Educators Have "No Clue" How to Solve Problems in Schools
In my opinion, and I can't imagine another teacher in the USA, who has worked in more schools than I have, as a student and teacher; public schools are a cruel and unusual abuse of children for the aggrandizement and bank accounts of administrators. Remarks recently by President Obama and others about the low proficiency of U.S. students indicates, that they don't have a clue, like so many speakers about Education, as to what's going on, or how to approach fixing the many problems facing school children in today's world. I'm reminded of an old black and white movie made in England in the ‘50s entitled, "Breaking the Sound Barrier". I think Ray Milland was the star. Anyway, it takes place at an English airfield whereby scientists and aviators are trying to break the sound barrier with an airplane. The plane gains great altitude and dives toward the Earth to gain enough speed to break the barrier. Each time the pilot pushes the stick forward to come out of the dive after breaking the barrier, but each time the plane crashes. On the third attempt the pilot pulled the stick back, broke the sound barrier, and landed safely.
No Support for Children Facing an Abusive Education System
In the schools of the economical underclass, lower class, middle class, rich, and disgustingly rich; the overriding problem is the lack of sociological, psychological, and nutritional support which students are grappling with on a daily basis that prevents the individual students and schools from facilitating learning about academic subjects. Most schools are loaded with corrupt and incompetent administrators, plus incompetent, lazy, prejudiced, compassionless teachers, that use Christian fundamentalism as their main solution for suffering students. Just think statistically. One out of four girls is being abused by a person they know; so many boys experiencing Middle Age-style violence physically and mentally related to attitude and bad behavior, that they come to school in a state of PTSD. How many people in the USA (A nation in North America) are still suffering from the bullying they received at school?
As I listen to sports shows, watch state and community public education board meetings, newscasters, and public speakers in general; I notice outrageous mistakes in the use of the English Language that school children are being eliminated from opportunity for. They constantly make errors in basic English grammar; such as no agreement with subject and verb in number, or using adjectives following a transitive/action verb in the predicate instead of an adverb to describe noun/pronoun in the subject instead of modifying the verb. Etc. Homework is way out of control. Most teachers don't grade it anyway.
Children Learn Through Play
Children, like all the young of mammals, need a lot of time to play in order to learn. Baseball/softball teaches Geometry and Physics, Art leads to good writing and expression, Drama facilitates self-esteem, language Arts, and technology, Music teaches fractions, which is fundamental to operating Algebra, which is often forced on 7th/8th graders whose brains may not have evolved to understanding the abstract yet, however will evolve to that point at some point in their teens or early twenties.
Getting Past the "Prearranged Curriculum"
I would like to go on. There is so much more to divulge and reveal. There are many books and articles through Google, that address these issues related to public schools in the USA. Of course, change will not come about easily or soon, however I can help parents and students navigate through the system in order to avoid becoming a victim of it. In a book useful as a basis for my philosophy and application for teaching, Psychology Applied to Teaching, by Robert F. Biehler, he writes about the importance of," Getting away from regimentation, a rigidly prearranged curriculum, an assembly-line aura, over concern with memorization, and blind acceptance of authority" as modalities that do not facilitate the educational and personal growth of students. I agree.
David A. Stone, B.A. Speech/Education/Earth Science, Magna Cum Laude, student's poem published, award winning student for writing, photographer. David has directed many plays and performances.
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