Standardized Education…

Teachers are working within a broken system; a system that does not allow them to be the best teacher they can be. Some say that Teacher's are to blame for the shortcomings of our nations education system, but working within a bad system is like working for a dysfunctional company; it's tough to get much accomplished.  Great teachers are great in spite of the system, not because of it.  Teachers know that differentiation, multiple Intelligence's, student centered learning are the way to go, but our national education system doesn't allow for teachers to teach this way. It has also been suggested that we are living in times when our students more than ever need to be creative and innovative.  I hear a lot of people outside the education profession say these words, yet their actions don’t show they are willing to walk the walk, and get our students into creative classes. Teachers know what is best for our students, so we need to change the system, and stop letting politicians tell us what is best, and place new initiatives on us that prevent us from getting students what they actually need.

Why is education so slow to change? It always amazes me that in education we have people from other professions telling us how to do our jobs.  In what other profession do they follow the directives of someone with no training? Do electricians take directives from insurance agents on how to do their job? Our system is driven by politics, and decisions are being made in many cases without the advice or input of people in the field, teachers who often have 6 plus years in college studying what is best for our students and our schools. These individuals outside the profession are almost always focused on what can be measured; hence all of the focus on standardized testing. If it can’t be tested, it is deemed not important.  We educators know this is not true, and teachers who have spent time researching their craft know that in today’s society we need to do better.

Our system of standardization does not allow for creativity and innovation, yet everyone is speaking about how important these skills are. We continue to use the system based on an assembly line where students are in rows, regurgitating the same information, regardless of who they are or what they may need from education.  Teachers are almost forced to teach this way because of the system.   “There are things on the test, and we all must know these things, and we must get through all of these things, and go through these things again and again…you all must score well on the test.” Who has time to individualize Education, especially when you will be paid based on the scores of your students on one or two tests.  We are living in a time when students need to know more than the basics, more than the facts that they have access to on a phone in their pocket.

In today’s world, creativity and Innovation are key, and we need to have the freedom to educate in a way that allows teachers to individualize education for each student.  Teachers can’t do this well with the BIG tests looming over their heads.  They also can’t do this well in the current structure of our nation’s education system. We need to make changes that free up educators to use multiple intelligence's, to have genius hour, to get students out into their communities, to have time to create. We need to do this by getting rid of the hierarchy of subjects so ALL students feel welcome in our system.  Right now students who are good at math and reading feel like they are” in the club” students who are gifted in the arts are not in the club, and are told they are behind, not good enough, won’t make it.  Often artistic students who struggle through our broken system go on to become of the most successful members of society we have. They do this in spite of our system; our system that tells them every day that they are less of a student.  I have seen so many students gifted in the arts pulled out of the class where they are most successful day after day, and sometimes indefinitely to pull up their test scores.  Many tears have been shed by me for those students, as our system is failing them.

As Educators, we need to step up, and be leaders; we need to guide the changes we want to see in our profession.  We need to be proactive instead of reactive.  We cannot wait for politicians to come up with solutions for us, and complain after.  We also need to advocate for what is best for students.  We need to get rid of this hierarchy of subjects, and educate the whole student as an individual.  We need to value and educate the artistic, as well as the mathematic.  We need to define and create a system that allows for true student centered learning, and student centered means more than allowing them to choose the topic for their next paper.  We need to advocate that Teachers are given time to work on all of these issues. Is creativity and Innovation important?  We keep saying it is, now let’s show it is, let’s act, let’s help Teachers become leaders.