Another brick in the wall?
Sep. 17th, 2010 04:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12Day 22 – Something that upsets you
Wow, I've skipped a lot of days. Sorry about that.
There are many things in this world that upset me, but I'm going to talk about just one of them, because, in my opinion, a lot of the other things that upset me can probably be traced back to this. I am talking, of course, about poor education.
I'm not talking about countries without universal education, where only the very rich and privileged are able to go to school, although that is horrific and more anger-inducing as what I'm about to talk about. But I don't come from any of those countries and I have no experience of what it is like to live there and would feel odd ranting about it for this reason.
No, what upsets me is the poor standard of education that can be found in wealthy countries with universal education. There really is no excuse for it. If the money isn't there, reallocate it! If the good teachers aren't there, change your admissions policy for teachers going into training and for goodness sake increase the salaries and improve the working conditions of public school teachers!
My own education was in no way flawless. Some years I had good primary school teachers who were engaging and resourceful and went out of their way to teach every child, to pitch the class to every ability level and every learning style. Some years I had primary school teachers who spent the entire time letting us watch Disney films and playing golf with a metre-ruler. (I wish I were exaggerating. I'm not.) One of my high school English teachers got us so engaged in the drama of Death of a Salesman that I,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
anya_1984 and psuedoskribe, and then half the rest of the class, started crying as we acted out Willy Loman's death scene. One of my high school English teachers was unable to control the class and presided over an hour-long argument between a disruptive boy and one of my friends who objected to his disruption. But on average, I'd say that my education was pretty good. The good teachers outweighed the bad, and the inspiring teachers outweighed the merely adequate. On the whole, the only differences between my own public education and my sister's extraordinarily expensive private education were that she had to go to religion classes and sing hymns at assembly, and the quality of her sports equipment, drama studios and facilities was a lot higher.
This is as it should be. There really shouldn't be any difference in the quality of teaching between public and private education, because public education should be a viable alternative that stands its students in good stead. And yet...I was lucky. I was privileged to grow up in the most middle-class, most educated city in Australia. I was privileged to live in the wealthiest suburbs, where the best public schools were located. I was privileged to grow up with a mother who was aware of what was going on at my schools, and who noticed when I was struggling and made sure I did something about it. I was privileged because I was taught by people who did not force-feed information to me, but instead taught me how to think, who did not see success as an easy path into a well-paying career but rather as becoming a fully conscious human being capable of making intellectual, political, moral and aesthetic decisions based on reflection, engagement and self-knowledge.
I am not saying that I am a particularly wonderful or clever human being. I make terrible mistakes. I am ignorant in so many areas, and sometimes I say wrong things. But I am aware at least that my education has been been pretty good, and that when I screw up it is in spite of my education and not because of it. And I am aware (not least because of the stuff I see on the internet every day) that not everyone from a similar background has had even my luck when it comes to education.
It makes me speechless with rage when I see how badly some people have been failed by their inadequate education. By teachers who didn't see their potential, by teachers who shouldn't have been teachers, by teachers let down by the limitations of their budgets and curriculums and the dominant ideologies of the countries or states in which they taught. By understaffed schools. And by an overarching philosophy that it is acceptable for there to be a two-tiered education system, where the rich get taught well, and the poor get taught badly. It is not acceptable. And it makes me so angry.
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry
Day 25 – Your sleeping habits
Day 26 – Your fears
Day 27 – Your favorite place
Day 28 – Something that you miss
Day 29 – Your favorite foods/drinks
Day 30 – Your aspirations
Wow, I've skipped a lot of days. Sorry about that.
There are many things in this world that upset me, but I'm going to talk about just one of them, because, in my opinion, a lot of the other things that upset me can probably be traced back to this. I am talking, of course, about poor education.
I'm not talking about countries without universal education, where only the very rich and privileged are able to go to school, although that is horrific and more anger-inducing as what I'm about to talk about. But I don't come from any of those countries and I have no experience of what it is like to live there and would feel odd ranting about it for this reason.
