What happened? We used to have an amazing education system in this country, right? Where did it go? And, more importantly, why haven't more people realized that the system isn't working? Anyone who doesn't think that education (both the system and the culture around it) needs a serious overhaul is kidding themselves. From the ground up, the system is failing: from the attitudes about learning at the earliest of ages, to the system of evaluation in every level of schooling, to the "rewards" for working and learning and everything in between. I'll do my best to identify and concisely discuss each of these issues and at least one solution, because whats the point in complaining/criticizing if you're not constructive about it?
Learning doesn't start with school. Everything that children come in contact with teaches them something, and they need to be encouraged to explore and read as much as possible. Learning really is the most exciting thing a person can do. Too many kids enter school with an aversion to learning, right from the start. It starts at home, with the kinds of things children are watching, listening to and reading (or not reading). Taking kids to events or performances or exhibits aimed at young people is an excellent way to get kids interested in learning. Zoos and Aquariums are great places to interest kids in learning about the world around them. Theatre produced for children can get them interested in literature and the arts. Science museums tend to have a lot of fun activities and exhibits specifically for children that is are great for developing an interest in the sciences. The most important thing is to get children excited about learning because its interesting, not because they have to.
This is the biggest problem in the education system and the culture surrounding it: incentive. People of all ages should want to learn because learning is exciting, not because they're being given a grade. The fact that parents have to bribe their children to do their homework to get good grades with privileges, toys and money is an obvious sign that there's a huge problem. It is both a result of the attitudes surrounding learning, and a partial cause of them.
Part of the problem is that learning just isn't interest enough in most schools, but that's something I'll address at a later date. But the attitudes around learning need to be changed from the bottom up. People (including children) shouldn't just be content with learning what's thrown at them in school, they should be seeking interesting things out. Reading needs to be a priority for people again, and nearly all of the people who are readers as adults were the ones who read a lot as children. Right now we're creating a generation of people who don't know about the world around them and have little interest in learning about it. How can we expect to grow as a society (at least in this country) if we're not collectively and individually striving for knowledge?
Again, this is just the first wave in my assault on the education system, so I will continue to pick it apart in the future. But that was Part One; because we have to start somewhere.
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