In a meeting with third grade teachers yesterday, a 20 year seasoned teacher made what I consider an astounding statement...she said,
"I don't think kids need to learn anything more than reading, writing and math." That's all they need to know." Especially our kids(who are English language learners)-they have no business learning anything else."
I cringed inside. This statement was made in the context of reviewing our kids tests scores from last year. We were looking at what we needed to emphasize before the test in March.
And this, dear parents is your wave of the future. Ignorant children who can read and write but know nothing of our country, the world, the sciences, the history of peoples and cultures.
Perhaps, parents, you also think as she does. It is not important to learn much else besides reading, writing and math.
I consider it the death of a well rounded education.
Our testing mentality has robbed our kids of the world beyond the classroom. It has cheated them -of discovering the wonders of science, the curiosity and investigative qualities which allow us to create for our futures some of the most wondrous inventions we know.
Our kids no longer learn about other cultures, countries, traditions, geographic imprints which affect a country's identity. They are not exposed to a treasure trove of history-or even the basics of our governmental system.
If George Bush and the NCLB law had an underlying intent to develop ignorant, isolated, sadly minimized intellectually citizens of the future-they are succeeding, sadly, succeeding magnificently.
Many new teachers are moving into the field of education with one main theme, solidly sold to them, about how to educate your children.
It is this-their competencies, abilities and evaluative skills will all be based on the success of their classes passing one test-which is primarily focused on math, writing and reading.
No more trips around the world, to study the successes and failures of other cultures, no more explorations of the rain forests, or an understanding of the water cycle, how environments survive, sustain and survive changes, no more travel in a covered wagon across the west as the pioneers did, and sadly, no real exploration of how our country was founded..
Elementary school children literally, have a prison sentence, no matter how much fun teachers can make math, reading, and writing. Yes, we can develop units covering some of the themes of social studies, history, science, and geography-we can invent lesson plans which include all the main areas of emphasis-but most teachers won't do that for your child.
The stakes are too high. Teachers are not feeling support from the communities, the districts, the state or the federal government.
What a loss.
What will we have left?
A culture of group thinkers with no ability to develop the skills such as independent and critical thinking, a little dreaming and a lot of imagination, the sense that learning is all about awe and wonder, and possibilities are unlimited-and the sense that discovery is what learning is all about.
Dear Parents,
It is you who can change this world of narrowly focused , deliberately linear and ignorantly designed education your kids are receiving.
Step up to the plate. Listen to the little whispers out there that are trying to boldly and loudly tell you that this testing mania is destroying what a real education should be-well rounded, exciting, interesting, challenging and enduring.
Learning to love learning, learning how to learn and learning how to apply learning are all important components of learning.
Please stop cheating your children.
You are this country.
Do this for your kids.
Now is your time to be heard.
You did not vote out your legislators because you wanted our country to continue to follow the same path -do the same for the future of our children. Write, call, tell them enough..
I tell my third grade students, "You are the ones who will decide the direction of our country in the future-you will be the ones who make the hard decisions about resources, relationships, fairness, compassion.
Learning in an isolated frame of reference-how will they be able to do that effectively?
We need to teach them all of it.
Not just how to read the directions.