No, what upsets me is the poor standard of education that can be found in wealthy countries with universal education. There really is no excuse for it. If the money isn't there, reallocate it! If the good teachers aren't there, change your admissions policy for teachers going into training and for goodness sake increase the salaries and improve the working conditions of public school teachers!
My own education was in no way flawless. Some years I had good primary school teachers who were engaging and resourceful and went out of their way to teach every child, to pitch the class to every ability level and every learning style. Some years I had primary school teachers who spent the entire time letting us watch Disney films and playing golf with a metre-ruler. (I wish I were exaggerating. I'm not.) One of my high school English teachers got us so engaged in the drama of Death of a Salesman that I,
anya_1984 and psuedoskribe, and then half the rest of the class, started crying as we acted out Willy Loman's death scene. One of my high school English teachers was unable to control the class and presided over an hour-long argument between a disruptive boy and one of my friends who objected to his disruption. But on average, I'd say that my education was pretty good. The good teachers outweighed the bad, and the inspiring teachers outweighed the merely adequate. On the whole, the only differences between my own public education and my sister's extraordinarily expensive private education were that she had to go to religion classes and sing hymns at assembly, and the quality of her sports equipment, drama studios and facilities was a lot higher.This is as it should be. There really shouldn't be any difference in the quality of teaching between public and private education, because public education should be a viable alternative that stands its students in good stead. And yet...I was lucky. I was privileged to grow up in the most middle-class, most educated city in Australia. I was privileged to live in the wealthiest suburbs, where the best public schools were located. I was privileged to grow up with a mother who was aware of what was going on at my schools, and who noticed when I was struggling and made sure I did something about it. I was privileged because I was taught by people who did not force-feed information to me, but instead taught me how to think, who did not see success as an easy path into a well-paying career but rather as becoming a fully conscious human being capable of making intellectual, political, moral and aesthetic decisions based on reflection, engagement and self-knowledge.
I am not saying that I am a particularly wonderful or clever human being. I make terrible mistakes. I am ignorant in so many areas, and sometimes I say wrong things. But I am aware at least that my education has been been pretty good, and that when I screw up it is in spite of my education and not because of it. And I am aware (not least because of the stuff I see on the internet every day) that not everyone from a similar background has had even my luck when it comes to education.
It makes me speechless with rage when I see how badly some people have been failed by their inadequate education. By teachers who didn't see their potential, by teachers who shouldn't have been teachers, by teachers let down by the limitations of their budgets and curriculums and the dominant ideologies of the countries or states in which they taught. By understaffed schools. And by an overarching philosophy that it is acceptable for there to be a two-tiered education system, where the rich get taught well, and the poor get taught badly. It is not acceptable. And it makes me so angry.
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry
Day 25 – Your sleeping habits
Day 26 – Your fears
Day 27 – Your favorite place
Day 28 – Something that you miss
Day 29 – Your favorite foods/drinks
Day 30 – Your aspirations
no subject
Date: 2010-09-17 10:13 pm (UTC)I'm currently doing a prac in a moderately disadvantaged school in Sydney, and I think one of the biggest influences is the home environment: essentially, how much the parents value education, whatever their 'socio-economic status'. Are you thinking of particular people who've been 'let down' by poor quality teaching? True, it happens (I know, since I've been a perpetrator now!), but when you're in an environment where everyone in the English staff says "there's no point setting homework; they won't do it..." and where at least 15% of the students are absent, even the most engaging lesson has limited impact.
James H.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-17 10:27 pm (UTC)In terms of particular people being 'let down' by poor quality teaching, I'm thinking of so many things I've seen online. In particular, people who complain about finding particular books 'boring' or 'disliking the writing style' when what they really mean is that they couldn't understand it. In such cases, the problem is with the teacher, not with the source material, to be honest. Dislike a book, but dislike it for a genuine reason, not simply because you were taught so badly that you can't understand it. You can tell it's due to poor teaching, because they hold such ill-informed opinions about particular authors and the historical context within which they wrote (Dickens' books were not popular fiction, for example. Now, I dislike Dickens, and am certainly not defending the guy, but his books WERE intended for popular consumption, and anyone who is arguing otherwise has been let down by their teachers). I find it incredibly depressing.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-18 05:07 pm (UTC)I would count an education system as successful if it gave everyone a reasonable opportunity to develop reason, introspection, and the ability to find their own answers if needed, and any knowledge successfully acquired is a bonus.
