Filed under: education, parenting | Tags: education, home school, homeschooling, learning, parents, teachers
Why, with all of the wonderful resources that public schools make available, would parents choose to keep their kids at home for schooling? Especially when most of these parents aren’t even teachers or have had any formal training as an educator. Isn’t it a disservice to deny their children of a proper education, one that will ensure that they will possess the knowledge in the necessary subject areas, so that they will go on to be successful citizens? Let’s also not forget the fact that they rob their kids of the opportunity to socialize and interact with their peers. After all, how are these kids supposed to learn how to function in a normal society when they are deprived of the chance to form meaningful relationships with kids their own age? It seems strange that any parent would take the chance of possibly refusing their child a well-rounded education by not sending them to school.
Wait a mintute . . . could it be because our country’s public school system is in complete shambles and because sending our kids to the neighborhood school does not guarantee that they will receive a quality education? Or that there is no way to make sure that your child gets a teacher that is not yet burned out, still cares about children, and is allowed to take risks in his/her classroom by pushing the boundaries of the dictated curriculum in order to really engage the students in meaningful learning experiences? Or perhaps it’s as simple as the fact that there is no one in this world that will care as much about a child’s success in life, and be willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that they move forward in life, than its own parents.
Now, my purpose here is not to bash school teachers or to comment upon their ability or inability to help in shaping successful citizens. I would merely like to applaud the efforts of homeschooling parents in taking the power to make the decisions which best benefit their children, into their hands. Thanks to a healthy dose of some good ole fashioned ignorance, this former public school teacher used to agree (along with many of my peers in education land) with the afore mentioned wonderings regarding parents who homeschooled their kids. After much research and a tad of real life exposure to some of these families, I am a believer!
I must say that I am thoroughly impressed by the innovative techniques, original approaches, and creative ways in which some of these parents jump on the many teachable moments they encounter throughout their day. A box doesn’t even exist when some of these parents (or this one) think of ways to expose material and content to their children. It’s enough to make any teacher, bound by the constraints and guidelines that only a public classroom can offer, envious of such freedom!
A big hat tip to you all out there! You’re not that weird after all.
Filed under: education | Tags: college, education, public education, teachers
I just graduated with a masters in Educational Administration this past July, from the University of . . . lets not say where. It just eats me up alive how ridiculous, not to mention expensive, this higher education was for me. I pursued this degree in the hopes of attaining a position where I can actually do something useful to change (or at least positively affect, make a dent, a ding, anything!) the disgraceful state of public education. I may not have been able to affect the system at large, yet I was in a position to at least alleviate some of the problems in a small district. Or so that’s what I kept telling myself – but my issues with gov’t schools are rants better left for another post. My current beef here, is at the college level – specifically the training program used to rear future administrators for schools (mostly public).
One would think that at a higher learning institute where education is the focus, one would be rewarded for questioning the ineffective practices that are in place in today’s schools and for offering up fresh ideas during class discussions. You know . . . innovative, forward-thinking, thought-provoking, change-inducing ideas that attempt to revamp a system that is sorely lacking in its ability to produce a future generation that would one day stand up and question any perceived wrongs of their own time. Maybe these sort of progressive exchanges exist in other colleges, in other areas of the country. Not so here.
Now without going into too much detail (I’d rather not shoot myself in the foot or burn any bridges at this point), here are some highlights courtesy of this very special staff:
- Class is discussing the importance of teacher professional development and research: The professor concludes by stating that (and I’m paraphrasing because I don’t think my mind could grasp, much less store, her actual words) teachers shouldn’t be bothered with keeping up with research – teachers are already very busy and they don’t need to be bogged down more than is necessary. It should be the responsibility of the administrator to conduct the research and disseminate it to the appropriate teachers.
What?!!! Are you serious? This person actually discouraged teachers to learn more about and be kept abreast of the latest research in their field in order to be more effective and efficient at their jobs – jobs that affect children’s lives! Then she proposes that the principal be the one to do it. Now, if you are fortunate enough to have a great principal – she just piled on a ton of work to one of the busiest people in the building. If you have an incompetent one, she just proposed that the laziest person in the building do it. And mediocre ones may or may not care. Can you imagine if doctors in the medical field were discouraged to learn about new methods, treatments, and relevant research? We’d still be amputating limbs to let people bleed their ills away.
- Students ask the professor for advice on the upcoming written comprehensives: The professor basically told the students that they would have to conform to one official educational philosophy on their written comp to receive a passing grade in order to graduate.
I have a big problem being told what to think. I have a bigger problem being told what I can’t think.
- During an “exchange” (basically an argument that would ensue whenever I really disagreed with this professor – I always let little things go), he informed me that I wouldn’t be able to change anything because people around here “have been doing things this way for years and years and it’s probably not going to change”
Great. Thanks. Could you guys please make that your official motto so that potential students can knowingly enroll in this dynamic institution?
This particular ed. admin program prides itself in the ability to inculcate its students (who are mostly current teachers) with many of the same basic principles, methods, and practices that are to blame for the current state of our schools. How many other schools around the country are doing the same?
OK, so I went into some detail. It couldn’t be helped.
