Amid all the finger pointing and programs and money and high stakes testing nobody wants to adress the real problem with the schools. You can buy the most beautiful buildings, all the shiny high tech stuff, all the gleaming new texts and tests and you still will not be able to solve the problem. We are looking in all the wrong places. Turn your perspectives around and look at the kids and what they are doing. In most schools you have a great number of hard working decent kids who genuinely want to learn about the world, and then you have a significant number of kids who really couldn't be bothered with learning anything and only interest themselves with todays entertainment. For them disrupting classes and acting like fools to stop the learning process is all they are there for, and it seems their numbers grow year in - year out, while the hard workers dwindle and languish in hostile environments.
Blaming teachers seems to be the easiest way to deflect the blame from those who would remain blameless. Silly catch phrases and psychobabble(and government programs) like "No Child Left Behind","All Kids Can Learn","Kids First" and all that other syruppy blather that those politicians and PHD's spew simply obfuscate the situation. The problem isn't the adults, they are mostly working themselves to death trying to help a growing number of mal-contents help themselves. It's the kids. A teacher can prepare the finest lessons with the most outstanding resources in the most magnificent facilities and if a kid steadfastly refuses to try and learn you can't teach him/her. They will simply wall you off. Then after they fail their classes and their standardized tests they will blame the teachers because they didn't learn anything. Whats worse is their parents (the voters) will blame the teachers because their little angel child couldn't possibly fail or misbehave. The parents complain and the politicians point fingers, "restructure" schools and wonder why the problems persist.
It's the kids. By default it's the parents for not properly raising their kids but to point a finger at them isn't politically expedient. Better to punish the teachers and school staffs than to punish the ones causing the problems and wherein lies the rub. No one will stand up and turn the mirror on the kids and say look at you. Your schools are screwed up because of you. Bad for their self esteem? So what. The truth hurts and so does reality when these kids get out of school and figure out what the real world is like. Better to educate them on the realities of life while they are in school instead of providing a shelter for them to behave like animals and then expect to deflect blame for their actions.
Harsh stuff to be sure but somebody please correct me if I'm wrong. Until kids come to school prepared and desiring to learn we won't be able to fix the schools no matter how many "restructurings" we do. In fact we waste more money on programs and testing, firing and hiring of faculty, and new facilities and resources than we should. It's the kids. Place the blame where it belongs.
Suggestions:
1: Dismantle the giant "megaschools" and return to small neighborhood schools close to the students homes. If you have small schools with local kids in them you will eliminate the anonymity that serious problem kids rely on to get away with nonsense. If everyone knows everyone else they are less likely to act up.
2: Restructure the athletic programs to regional teams so that athletics can continue to flourish without having to concentrate large numbers of kids in one school to get to 5-A status.
3. Put cameras in every classroom in every school in the country. You can't go to Wall Mart, the bank, or through traffic signals without being filmed these days so why are classrooms the only place these kids aren't held accountable for their actions. Privacy? Your privacy ends where you trample the educational opportunities of your peers. Harrassment of teachers is a growing problem as well, and cameras in the rooms will document abusive behaviors for all to see. No more of that "I didn't do it" nonsense.
4. When a recalcitrant kid refuses to be responsible in a classroom get him/her out. The revolving door on the principals office needs to slam shut. Don't put the kid in an alternative school. If they want to be out of the classroom because they don't want to do classwork bring them outside to do landscaping, to the kitchens to wash dishes, or some other manual labor until they beg to go back to class. If they refuse to do that lock them up without any stimulation until the boredom shuts them down. Harsh? You bet. Better to be hard on them early than to wait until they disrupt classes so they can be entertained. Only let them back in class after they have paid a fierce price for disrupting school.
5. Get the politics out of education. Quit punishing your faculties, empower them.
IT'S THE KIDS!
You are correct in many ways. It has a great deal to do with the kids and the society that breeds them. It is outrageous to hear all of these people who so easily call teachers unqualified and incompetent. I teach, so I know that the majority of teachers are hard working and passionate about what they do. The system hamstrings them. They are overwhelmed by the number of students they must teach. I went to high school in Texas where my graduating class had about a thousand students in it. It has grown sense. The reason: to have a better football team! I played, but I see the problem with that idea now.