I would never expect everyone, or even the majority, to use this opportunity.
That the people you're talking about even read books to not understand them would be a great success at my current school, where the kids don't get to take the books home (so they rely heavily on drama and film viewed/read in class).
James.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-19 10:15 am (UTC)You are right, of course, and I do need to get a sense of perspective. I'm not a teacher and so my only experience of what teachers go through (and the effects of their teaching) is second-hand. I hope you didn't read this post as an attack on the teaching profession. I've heard enough from friends to know that those working in teaching, especially in the public system, have an uphill battle against lack of funding, understaffing, parents and bad curriculums (honestly, in my IB biology textbook - made in the US - there was a section devoted to intelligent design and God creating the universe in six days as alternative theories! While we were not taught any of this in the classroom, the thought that some children were appalls me). I do appreciate what a difficult job it must be.
As I said below to Jordan, I just wish things could be better, somehow.
I would count an education system as successful if it gave everyone a reasonable opportunity to develop reason, introspection, and the ability to find their own answers if needed, and any knowledge successfully acquired is a bonus.
I would never expect everyone, or even the majority, to use this opportunity.
I think you've hit the nail on the head here. Depressing though I find it, you are right about this.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-17 11:55 pm (UTC)(This is possibly an ignorant and wrong opinion, and it's based entirely on anecdotal evidence, so if anyone wants to tell me I'm wrong, go ahead. I won't be replying until tomorrow, though, as it's 1am and I'm going to bed.)
no subject
Date: 2010-09-18 01:48 am (UTC)I suppose I do too, and it upsets me that we don't always have it, but over time my view has evolved towards thinking that education often sucks because its really, really hard - due to all sorts of complex reasons, whether they be economic/social/cultural/personal/institutional/political etc - to actually do it well, consistently.
For example, the children of the rich and privileged will always receive better educations (on average). There is simply no conceivable way around this. You could outlaw private schools tomorrow, and rich parents would still be able to hire private tutors to give their kids one-on-one lessons. Rich students will always have access to faster broadband, better textbooks, exam-organiser apps, etc. Along the lines of what James said, a child with a well educated parent has easier access to help with their homework, and is more likely to be given motivation to do it, regardless of socio-economic factors. In short, a truly egalitarian education system has as a prerequisite nothing short of actual full-blown radical totalitarian communism, in which all children are raised uniformly by the state and not their families.
A related point is that It's very hard to structure a public education system that does a good job of attracting high quality teaching talent. In NSW for example we have a market for teachers' labour that is both monoposistic and monopolistic; so there is no real chance for economic forces to come into play. Incentive pay for good teachers, a big item on the agenda at the moment, is most likely a bad idea from what we know about how monetary bonuses effect motivation from the behavioural economics/psychology literature. We're left with a system that rewards seniority over merit, where it's very difficult to get rid of terrible teachers, and where good teachers are often demoralised by systemic failure. There's every reason to believe that a large universal increase in teachers salaries wil bankrupt State governments while actually doing very little to enhance educational outcomes.
None of this is helped by the fact that our scientific understanding of education is in its infancy. What makes a good teacher? In fact this isn't even a question with a well-defined answer because some types of teachers are very good for some types of students and not for others. Are things like selective schools, or classes, a good idea? What about remedial classes? Should we segregate schools based on gender? What class size gives the best cost/benefit ratio? How many hours a week of homework should teachers give out? There's countless opinions to be found about these kinds of questions, but as far as I know in most cases there is a dearth of any solid evidence.
Having said all that, modern public education is remarkably good, when viewed from any kind of historical perspective - I think in say the 19th century the idea that a majority of the population could be taught, for example, the basics of calculus, would have been viewed as somewhat fanciful. It only seems like things are terrible to those of us lucky enough to have experienced how much better potentially they could be. Of course that's not to say we shouldn't want to see things improve to reach that potential.
- Jordan
no subject
Date: 2010-09-18 12:31 pm (UTC)