The impossible learning curve
This week’s discovery for my blog is about the learning curve and how our teachers are being forced to ruin learning because of that detestable test. What test am I talking about? It’s that undesirable, and ill-made test which proves which students can write, do the math, understand science, read literature, and make sure they can function. I feel the test itself is meant to control the way our teacher’s work in the classroom. I believe in creativity, and the impending ruin of teacher’s having the capabilities to teach the way they want is starting to get depressing. Today’s post is going to cover my interpretation of what the learning curve is, where this test is making us head as a society, and what I wish we could see in more school systems.
The learning curve which is curvier than a woman’s body A single learning curve is a graph that determines where someone is graphically in education and skills. However, metaphorically the learning curve is used to make sure people are taught the right skills early in their childhood is much more effective than trying to improve skills in adulthood for people who were let down by the system. There is a drastic curve in the world where some people can read, write, do the math, and have extremely strong cognitive abilities because they have gone through a lot of schooling. Whereas, there are people starving on the streets unable to speak, and unable to read. It’s hard to understand where the education fails, and where it flows without delay.
The American Solution America decided to test its students nationwide to ensure schools are teaching the proper skills to students. These tests start when you’re in 1st grade, and happen about every two to three years. ( Trust me. I hated these standardized test.) All of these standardized tests are meant to build us up for the ever dreaded SAT’S for college. From my experience, The tests only displayed how little I understood math but my ability to actually do math was way below the average. I struggled with math classes, and still did even in college. However, I could read and write better far above the average line. In fact, every year I went to school was another year I watched a teacher have to shred the creativity of their classroom to drone on and on about the importance of grammar, or being able to do the math. I could watch their spirits leave as the education pushed more and more for the test, and less for the fun of teaching. Schools would get shut down if they didn’t pass a certain score. But was the government looking at the students who were poor facing difficult situations in their own home? Were they aware of the struggle for the student needing food? Did they care about home abuse? No. Passing a test tended to be their first angle, and the teacher had to push this regardless of their need.
What we need in schools We can’t let the greed hold down the house of the country. We can’t let our schools put costs before education. I mean if I didn’t have arts in my schools I would’ve never picked an English major for college. My favorite teacher was an art teacher who told us “ even if you draw a stick figure, it’s still part of you. It’s still expression. Own that. Own it till you die.” I can’t forget those words because as we continue to watch education cut programs we see arts, music, and fun classes being taken from our students. Foreign Language classes are being taken out. I feel like we need a diverse understanding of culture because we are built in a country that evolved from millions of cultures. I believe in freedom, and I can’t bring a kid into the world that is destroying its chance of being unique. I don’t want the education to head in a way where it teaches students to go for particular jobs or tries to convince them that being an artist is no good. If we didn’t have parts we wouldn’t have seen Zootopia, or find Nemo. We need to thrive off arts just as much as we need to know our basics in language and math.
Where our education is failing We are failing to focus on the needs of our students. Schools only want to pass a test, and prove their teachers are doing what they’re supposed to. But what about helping the kids with their house issue? How about making them feel less inclined to have to take a test and more positive to be learning? There is a movie called Freedom Writers and shows how a teacher faces a class where the students have little interest in education due to their life. It shows the amount of creativity that teacher went through to get them to want to learn. I feel our classrooms should be more like this, and less like a prison cell. A shout out to all those teachers who never backed down from the way they teach, or wanting to teach in a fun way. Keep at it! What has learning about this done for me? It has made me understand the power of arts and their hold on our culture.
