What Choice do I Have?

“Ughhh” —the thought inside every teenager’s head when he or she wakes up for school. After waking up, teens head over to the washroom, skip over their breakfast, grab their bags and head on out, to the school that they find so tedious. The same material is seemingly taught each subsequent year. The same tests are given. Teachers employ the same teaching method. After a while, it all gets old and frankly, boring. That’s not what school should be like. Students should enjoy attending school, not only because they get to meet their friends, but also because of a passion for learning. That’s what our students seem to lack, no? Or has that been taken away from them?

Yearly, the public education system issues new mandates, and new standard curriculums, which in turn stunt students’ abilities. Why? Well these changes aren’t exactly relevant to today’s changing world, nor do these changes give students any freedom to pursue their interests. After all, it is their education. There is no doubt that the industrial model of education successfully prepared students for careers of the past, but it’s time to prepare students to be learners, problem solvers, critical thinkers and well versed in disciplines they wish to pursue.

Initiatives are being taken across the nation to “change” the education system, but all of these are focused around controlling the content and the way a student learns. Most states strike out standardized tests, but do not realise that these standardized tests would not lead to the desired outcome. This old model of education cannot be used to project the success of today’s students. Standardized tests are not vital to educating brilliant minds. The future of education lies in one’s ability to formulate resolutions to problems; to collaborate with other individuals to reach a goal; communicate effectively; and imagine, think, design, and develop ideas so unique but revolutionary that they contribute positively to the world.

Unfortunately,  this future is being hampered by the increasing federal, state and local regulations on how schools can, or should, operate. The government undermines the value of education with its own standardized tests with an emphasis on skills in Mathematics and Language Arts and Literacy. They blitz these tests in schools to “assess” student performance, when in fact they are really taking away from educators’ class time, limiting the amount of material that students could actually learn. An even more dramatic impact comes from school boards themselves. Administrators fear what they cannot easily fathom, thus they react by controlling every nook and cranny of the school structure, function and learning. Control gives us reassurance that we are doing the right thing, but when it comes to educating a student, there is never a “right” way. The best option would be to allow the student freedom.

Up until now, administrators hardly trust their students, and in most cases, their teachers, but their control of these aspects will only make administrators the students’ enemies. If administrators gave up this control and allowed teachers to teach with the method they find most effective, or allow students to design their own curriculum, students would gain far more knowledge with time. As a result, students who design their own curriculum would be able to follow their passions much sooner than they’ve ever anticipated. Their interest level within the courses they take would no longer decrease over the course of the academic year because they enlisted in classes that suit their best interest. With this increased interest in the content, passion for learning would then be reinstated, and schools would churn out students that could prove to be more successful than their test-obsessed counterparts.

In order for students to be successful, they have to be put at the helm of their own destinies.