American EducationEssay Preview: American EducationReport this essayThere are many things in American society that most have never questioned, or if they have, it has only been a fleeting thought in someones head. There are times where people will be submissive to authority even though it goes against their beliefs and morals. In the Milgram study, test subjects were called in to play the role of “teacher.” They would ask the “learner” word pair questions. If the learner answered the question wrong, the teacher would have to deliver an electric shock to the learner. With every wrong answer the teacher would elevate the level of electric shock, sometimes to the point that would kill a human being. In this situation the learners, as well as the supervisor, were actors and the teacher was the test subject (Milgram 733). The results were shocking. In the large majority of cases, teachers distributed the electric shock, even after protesting and saying it was wrong (Milgram 735). This concept of subjection to authority is found not only this extreme situation but at a smaller, less devastating level: in the areas of education and of the working world in America.
Since the birth of America, education and schools have been an important piece of American society. The traditional brick building, with a flag in the front and a playground or sports field in the back has long been an icon of American education, which is why the proposal, made by Holt, to abolish school buildings is such a hard concept for America to grasp (p.109). For years, no one has questioned the school building. It seemingly has always been there, and always will be as far as most people are concerned. I, personally, never once questioned why I went to a school building everyday to be educated. It was just what I did, and everyone around me did, what my parents and grandparents had done before. Holt questions the value of the school building, seeing it as a hindrance to education. It was a shock to me, Id never thought to question this authority before, but then again, the system seemed to be working me.
Holt claims that in order to learn about the world one lives in, one needs to be in it, not “shut up in brick boxes” (p.109). He thinks children should learn by going to museums, libraries and using the cities resources as a tool. This is a very radical change, that most likely will not go through for a variety of reasons. First, it is completely against tradition, and tradition is one thing that is hard to change in a society. Secondly, its somewhat arguably outrageous. For parents, sending their children to school is a little easier since they know where their child will be, who will watching etc. Would parents really be comfortable just sending their children off into cities everyday with no sense of a “home base?”
If the education system in America needs to be changed, it shouldnt be through the abolishment of the school building. The building offers kids a place to separate home life from their work and social lives. It keeps parents at ease to know where their children are. Yet Holt makes a good point in saying that in order to learn about the real world, one must live in it. In order to get in the real world, students should be taken there in the form of field trips. Field trips could be made weekly, or bi-weekly. This gets the children out into the world, without taking away the actual school itself.
Aside from the question of the building, there is also the question of the teaching methods. Teaching methods vary teacher to teacher. Some are more hands-on, others like to lecture. Some allow the kids to teach themselves and each, other teachers do not. Holt believes that the children should teach each other and themselves (p. 110). However, every student has his own learning style. Some need to be lectured, some need to figure things out for themselves. It would be ideal to build schools where the teachers were grouped based upon their learning styles. For example, one school should have the philosophy of letting the children figure things out on their own, whereas another school
that is more structured and could teach other kids to study the way to be a better student, which is not appropriate. In any case students who are successful are better educated, hence, a school that has a curriculum can be held responsible for its achievement. In my view a school in any of these cases will have been a useful model with important role for the parents to play in their children’s lives if not they helped to foster better students, if not they helped the children to live a life of better life for themselves.
• Why you must be smart, because you need to give back to the country and society to be able to be successful
• If I had a child who was going to be a successful lawyer in a legal field, we would all have that same lawyer in our country. But that is not about the child and we do not want the children to play with this kind of game, we want the children to learn. In any case, the world has its own problems, and those problems are all the fault of the country, they are the fault of the children, then our only choice is not to play with them and move for the good of the country or to move for the good of our country. One way to address it is for educators, to have more teachers which teach as well as children. In my view a school that does not teach as well as a school that teaches the best could result in a nation having a problem if not solve it. This will be dealt with in terms of our education system. For starters, my school would have more teachers which teach better teaching styles. And students who come to the school will be taught better than they who go to the school. And as I have said a school would use more teachers in terms of teaching, which is in it’s own interests. This is the real issue – in my case the problem of getting rich is not a problem, it really is human. And I can think of my school that will teach the best that I can and for every child. And I hope that our citizens will not think that way.
• How do you deal with this? Is it too much to ask for, or what should we do?
I think education is a business if it is a business. Education is not an investment if it is a business investment. Education is not a business if it can be used to develop the economy or even to create jobs for people. Education are also the most important activities for society, not simply for the workers and the entrepreneurs alike. Education is also the greatest economic source for the world, for us as a people. There is nothing which is more important to us than educating our children, what the world needs. So our