It is obvious that most of the critics of the public schools have no idea what they are talking about. One guy said that all teachers should be fired and only rehired when they can pass a competency test. Teachers already take tests to ensure their knowledge of subjects and teaching methods. How does a history teacher create a course that features in depth comprehension of historical arguments and train students to write intellectually when he/she has upwards to ninety students to deal with. It is untenable for sure.
Great post. I like the idea of making schools smaller. Maybe we should tear down all of those churches in the country and make them one-room school houses. That would truly bolster education in this country by providing better teacher-student ratios and getting rid of the religious propaganda and myth mongering.
Think also of the comfort and rights of others
I heartily agree. I am in fact a student. At middle school.
No matter how hard the teachers try, or how great they are, its the same kids I've gone to school with year after year.
There are also a lot of kids that do drugs, and alcohol and such. I just learned that, today. The kid who sits at my table deals drugs. His friends are "stoners". This other kid has a fake ID.
KIDS WON'T LEARN LIKE THIS!!!!
I am expecting you, adults, the powerful ones to do something. One day the police came, questioned him, he lied, they let him off. THEY DONT CARE.
I know this is off subject a bit, but I have to stress it. I don't knwo what it is, but the kids have driven themselves to ruin their lives. I agree, someone take them, sit them down in a room, and yell at them. Drill SOMETHING into their heads!!
Today, a kid was supposed to stand up, and debate for half a minute. He got up, and just laughed. He had no idea what he was doing. It's not the teachers. Its that 3/4's of the class that decided, no, we're not going to learn.
I don't know what life is like, I mean the "real world". I don't know exactly how this will affect them, except for I know this must be stopped.
Someone, help them! Or tell them! I can't do anything!! Wanna know why? Because I'll most likely be beat up if I did something. Not that I know what to do. It's not peer pressure. It's ignorance. Where do I go to get someone to care? Hm?
You are surely correct in many ways, I agree. I just wonder how those suggestions could ever happen. Teachers, I believe, would love putting some accountability back on the community. But, they can't do it alone. Administrators often find themselves catering to parents, never questioning, allowing fingerpointing at teachers, etc. because they don't want parents going to the school board. School board members don't want to upset the community, obviously, because they're elected.
In the end, the community would need to recognize the need for parents to share some accountability. Unfortunately, the popular trend is "schools are failing", "teachers need to be held accountable", etc., brought upon largely by G.W. Bush. Call me a cynic, but I wonder how that trend will change before public schools will be run into the ground.
Please let me know if you have ideas!
It is funny how Geore W. is so hot on the accountability bandwagon for teachers, yet he doesn't allow for any for himself. Remember, mistakes were made? That is a passive statement. What he should be saying is "I screwed all of you over by listening to my neo-con friends (but I don't care)".
--Think also of the comfort and rights of others
Think about it, all W. is doing is listening to all the "experts" and "consultants" when it comes to policy. It's at the grass roots where attitudes need to change. All the federal government should do is get out of the way. Get the lawyers and lawsuits out of the way. Get the mid level administrators to become discplinarians. Make the politicians and superintendents substitute teach 3 days a month so they can really see the problems. Videotape every class and hallway and let the kids know that THEY are now going to be held accountable for their actions. Scrap the useless standardized testing and teach kids to really think and not simply regurgitate factoids. Devise real and substantial sanctions for wrongdoing of any kind and make the parents accountable too. Accountability is great so long as everyone involved is held accountable. Right now you have a system that punishes professional educators for the malfeasance and willful ignorance of significant numbers of youth.
It's not George W. IT'S THE KIDS!
