As Education Fails America
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education," (Mark Twain). This, coming from arguably one of the best writers in western literature, is saying that education and schooling are two very different and separate things. The way he words this, he is implying that his education is more important than his schooling. There is a reason for this. Even then, the education system in America was beginning to fail such that Twain was compelled to find other means of educating himself. Unfortunately, many students, then and now, are not as successful as Twain was in finding education. There is no question that literacy in America is on the down swing. Now the question is why. A forced learning environment, coupled with vastly inconsistent curriculum and over all discouraged student population prove that the current educational system is doomed to fail. After reading what Mark Twain says, it is necessary to clarify the difference between an education and an institutional education. In-the-classroom learning is what Twain calls a schooling. Things such as algebra, biology, and history are common subjects of study in the classroom. Out-of-the-classroom learning is what Twain calls education. Things such as how to interact with o
The things taught in school are often very easy and require little or no effort to understand. Learning is critical thinking, though that is not what schools are teaching these days. Inconsistent curriculums are another reason for the tottering education system in America. A proper education should be absolutely necessary in this country. 8 million young adults were either not were enrolled in high school or had not completed the high school program. But if the factors discussed in this essay are worked on, coupled with the drive of a nation, America could go back to having an excellent education system. One of the major down falls of the current education system is the failure rate of students. Many people who are currently enrolled in school see learning as simply memorizing what the teacher says long enough to retrieve the info for a test and after that, they willingly forget. Hirsch states that out of pages of curriculum that he read through, there was not one suggested title. By classifying schools in terms of income/occupation, she was able to objectively observe the goings on of five schools ranging from working class to executive elite. One should not be able to succeed with less than a college degree. It is impossible to test the understanding of a concept with such a device because there are too many different components that can factor in and affect the outcome. Whether it is because of inadequate teacher support, peer pressure, or lack of encouragement, many students drop out every day.
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