interesting, and make sure that each student feels appreciated and respected in my classroom. Though these thoughts seem to be simple, I believe they are fundamental in my teaching career.
2 comments:
Miriam, I enjoyed reading your philog this week. I think you have an interesting perspective on this topic. While I agree with you that getting back to the basics of reading, writing, math, and science would most likely boost our nations educational standing on the international level, I can't help but wonder if sticking to the basics might leave some students feeling lost as to what to do with all of that information after graduating. I completely agree with you that all students need a good foundation in those basic subjects to be successful in any future educational endeavors and careers but I wonder where that leaves students with interests in more creative subjects like art and music? Do you think that by not incorporating those creative subjects into a school's cirriculum that teachers are doing a disservice to those creatively minded students? Or do you think that schools should solely focus on the core subjects and that creative subjects are better suited for other avenues such as after school programs? Nice job!
Hi! I really enjoyed reading your post. I would completely agree that teachers are teaching to the test and it doesn't leave much room for anything else. That in itself, is very discouraging. At the same time, I see the need to have some sort of regulation when it comes to our educational system. I see the need to have accountability and data to what this madness is about. It is frustrating to see so many weeks of testing going on but I strongly feel that we are in the right direction. It looks ugly and there is a lot to hash out but hopefully the system is changing so that these short cycle assessments won't take up so much learning time! Just trying to stay positive.......and hopeful!
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