TOMMIE SAYLOR: Today's educational focus is not on 'the good old days,' and for good reason

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Nelson Mandela

By Tommie Saylor

Kennedy High School Principal

“Back in the day” schools were a place where teachers imparted knowledge.  With this knowledge, students were expected to learn every lesson taught by their teachers, memorizing vast amounts of information (as in “1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue,” and “i before e except after c.”

“Back in the good old days” teachers gave tests to make sure students were doing their job by learning the information taught, and parents and community members trusted in a teacher’s professionalism and skill.  Schools were reflections of the community, owned and operated by the community, a source of community pride and a learning institution dedicated solely to the propagation of knowledge.

Schools today are much different. 

Today teachers don’t convey knowledge upon students, because the days of having to memorize a bunch of information are over.  Those days are long gone because information is readily available in everyone’s hand, given the invention of the Internet and the smart phone. Our hand-held devices hold the collective knowledge of all mankind. 

Therefore, instead of pounding facts and information into the heads of students, teachers today work more on skill development, teaching students how to use the information so freely available. They teach how to analyze, disaggregate, comprehend and present data and information. Tests are no longer given to ensure that students are doing their job by learning the content presented. Tests are given to evaluate the effectiveness of the teacher. 

If students do well on a test, it means that the students worked hard and earned a good grade; if students do poorly on a test, it means that the teacher did not do their job and it is the teacher’s fault for the student’s inability to learn. 

To some, the contemporary school is no longer a place where the community holds its trust. Teachers are no longer revered and trusted. Teaching is no longer considered an honorable profession.  Since state governments have been taking over the financing, governing and operations of schools, the very institutions that were once viewed as points of community pride are now at-times viewed with suspicion, disdain and contempt. 

The more local control of our schools eroded, the more community support has weathered away. They are often viewed as just another failed government project.

Given the above, and because times have changed, schools can no longer afford to continue to venerate the old days. They must change with the times. We must step into the 21st century. 

Schools can do this by becoming full service institutions that service the entire student, not just their minds.  School institutions should include wellness centers, dental services, psychological and therapeutically services, childcare services, social services and recreational services.

Modern schools should strive to bring together the many services needed by our students.  By doing so, schools will be able to reconnect with their communities, build trust and bring back the pride and reverence once held long ago. Today’s schools can no longer afford to simply concern themselves with teaching, they need to become true community centers that focus on raising the whole child.

How and where will you lead them. Making Kennedy the school of choice. Excellence by design.