discussing current education problems in the fields of goals, nationalist and corporation influences, and the need for more supplies, books, teachers, classrooms—funding. Horace Mann was raised in a rural environment in Massachusetts.
He was not wealthy yet succeeded like any other. He graduated from Brown University and pursued a career in law and politics. Disheartened by the conditions of the state’s public school system, he pursed a career in education only to become secretary of the Massachusetts’s Board of Education. He has changed the school system so much that there are many schools named after him, in fact in San Diego, we have a Horace Mann Middle School. Under physical education he wanted the basics. He wanted sanitary intelligence and cleanliness. This meant better health and life standards. Politically, Mann believed that people need to be aware of politics and government. He wanted people to participate in voting and those who participated actively should recognize “the nature and functions of the government”. He also believed that people should be religiously educated and after being educated choose ourselves whether this is an important aspect to our lives. With the time education takes, morals is something Mann thought should be ingrained, “if we teach them right than it will stay with them when they grow old” was the attitude he had. After all, students do spend 7 hours of our days at school and in due course, from education one could grow on wealth and “securing abundance”. Even though written in 1848, these educational problems continue to exist but bigger problems have risen in this millennium, beginning with the way we …show more content…
are taught. Education is policed by the state powers. This means our state Board of Education gets together in a huge meeting and devises a plan for us. I believe the fundamentals of this plan fail to meet the standards of what our society needs in continuing education. The focus of education should be on results and teachers should aim for mastery, not minimum competency. In school, students are required to take English, Mathematics, and History all four years of high school and because we are forced into doing these things so many of us learn to hate them. So many students and kids feel forced and obligated to go to school when really it is a privilege. They should promote the actual importance of learning and not just fulfilling requirements to get to a next stage. Along with this, we should focus on the need of the individual after all we are all different, even if it means skipping someone a grade or holding them back based on their abilities. I feel that the school’s systems are structured in a way that how old you are says what grade you belong to. According to dictionary.com education is defined as the process of acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. But as Gatto says, “School is meant to determine each student’s proper social role…and trained so far as their destination in the social machine merits—and not one step further” (157). I concur, as far as I know, my high school counselors stressed the importance of finding a career or interest more so than stressing the importance of learning constantly. Furthermore when kids are bored they complain, watch television, play computer games and quite frankly people tend to stop educating themselves after they graduate school, because the school system is just like a military system consisting of strict timings, strict uniforms, etc. So when you are out you are done. Students are taught with a “this is something you need to do” attitude when really they should be taught that it is a privilege and that continuing to stimulate the mind and “widen[ing] your field of vision, discovering the paradigm shift that will permit truly new understanding” is something that we should work towards. The school should focus more on individualistic needs and help one master the ability to be fully functional in society. Along with this, comes the nationalistic and corporative traditions the American school system promotes.
I remember wanting to sell magazines, candy, Sally Foster wrapping paper, and jewelry so that I could try to win a free pizza party and limo ride. I remember the PowerAde and Coca Cola sold on campus. Not only did they cost $1.25 for the 20 ounce bottle but the only place you could buy Pepsi was at the student store. Corporations advertise for free in huge masses when they help provide funding for school. “The schools aren’t just looking for ways to advertise: they’re also concerned with the student’s perceptions of various products” (Moore 145). Another example would be the box top providers like General Mills. These corporative sponsors are “immersing children in sophisticated, integrated marketing campaigns for their food and beverages” (Golin) and this brainwashes us to be conformists, “its intention is to make children alike as possible” (Gatto 156). Not only are these corporations marketing and placing corporative logos everywhere, the way we are taught in History is from the point of view of the conqueror, in which case is always America. If America is going to show students their side, they must also teach to learn to accept other sides. Students are taught patriotism and the righteousness of the Almighty United States of America, when in actuality we are brainwashed to categorize, separate, and distinguish ourselves as better than others and should be taught
to hold individualistic resilience and the acceptance of liberty in people. One small problem with education is money. If education is so important, why is there never enough money for everything linked with education? “Too many children in the classroom, not enough supplies or text books, students unable to sit and focus” (Price). Teachers are being laid off and buses are cutting routes. These things definitely raise the drop out rate, if a student can’t get to school on time its easy to see why they even bother to go at all. Education heads need to ensure and teach equality, so that there isn’t any distinction in social class. Sure, one can take private school, which gives more attention and has smaller classroom sizes, but not everyone can afford to do this and there should be a system made equally for the less fortunate kids. Regardless, kids in poor countries manage to be more educated than Americans even when they don’t have textbooks and a lack of funding should not be an excuse for the illiteracy of America which goes back to the rudiments of our education system. America needs to work towards making education an important part in everyone’s life, and that progress and development in oneself is an essence of life, so that no one stays stagnate and continues learning for the better. As long as we define the "problem" with public schools as a lack of money, we'll never solve the problem, and we'll never have enough money. We must fix the premise of the need for school. Teachers should be encouraged to challenge students to reach their full potential. Teachers should also focus on making schooling more challenging and individual. Stop teaching to “the tests”; let them fail so they have something to compare success to, and teach them to think for themselves, not as the curriculum demands. Schools should also promote liberation in thought and actions, and teach children not to conform. Funding, I believe is a side problem, and the heart of the issue, the rudiments of education, need to changed. And if the school system fails to meet the standards in which is ideal for a your child, teach them to think critically and independently, so that they never become bored and stagnate.