Review of Reflections in Education: Considering the Impact of Schooling on the Learner by Kathleen Anderson

Molli Shaw
Ms. Jill Campbell
Intro. To Research Writing 299
3 February 2015
Review of Reflections in Education: Considering the Impact of Schooling on the Learner by Kathleen Anderson Kathleen Anderson’s article is a series of three brief reflections on some related material that discuss our current education system, it’s flaws, and Anderson’s reflections using her personal experiences from her own teaching career. Anderson first reflects on “Do Schools Today Kill Creativity” by Ken Robinson, then she takes a look at an interview with John Holt from Mothering magazine, as well as how that related to her personal experience being an educator. Lastly, she reflects on the purpose of education as presented by John Taylor Gatto’s article “Against School: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids, and Why.” Ken Robinson’s presentation “Do Schools Today Kill Creativity?” first discusses how the school system limits our children’s creativity. Some children that are believed to have great talents aren’t necessarily more talented than anyone else. Many kids have a talent(s) that the public school system fails to find or embrace. Those who are lucky enough to be talented in an area or subject of what is deemed as “important” in society are ranked above other kids and considered smarter, which in reality is just not true. Robinson believes that we as individuals all have the potential to excel in school, if only we were allowed to explore our talents to find out what it is that we are good at. Anderson draws from her own experience, and discusses how children aren’t granted enough options to explore their creativity, and don’t do well in some areas of school simply because their talents and interests don’t lie in those areas. Learning isn’t about learning anymore, it’s about passing the class. Anderson claims “students learn to rely on marks and seek approval from teachers to know if what they have produced is acceptable.” Evaluating students limits their creativity and makes them afraid to fail, so they don’t attempt to try new things. Some subjects become a turn off to students because they are undervalued in our society. For example, a job in the arts is not always valued or encouraged in school because the talents valued in our society are usually the ones that will lead you to receive a higher paycheck. Robinson (2006) claims that students pass up possible success in areas they are more interested and talented in just for the fear that they won’t get a “real job.” Other students are diagnosed with learning disabilities because they are falling short of the other kids in school, when sometimes they just aren’t given the opportunity to explore their own talents or way of learning. In her own classroom, Anderson tries to look for more opportunities to give children freedom in assignments so that they can explore a little bit; however, there’s only so much freedom you are able to give in the public school system. Anderson states, “There must be a better way.” (par. 20, page 69) Next, Anderson reflects on some of the material from an interview in Mothering magazine with John Holt. Holt discusses many similar ideas about an education system that fails our students by strictly enforcing their learning. In this interview, John Holt comments “We like to learn; we are good at it; we don’t need to be shown how or be made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it.” (1981). Anderson comments on her first hopes as a teacher, to get the students interested in all the subjects and inspire them with every lesson. She came to learn that this task was impossible, and that she was still forcing her curriculum on them, and possibly getting in the way of their chance to find their true talents. The ideas of Holt have influenced Anderson’s teaching style greatly. Anderson discusses the flaws in the grading system as Holt presents. It pushes children away from creativity and toward uniformity just to achieve the goal of the grade, and they don’t get the chance to explore a different way of thinking. Holt mentions that he has an issue with the public school’s system reading program, and he specifically discusses how reading aloud to children isn’t actually helping them, but hindering them. Anderson states “If we force them to read when they have no use for it or do not want to learn it, they will not remember what we teach, they will not meet those expectations we set for them, and they will not enjoy reading.” (Page 71 Par.30) Holt also discusses the mathematics program. Numbers aren’t easy to understand for students because they aren’t presented in real life situations. When the students are forced to learn it, many of them struggle to grasp the concept of these math problems because the numbers and formulas aren’t presented in a real-life concept. Students lack interest in the subject because they don’t think they will use it in real life situations. Educators today need to understand the need for students to have freedom, as well as less pressure and evaluation to meet general standards. The education system overall “interferes with the natural process of learning.” (page 72 par 35) Lastly, Anderson reflects on the purpose of education as John Taylor Gatto. Gatto presents the idea that our education system was originally produced to create a manageable population of consumers and employees, as he uses points from the history of education. Today’s school system pushes children away from the idea of being unique or questioning authority and also away from learning real leadership skills. It can hinder children from truly growing up to be independent and able to make their own informed decisions. Instead they become mindless and “manageable” adults, as Gatto puts it. Gatto encourages you to do as much as possible to give your child the creative freedom in their education that they need to find their talents and interests. If they actually enjoy learning, it will encourage them to take responsibility of their education. Educators and parents should teach the children to be independent and think critically for themselves in their own ways. Anderson suggests home schooling or free schooling as an alternative to give your children the real education they need to reach their true potential. Anderson reflects then on how the articles affected her views and then her actions in the classroom. She found herself exploring new things, giving more freedom to her students, and changing things as much as possible to give them creative freedom. By exploring different interests in our lives we can explore our own talents and find what defines us and makes us happy, which makes it easier and more desirable to learn. Anderson reminds the reader how important receiving a real education really is, rather than just receiving a schooling, to give our children as much chance to reach their full potential and find their talents. Anderson’s article overall is a reflection of her own experiences in the classroom, and how they relate or reflect the theories of each author, Robinson, Holt and Gatto. Anderson, like the authors she refers to, believes the public education system in the U.S. is extremely flawed. The uniformity and generalization of kids produces mediocre students with little self-awareness. The root of the cause is speculated by Gatto to be our government’s strategy at a manageable population. The common thought among all the authors, including Anderson, is that something must be done if we want to see our youth find true happiness and success.