As far as Iraq and the war on terrorism goes that's a whole other story. I am a History teacher too and when I look at past conflicts I see in Iraq a nuisance not a genuine catastrophe like many do. Do I want 3,500 Americans dead and all that treasure lost? No. No free thinking sentient being should but I understand that American values of the sanctity of life ends at our shores. In Asia life is cheap. It has always been that way and probably always will be. No ammount of wishful thinking or hand wringing is going to change those people. We have been a country with our values for only 230 odd years. Those people have been at it for thousands of years. They look at our high value of human life and hold us in contempt for it. If we are going to be active on the global trade and influence stage then we have to play by their rules. Uphold our values at every possible moment but understand that they don't recognize our value systems. And when thinking of casualty figures try to remember places like Antietem, Chancelorsville, Gettyusburg, Petersburg, Cold Harbor, Atlanta, etc. et al. Those people suffered on a scale that most Americans today cannot begin to comprehend. Like it or not we are in a death struggle with fanatics that want to re-establish an eighth century caliphate and then come after us here. They are patient, we are not, and that is the real problem. ADHD nation. It's not about Bush or Clinton or any of them. They want to put an end to our way of life. You and I can't fix that one so lets teach the kids.
Get involved! Find the closest school and offer to volunteer...there are always activities before, during, and after school hours that need people to help.
Ask if you can become a member of the School Leadership Team, most states require that community members be included. Email or write your local school board members, letting them know what changes you would like to see and what you're willing to do in order to make them happen. There are often places for parents and community members to serve on ad hoc committees for textbook selection and other issues.
Be a Big Brother/Sister. Join the PTA, whether you have a child in school or not. If you own a business, initiate a community partnership and sponsor family activities and field trips for your school. If you don't own a business, ask your boss to initiate the partnership. Encourage your church, civic club, softball team, etc. to become a partner, too.
Donate school supplies, be a crossing guard, read to children at the public library, do anything you can think of to help. Kids (and teachers!) will jump over the moon if they think someone really cares about them...if their parents can't or won't do it, other people the community can fill in.
As a someone who will be a senior in high school this fall, it is true that my generation may deserve a portion of the blame. We weren't born lazy underachievers though. we were made that way by a completely innadequate education system. All teachers do is list off various facts and figures and expect us to regurgitate them. They should engage us more. Also, teachers should strive to build relationships with their students. If i have a teacher that i personally respect, i strive to do better just to win approval from that teacher. Thats why the teacher's that treat students with respect usually get it in return, and the teachers who look down on us like we are meaningless, disrespectful, and spoiled little brats usually get little to no respect back. Also, the school system doesn't push students to achieve. We, kids that is, aren't as stupid or lazy as most adults might imagine. Push us to achieve, make sure there are consequences if we don't achieve (because as it is there really are none) and give us the tools necessary to achieve (AKA wayyy more funding and way better teachers, because honestly the majority of my public school teachers have to read the chapter before they teach it because they themselves have no idea what they are teaching us) and you just might be suprised at the amount of intelligent kids our public schools could churn out.
A response from a kid! Cool. I'm glad you are participating in the discussion and believe me no insult was intended in my comments. I'm a teacher and I strive daily to engage my students in a thoughtful manner. I never said that most students were lazy, but that a significant number of them seek to prevent the education process in favor of chaos that they consider "fun". I feel sorry for the good kids who try and I try to teach around the hostility of some. You are absolutely correct in that no meaningful consequences are in place for disruptive students, but the teachers have been hamstrung by short sighted district policies about disruptive students. In a perfect world those kids would be (and should be) removed from classes as soon as they start. Instead what has happened is many teachers must now utilize what is called defensive teaching so as not to arouse the mal-contents. That results in flavorless, tepid instruction that appeals to the lowest common denominator. The relentless emphasis on standardized tests further exacerbates that problem. That is the crux of my argument and I appreciate having a kid respond to help me hone my thoughts. I am frequently impressed by the quality of a lot of my students work and I lavish praise on them when they produce. I refuse to teach defensively but pay a horrendous price sometimes when a disruptive kid wants the education process to stop. When they act up my good kids always roll their eyes in sympathy with me because they too know that we are stuck with people who don't want anyone to learn anything. In that I think we are in agreement. So the real questions are, what are acceptable and effective consequences for students who disrupt the education process and how do we get parents and politicians to help us enact them? I look forward to your or anyone elses thoughts or ideas on this issue. I'm all about solving problems, maybe together we can. Good job skizzboi14!
