Why Our Education System Sucks

Consider this a rant.  It may be all over the place.  It may be based on a very emotional time in my teaching career.  It may be whiny.  But, this is my blog, bitches!

I was home-schooled by my mom, alongside my sister.  I think my education was better than most because of this.  Though I believe there are some gaps in my education (applied science and math, especially), I feel I have a well-rounded education.  More than what I know, I feel like I have an advantage in the way that I think, and learn, and feel.  I find that I am able to think outside of the box, articulate my opinions and feelings, and exercise more creativity than many of my intelligent, conventionally-schooled peers.  I am a strong writer and communicator, and I certainly didn't get that way by following the "Jane Schaffer Method" or practicing "reading strategies."

There is a lot of jargon when it comes to teaching, especially teaching English.  The Jane Schaffer Method is a step by step way to spell out how to write the 5-paragraph essay.  Mapping out every single segment of a sentence turns my English students into little robots, who can build an essay out of a formula, but do not have to think for themselves.  Constant modeling and worksheets to fill in prevents them from using common sense and instinct to write a quality piece of work.  I believe students are just as stifled by learning to write this way as I am stifled to teaching this way.  I learned about including citations, bibliographies, and providing a thesis statement.  I knew, in general terms, what an intro and a conclusion was.  I knew each body paragraph should have a main point with evidence.  This is all I knew.  I knew grammar and spelling.  I learned new vocabulary words daily.  I wrote a lot.  Short stories, newspapers, and probably a dozen first chapters of novels, from the time I was 4 years old through...now.  Had I had these formulas and methods of writing shoved down my throat, I have a feeling I would have HATED writing.

Now, I know that not everyone is like me.  I am wordy and imaginative.  Language comes easily to me.  But is that nature or nurture?  Had I gone through the conventional education system, without being encouraged to write and read by my family, filling out worksheets and writing outlines and doing research projects in 3rd grade, would I still be a natural?  Would I be able to express myself through writing and speech like I can now?  I have a feeling not.  So, THANK YOU, parents.  THANK YOU for homeschooling and not squashing my creativity.

The other problem?  Low expectations.  Coddling.  Allowing late work and quiz corrections and making up literally everything.  Spelling out directions with extensive modeling and checking for understanding, with no consequences for not understanding.  Instead, it's the teacher's fault if a kid is totally spaced out, not doing their homework, or doesn't understand directions.  There is no "figure it out," no "I just told you what to do."  It is, teach to the lowest common denominator.  Bore the kids who have their shit together, because the low-motivated little space cases need you to hold their hand through even the simplest of assessments.

How does THIS prepare our kids for college and the job world?  Why are we creating adolescents who whine when they have to use their brains for even a second?  Who freeze when they are asked to take notes, needing to know exactly how to format them, whether they should keep them, if they are turning them in, etc?  Who WE are responsible for reminding about any homework or quiz assignment multiple times a day, and maybe even PROVIDE them with planners?  Who are unable to fathom how to attack any sort of creative writing assignment, even a freewrite?  Who you can tell the same thing to five times, and they still have no idea what to do?  Why is this acceptable?  Why is this how teachers are learning to teach?

This is why I'm homeschooling my kids.  This is why the US is falling behind.  The more "strategies" teachers are given, the more we do a disservice to our students.  We wipe their butts for them.  We teach them that figuring things out for themselves and trial and error are bad approaches to life.  We stick to our narrow focus every day, based on strict standards and daily objectives, unable to stray to a more natural mode of learning.  We are robots turning humans into robots.

Must.  Suck.  It.  Up.

I guess.