“Traditional
education is based on facts and figures and passing tests – not on a
comprehension of the material and its application to your life.”
--
Will Smith
By
Tommie Saylor
Kennedy
High School Principal
As
the political season beings to “ramp up,” a prelude to the upcoming primaries,
a summer of conventions and the general election, it is predictable that the
American education system will soon become a target. You will hear such
bold statements as, “we need to return American public education back to being No.
1 in the world…”
What
people do not seem to realize, is that American public education has never been
No. 1 in the world, yet as a country we are world leaders. Even our president
in known as the “Leader of the Free World.”
How
can this be? How does a nation that ranks 20th to 30th in the world in public
education, lead the world in most other aspects?
I
believe the answer lies in how we raise our children in the public education
system. Most countries have schools that only concern themselves with pure
academia. Students sit for hours in classrooms memorizing information,
solving mathematical problems, reading, writing, and learning foreign
languages.
Sounds
great? Not really.
Very
little time is spent with practical application of what was learned,
understanding the relevance of what was learned, and how to be creative using
the information in ways never before explored.
I
can memorize a flight manual, but does this make be a pilot? Or just someone
who has a bunch of information?
In
American schools we concentrate on teaching students how to learn, how to make
practical use of what was learned, and how to creatively make connects between
bodies of information. Knowing that many jobs that exist today did not exist 15
years ago, and that many jobs that will exist 15 years from now have not yet
even been conceived, having students memorize a bunch of information does not
necessarily prepare them for the future.
But
teaching them how to learn, and how to use what they have learned will prepare
them for whatever comes their way in life.
American
public schools place a value on athletics, the arts and performance that does
not appear in most of the world’s schools. Chinese schools don’t have
art, band, athletic teams (football, basketball, baseball) or JROTC. They don’t
celebrate Homecoming, Prom, nor do they have clubs and organizations or participate
in community service programs.
American
schools believe in a well-rounded education, in augmenting academics with
athletics and the arts; in teaching social, emotional, and imaginative lifelong
lessons that serve our students well into adulthood.
Though
some may argue our methods, they can’t argue with our results. We are the
No. 1 country in the world economically, politically and socially, due in no
small part to the system that educated our populous.
So
why do American students score so low on international tests? I put forth
that it is the tests that are flawed, not our educational system. Most
international tests are based on rote memorization, how much information have
you been able to cram into your head just before taking the test. Yet if the
tests were based on performance, ability to analyze information, ability to
interpret information and the ability to use information, I’m willing to bet
that American students would score well above the rest.
Those
high scores being posted by other nation’s children look good on paper, but are
meaningless in the context of the real world. That’s where American students
are being taught skills that are easily extrapolated and transferred to the
real world.
How
and where will you lead them. Making Kennedy the school of choice. Excellence
by design.
Nicely said!
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