In the last 150 years, a lot of things have changed all over the world. Cars are going faster, phones are getting smaller, and new planets are being discovered. Can the same be said about the educational system? If we compare the classes from 1900 with the actual ones, we can truly say that they are quite similar. This forces us to wonder why school remains the same, while it should aspire to evolve, which translates into change.
Albert Einstein once said “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believe that it is stupid”. At that time, he was already alluding to the educational system, about 80 years ago.
Is this because we want to train people to work in factories, which explains why we put students in straight rows nice and neat, telling them to raise their hand if they want to speak and during 8 hours telling them what to think?
How can one teacher stand in front of tens of students, each one having different strengths, different needs, different weaknesses, different dreams and we keep teaching the same thing the same way?
Students are put in competition to get an A, but I would support the idea that competition does not necessarily lead to better results. If we take Frederick J.Kelly’s words, the man who invented standardized testing, I quote “these tests are too crude to be used and should be abandoned”. How can a multiple choice question determine success? Most of the graduate students affirm that 80% of their knowledge does not come from school, but from their own experience in life. The school gives you a lesson and then comes a test ; when in life, you are given many tests every day that teaches you a lesson.
Nowadays, we need people who think creatively, innovatively and independently, with the ability to connect. Creativity comes from the freedom to express its ideas and the opportunity to develop what students do best. The educational system should promote collaboration instead of competition, forcing students to work together, as they are going to work with other colleagues in the future.
If we are able to customize healthcare, phones, or Linkedin pages, it is our duty to do the same for the educational system. Why would keep teach the same way when everyone is unique?
Thoughts on this?
HaseebJehangir 