I actually think so...
Coming from someone who's in 8th grade, uh, well, most of my teachers were great. Yet the kids seem to always fail.
It is obvious we are different. My teachers are engaging, good. Obviously we have to regurgitate facts, thats expected, but I nearly completely disagree. My teachers never looked down at us as spoiled little brats. Quite the opposite, they tried to be nice to the kids who hated learning. But that didn't help, did it? No. It made them encouraged.
And to the comment on discipline a little bit down, there is discipline. Lots of it. Staying hours after schools, referrals, all sorts of punishment. But they don't care. At all.
Think of something else.
The nature of education is that much of it is a matter of pure memory. If a child learns respect at home first, they will do the boring things because of their respect for authority figures. Strong values happen when parents participate.
Phil
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Lets uncorrupt our government!
what ever happened to discipline?
I can remember, in High School, back in the sixties, we had a coach who had a $50 dollar bill in a frame on his office wall. If he ever had to give a student "swats" as punishment for some misdeed and your heels didn't rise at least six inches off the floor with each lick from the paddle, you got the money. That fifty had been on that wall for ten years before me and was still there when I left! The strictest discipline was enforced in schools back in those days. Now, the ACLU would be on any teacher like a bad rash who tried in any way to enforce behavioral rules in the school.
There's also a big need for Parental Involvement in thier kid's lives. When "The New Math" hit us in the fifth grade, my parents took special classes so they could help with my homework and supplement what I learned in school. Today's schools are little more than taxpayer funded daycare.
Until you have discipline and parental involvement, our educational system will continue to decline!
I have been in the classroom for almost 15 years, and the only thing I can tell you is that there is no simple solution. Parent involvement is a magic bullet, sure...but we don't have any way to hold parents accountable who refuse to be involved. Neighborhood schools create de-facto segregation, ensuring that students in economically depressed areas (who are usually the most academically needy) get the least amount of resources and high-quality teachers. Discipline is important, but we can't "get rid" of the problem students because access to a free, appropriate public education for every child is guaranteed by Federal law.
Teachers are using technology, seminars, hands-on activities, and many innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Those who say "today's schools are taxpayer-funded daycare" usually haven't stepped foot into a school since they graduated thirty years ago, and have absolutely NO CLUE what's going on inside! If you're so concerned about improving education, why don't you volunteer at your local school? Until you stop pretending that it's someone else's problem and actually do something to make a difference instead of just complaining, nothing is going to change. At least do some reading and inform yourself before you post another steaming pile of "beat the kids until they behave" and other quasi-logical ranting. Aren't we supposed to be "moderates" here?
I am sure that the "quasi-logical ranting" that you mention was mine, so let me respond.
I was in no way advocating "beating children until they behave"! I was merely pointing up the differences in education methods between generations. If you think I am an advocate of child abuse, I invite you to read my posts under CIVIL RIGHTS, THE RIGHT OF A CHILD NOT TO LIVE IN FEAR. Then talk to my son and ask him what kind of parent I was.
Next, I occasionally am asked to give lectures at the local High School For The Health Professions that I worked hard with the Walton County Health Improvement Partnership to create! So I DO have some insight into the educational system.
I only ask that you and everyone else in the shoutbox, think and not presume before you post.
The powers that be in the educational system apparently don't understand applied scientific method. If you have a system that works well, you develop a theory for improvement, put it in practice, and it doesn't work, what should you do? It seems that currently, you try another new theory. If that doesn't work, you try another. Eventually you end up with a state of confusion, nothing works at all. The common sense thing to do is go back to what worked well.
It appears to me that a great deal of the problem is the kids, through no fault of their own. With a tax burden over 40%, both parents have to work full time. That means that pre-school children are mostly warehoused in daycare with a care provider who's main objective is to make sure the child is in reasonably good health at the end of the day, and nothing more. School age children either spend several hours a day in that same situation, or are left to their own devices. That's why more school funding doesn't work. The higher the tax rate, the less parental guidance children get.