I was in a discussion recently with a friend of mine who is also a public school administrator. As we bantered back and forth about what could be done to improve schools — increased teacher pay, which would rely on increased accountability for teachers to be high quality, a determination which shouldn’t rely on standardized tests especially for young children, and round and round and round — it quickly became clear that a simple request like “improve our schools” can be a tangled, and very opinion-filled process.
That shouldn’t be a surprising realization, since education reform or school improvement seems to be a perennial hot topic. But what struck me in the conversation was when my friend, in obvious frustration said something like, “It’s hard to figure it all out.”
It struck me that often that’s how I feel, and how I perceive much of our country and many of our leaders feel. We throw our hands up and say, “It’s just too hard to figure out.” But a thought in my mind was quick to follow up. We never accept that as an answer from our kids and students. We never say, “Yup, you’re right. This one’s a toughie. You’re never going to get it. Just skip it.” We sit with them, we turn it over from every angle, and we figure it out together.
We have to be able to do that for our kids. Stick it out and look at education from every side — even the ones we don’t think we agree with — and find what will work. Even when change is hard.
Here are just a few things I believe in that I think would change our schools.
- Education is not one size fits all. Require all teachers, administrators, and policy-makers involved in pre-K through 3rd grade to receive training in child development. Particularly in these early years, approaching education without acknowledging development is like trying to change light fixtures in your house without knowing where the fuse box is. You can’t effectively address the fixtures until you’re aware of the source. Kindergarteners learn in ways that are vastly different from high school freshmen, or even fifth graders. We have to have a system that recognizes and honors developmental needs and differences.
- Did I mention that education is not one size fits all? Well let me say it again. We have to pay attention to individual learners. That likely means smaller class sizes, more diversification, and thinking outside of the box. Not all kids learn in the same way, and we need more than one approach to meet those different needs. That’s part of why the home school and charter school movements are necessary, and why I personally believe in the need for a generous dose of local control and individual choice.
- Let teachers teach. I’ve been struck by how often I’ve heard teachers lament changes that they feel tie their hands. Requirements that they feel make them less effective. I’ve even had teachers tell me about scripted lessons they were required to follow word for word. I am all in favor of guidelines and of training and supporting teachers, but once we prepare the highly qualified teachers our kids deserve, we have to give them room to truly be an educator and not a robot. We need parameters, but we also have to let them teach in their own unique responsive way.
You can probably tell I have many, many more opinions on this subject, but this is supposed to be this week’s short post! So I want to hear from you!
What are the changes you’d like to see that would change our schools for the better? What have you seen in individual schools and classrooms that you’d love to see more of?
I was the kid who sat quietly and read and wrote and colored. My second-grade son couldn’t be more different. Writing is easier for him when he’s standing up. Reading is easier when some part of his body is in motion. His first grade teacher didn’t understand that. It was a rough year. This year he’s only a little better at being still, but his teacher is more tolerant of motion. We’re only a month into the school year, but I’m seeing great progress.
I feel strongly that we need to allow teachers to be more professional. Like other professions, they should be encouraged to be innovative and creative. They need to have ways (and time) to connect with other teachers who might be working on the same teaching philosophy or have best practices to share. Make teaching a profession that is celebrated for it’s successes. They should be paid well – especially if they are advancing their profession. And classrooms need to be more manageable in terms of numbers of students. I think some of this is being done by some charter schools now and hopefully is or will be spilling into the public and private schools. So many things need to change, it is overwhelming. And some of us who can see changes that need to be made don’t see how to make them happen, so we home school or after-school. There seems to be a sense that this is too big and we can’t make it budge.
Julie,
First of all , as an early childhood educator and teacher trainer, I am happy to see that “you get it.” Unfortunately, policy makers and administrators do not. I loved your point about child development. I teach in a high school and our administration cannot be bothered to learn about adolescent development. Each stage of a child’s life has a set of unique developmental traits, accomplishments and behaviors. It would do us well to remember what is going on inside the child before we start stuffing more things into them. It would also help us to remember that children’s experiences encompass everything, in school and out. If we are so confused about what to do in education, why can’t we start with the children? They should be at the center of any decision, big or small, that is supposedly being made for their welfare. I love reading your blog and I find you to be “spot on” about many topics. Thank you for educating a wider audience about children and child development. Maybe more people will start to “get it.”
For the children,
Susan Taylor
So sorry, I meant Amanda in my response!
Susan Taylor
I went to school in a different country, and a lot of elements of US school system seem very backward to me. For example, I don’t like the idea of constantly recomposing classrooms and teachers teaching only one grade. I was fascinated by a recent Teach! movie which profiled 4th graders that are already several years behind in reading. How could their teachers fail them so badly? They are equally failing my advanced learner who is stuck doing “make 10” exercises when she can do 5th grade math at home. The teacher should meet students at their point of need, and this is just not possible in classes that are not ability-based and too big.
I totally agree with everything you’ve written. There are so many problems with our education system and I think everyone wants to make it better, but it is hard. I think it’s hard because the wrong people are in charge of the change. Politicians and administrators can guess all they want about how to make education better, but it’s the teachers and even parents who could probably think of the best changes. So frustrating sometimes!
Great point — I often wonder if the right people are invited to “sit at the table” when some of these decisions are made.
I must admit to feeling similar feelings- it’s just too big a problem! I try to focus on what I can do locally to help, which makes me feel a little better but doesn’t really do anything for the larger problems.
I also am for more local control. For example, I think there are a lot of benefits to year round schooling (when done well, I’ve seen it done poorly) but in the small community where I grew up- it would not jive well because it is mostly farming families and they kind of need to stick with the ‘old school’ schedule because a lot of kids help out on their families farms.
I often think of the children’s book “My Teacher for President”, I can’t help but think- what if there really was a teacher making these decisions in Washington DC? Not necessarily as a president- but THERE. What would be different?
I also think we need an image consultant and an advertising mogul. 🙂 I jest, a little, but truly. What if we could get these guys to “sell” public education and DAP and get the public on board with higher pay for teachers. The public schools, unfortunately, kind of have a bad image.
It really is a vicious cycle. It’s hard to say what factor is most important to change and what factor is the linchpin- the one thing that if we changed it would get the ball rolling on overhauling the system. Wish I had the answers, mostly, I just have opinions 🙂
I don’t know if big classes are the main problem. First of all, what do you consider big? What if one teacher could follow the students through the grades? In Waldorf schools, the main lesson is given by the same teacher during all grade school, movement is incorporated in class and then other teachers coming in (art,languages, music, etc). In this way if a student is behind, the teacher already knows him and can adapt. Is it possible to do this in public schools?
Oh, and I didn’t mention that kids should just play and have a rythm at preschool, no academics too early. Just my two cents…