I am unsure as to whether or not I agree with the overarching theme of this article. In the summary, it says that one of President Obama’s goals is to increase the number of people going to college. Half of me wholeheartedly agrees with this mentality, but then the other half is left wondering, “is that the only use for schools?” It might be the idealist in me, but I think that schools should be used for learning for personal satisfaction and wellness and not only for, “economic growth and prosperity.” The main goal of learning should not be to create a new generation of people who can take care of the country as we grow older, but rather to create a generation that seeks out knowledge and learning which, in turn, will more than likely bring about a generation with new, great ideas. As teachers, I think we need to teach children to, “learn to think,” much like St. Edward’s has been teaching us in the years we have been in college.
The question then is, how do we manage this idea with standards? The article points out ways we can, “redesign structures and processes for effectiveness, efficiency, and flexibility,” and it cites that technology will help with that. I think this whole idea of including technology into the classroom is extremely beneficial to managing the idea of promoting thinking, while still meeting standards. It allows for more personalized lessons and give students an opportunity to see materials taught in a way that might make more sense to them. Since technology is becoming more and more readily available, it also offers students techniques for learning through technology either on their home computer or at a local library. Ultimately, technology creates a better classroom for both teacher and student, and will hopefully help to make it easier for us as future teachers to teach for the students, rather than for the test.
I did not think about Pres. Obama’s education goal in the way you put it before. You make a good point. Students should enjoy going to school to learn and better themselves, and we should teach them in this manner. Though one of the goals of education is to have the students move on to higher education, you are correct in that it should also be about bettering oneself and learning for the sake of learning. I like your last line about teaching for the students, not for the test as much of our education has become. By teaching for the students, we are empowering them with knowledge to use after graduation, not just information to pass a standardized, or simply content, test.
I also did not know what to feel with the goal of getting more people go to college or higher education. The reason for people to go to college was usually to make more money in the end than they would if they didn’t However, the value of a degree has gone down so much that if people want more it is almost the unspoken rule that grad school is required. I recently went abroad and a topic that was addressed was how the number of students reaching college was good and bad. The worry was starting to show, because they now questioned who would take the jobs that no college graduate would want. The everyday jobs that we need in order to function properly but don’t realize it until it’s too late.
You bring up an interesting question… what exactly is the purpose of our schools? Is it to bring “economic growth and prosperity” to the nation or is it “for personal satisfaction and wellness” for individuals that will give them the capacity and excitement to learn new things and seek understanding? Though I would have originally stated that schools are meant to ensure students had the general knowledge to be successful in their future endeavors whatever they may be, helping to ensure they are well prepared for the business world and compete with other rising economies around the world, I like the idea that schools’ primary focus should be on engaging the students and helping them to find a passion for seeking understanding in whatever topic they find interesting… with the hope that they will use such understanding to better society as a whole and make a difference. Interesting point.