Obama in his state of the union a while back made a bold statement that if we really wanted to do a great service to our country, we should teach. I agreed with that completely. The teachers and professors in my life have expanded the way I see the world and have challenged me to think for myself and have given me the confidence to see how I might influence and interpret the world around me. I cannot thank them enough for that.
However, Obama wasn't talking about just teachers in general, he was singling out teaching and learning in the fields of math and science. Which, by the way, has been a goal mentioned with almost every president we've had since WWII. I'm not arguing that we don't need math and science teachers. They are very important and the students of the United States need to be able to compete on an international scale.
I'd like to point out that our students in this country also have severe problems reading, writing and understanding their country's history. This is intolerable. Yes, math and science are important, but if a student doesn't have the skills to write or comprehend writing, then math and science are almost null and void. You can't walk around life without the capacity to read and write. You just can't. You don't have to be a novelist or anything, but you need the critical thinking skills that accompany reading and writing to think for yourself and to express yourself in the written form. Even scientists and mathematicians need the skill to write in order to share their work.
And then there's history. When the children here as well as many adults know nothing about the men and women who have created this country and the events that turned the tide, there is a great disservice to this country. The revolution? "We fought the british." Civil War? "The North and the South fought over slavery" World War I? "Don't know... Hitler?" The Great Depression? "We were broke" World War II? "Hitler and the Japs"
The sad thing is that there are even Americans out there that don't understand even the basic ideas that these event occurred or the reasons behind them. History isn't just about knowing one's country, it's about a sense of pride. It's about, once again, being able to critically think about things that have not only happened in the past, but that are happening now and will happen in the future.
So, yes Obama, let's get science and math up to par with the rest of the world, but don't forget English, History and liberal arts in general, because while scientists and mathematicians better the world with innovations, Historians, writers, and everyone benefits from a good liberal arts education. They are made better because of it and thus our country is made better.
I totally agree with you and would also like to point out a misconception many people have when comparing the U.S. to other "higher achieving" countries. In the U.S. every child is reqired to go to school, no matter their financial status or learning ability. In many other countries there is no such thing as free education; school must be paid for and many can't afford to attend and some countries don't even allow especially low achieving students to attend. So, to me, when that comparison is made, it's apples to oranges: how can you compare every child no matter what income or ability to the best and the richest? You can't accurately do so and we need to stop making such comparisons.
ReplyDeleteI also think that, in some cases, when people say "those that can't do, teach." I used to be thoroughly insulted by this, being a teacher myself, but after being in graduate level education classes and seeing the lack of knowledge that should have been learned in elementary school, I'm starting to see the truth to it, much to my horror. I think that education programs should have higher requirements to be accepted and should have more specified admission tests (the GRE was a nightmare and had nothing to do with elementary education). We need to put more effort into our teacher education programs as well as the schools themselves, not to mention bringing back the arts!
Very good points. I especially agree with what you're saying about the level of requirements needed for grad level education classes. As a masters student in Southern Studies, there were a few education grad students in my classes and generally they were ill equipped to deal with the course. It seems as though those who are automatically certified for teaching are those who have little to no knowledge about the field they teach. Whereas, I studied history in undergrad and Southern Studies in grad school, it is a pain in the ass for me to get my certificate. This shouldn't be the case just because I didn't take "education" courses.
ReplyDelete