higher education
Cheaper higher ed & more career/tech ed in high school
I’ve worked as both a teacher and counselor (elementary and high school) and would advise a few things.
1) More career and technical education in middle/high schools: A large percentage of our students aren’t seeing the connection between the “core” subjects (especially math) and the world of work. In most schools, kids simply memorize enough of the material to earn a grade and pass to the next level, never truly grasping the important concepts–what a crime! Education should be exciting! Meeting kids where they’re at by speaking to their interests and tying learning into career and technical programs they might want to enter is one way to hold their attention and get them passionate about learning. The obvious side-effect is that these students are also more prepared for either the world of work or for post-secondary education after they graduate. Programs like “Project Lead the Way” and co-ops between high schools and career/tech colleges need to be an option in EVERY school!
2) A college or university education simply needs to be more affordable. A large number of highly developed nations make higher education FREE (or extremely cheap in comparison to rates in the US). They see education as an investment in their country, both because a highly educated citizen pays more taxes over their lifetime than they would had they not attended college, and because these citizens are the future innovators and creative thinkers who will push the envelope and come up with solutions to the toughest problems facing their nation. It only makes sense that every young person who is able should have the opportunity to attend college at NO or LOW cost.
3) We need to look to the highly successful school districts in our nation as a model of how to educate. I believe the DOE should actively engaged in identifying these districts and analyzing what it is that makes them successful. They should then be sharing these success stories with our state DOE’s in an attempt to see that these “best practices” are shared with other districts who have similar demographics and face similar challenges.
4) In some cases, we need to look outside our own nation to see how/why other countries are so successful at educating their citizenry. I have lived abroad and can tell you that attitudes towards educators and education in general are vastly different. In my opinion, the US is stuck in an industrial/agricultural model of education and absolutely needs to look at the systems being used by other highly developed nations in an attempt to learn from them. Our pride sometimes prevents us from doing things such as this, but the challenges facing us in educating our children are just too important for us to ignore.
This post was submitted by Nick.
One Size Never Fits All
Dear President Obama:
I am a community college English teacher at Oakland Community College in Metro Detroit. Previously, I’ve taught at most of the community colleges in the area, including Henry Ford Community College, Schoolcraft Community College and Washtenaw Community College. I even attended Santa Monica Community College, in California, though I was raised in southeastern Michigan, so I understand this important segment of the public school system.
Working with entry-level college students, many fresh out of high school, I teach the last required English classes most students (outside of journalism and English majors) need to take in their lives, Composition I and II, and as a result I have much to say to K-12 teachers and administrators.
An education over-burdened with one size fits all reading and writing assignments results in students who hate reading and who can not think independently, students who are not likely to address local needs for new ideas, new growth and new jobs.
While the situation is critical, it is also fixable. The answer lies in allowing much greater choice when it comes to reading material and writing subject matter. My students design and execute their own projects like traditional grad students. Imposing high standards and not caving into grade inflation, particular as students are about to be set free from mandatory English studies forever after a lifetime of low standards and grade inflation, is not easy but the right path.
Unfortunately, too many of my peers are not interested in the present discussion. My biggest disappoinment does not concern negligent parents or lazy students, both of which are considerable problems, but with lazy teachers. If we can find a way to maintain teacher salary (if not increase it) and erase union protection that protects bad teaching and bad teachers, we may be able to make considerable improvements in our educational system. At present, far too often I am frankly either appalled or underwhelmed by my peers’ behavior.
The traditional means of assigning the same text and the same writing assingment to the entire room of students fails to serve a pluralistic society, our democratic ideals and the demands of the global marketplace. But is it an easier way to teach.
I just heard a commentator on NPR call books a disappearing technology that peole no longer care to use. We can’t let this trend that is pushing college graduates and all Americans away from reading to continue.
This post was submitted by Gina Fournier.
