Since all of my education before college took place outside of the public or private education systems, my experience gives me a unique perspective on learning and education. I grew up homeschooled, so all of my classes were either one-on-one or small groups with my siblings. In many of my classes, I was not out rightly tested or given any sort of assessment because my mother, my one and only teacher, evaluated me by how I participated in the class, how I answered verbal questions, and how I discussed the content. I loved learning and enjoyed discussing history and science with my mom or reading my literature books. I was excited to start college classes because I wanted to learn and study more.
However, when I started taking college courses, I found that classrooms rarely fostered learning, only memorizing. In fact, for a few years, I hated school. In my days of observation at local high schools, I have made the same conclusion. Students are overwhelmed by constant standards needing to be met, impersonal classes, and strict teachers. I believe that most children want to learn, but when there is excessive testing and constant stress, any of the fun of learning is sucked out. This is not the case for every student, but overall, they are being pushed to pass strict standards rather than encouraged to be creative or learn for fun. There, of course, needs to be some assessments and standardized tests, but the system now focuses on teaching to these tests rather than helping students form skills.
A system like this also caters only to those who are good test takers and quick memorizers. As someone who is one of these people, I have always been able to pass almost any class that I have taken with relative ease. I learned quick tips on how to memorize a lot of information all at once, usually the hours before a test, and temporarily possess a large amount of knowledge. However, after the tests or the classes were over, I did not keep any of that information because I never truly learned it. The school system encourages this type of behavior by making its focus mostly or solely on test results instead of including smaller assignments or class participation.
While the system works for me temporarily, there are many more learning styles that are generally ignored. My sister is dyslexic, so I grew up watching my mother cater the classes for her. Instead of ignoring my sister’s dyslexia or suppressing it, my mother found or created programs that would help my sister learn at her own pace. Her assessments were often participation- and discussion-based because she is terrible at tests but can often explain difficult concepts verbally. This is not always possible in the public school system because of class sizes, but I believe that further measures should be taken to make disabilities like dyslexia, ADHD, OCD, autism, and anxiety disorders less taboo or less demeaning. School systems should work with the students, not make the students work with the system.
This idea of discrimination also relates to ascription of intelligence. In my limited experience, I have not run into this problem, but I am sadly aware that it exists in a lot of places. Equal opportunities and treatment should be given to each and every student, no matter their race. Skin color does not dictate intelligence. Teachers need to be aware of this obvious fact and approach each student with equal levels of encouragement, assistance, and attitude.
Katelyn Hobbs 