As the country tries to find a “magic bullet” to cure the educational ills, no one is asking the question about how come our children are struggling? What I mean is that I think the forces that have torn education apart are not solely in the system of education, rather the problem is in our cultural system. The more policy makers get involved in educational decisions, the worse education becomes. The more government controls and mandates, the less I can teach. Money needs to be spent on the social ills. Has anyone asked why so many students are having attention problems to the point that classrooms are being held hostage by their behaviors? Have any policy makers talked to the school psychology personnel? What is truly behind the severe changes we are seeing in the classroom, changes in children which are impacting on everyone’s learning? That is another BIG question I have as I think back on my day at school. I keep thinking, something is wrong here but I can’t quite pin it. My teaching time is being spent on more and more data collecting, meetings, interruptions, discipline, and fulfilling edicts from above that I have very little time to teach. How do we get the policy makers see what is happening. I guess I need to collect the data to show how much time I spend doing other things when I am supposed to be teaching!
Everyone keeps tip toeing around the “elephant in the room”. Poor or absent parenting and the downfall of our culture have changed the students. One parent of a particularly disruptive child used the excuse that society had “made her child act this way”. Now there is a classic excuse!
A few years ago, I used to say that Brittany Spears and Nintendo had ruined American youth. However, they were just was the tipping point of a cutlure that became obsessed with sex, celebrities, and instant gratification. I teach 7th and 8th grade and they all watch adult shows that glorify the worst of our culture (Sons of Anarchy, Jersey Shore,…). I recently had a discussion with some of my 7th grade homeroom students. They could tell me about Snooki’s exploits, but could not name the Vice President of the United States. This has become our norm of behavior! History- hey that’s boring… gives us the drunken fights of Jersey Shore and we will remember every detai. Talk about motivation for achievement and success!
As to instant gratification-when was the last time that you sat in an inservice and looked around-even your colleagues are texting or surfing the net. Everyone expects instant results with a minimum of effort and is upset when this does not occur. Learning requires effort and depth. My students have told me that they don’t understand why they need to learn something, when they can look it up on the internet just as fast.
So will more data change this? No. I also do not believe that a cultural change or an increase in parenting skills will come about soon. I do believe that someone needs to stand up and talk about this cultural chasm. This is not just a failure in our education system, but a failure in parenting and society. Everyone needs to shoulder the blame. If you want to change the course of education, you also need to change the course of culture—- the priorities/responsiblities of students, parents, educational “gurus”, as well as teachers.
Finally, someone really gets it. The decline of our educational system follows the decline of our institutions of family and marriage, and as a result, our society as a whoile. The failure of our educational system as a whole is symptom of the disease, not the “true” disease itself.