Food for Thought

Just read an article entitled "WHy High Schools Must Go". I have to say it was a mind blowing 10 minute read for me. When I think about my own high school experience, there was nothing of note that stood out to me. There are the same traditional benchmarks, prom, graduation, and the parties on the weekends, but educationally? Not a whole lot there. The man being interviewed, Leon Botstein, holds the opinion that high schools are hurting rather than helping older adolescents.

His view point is that by keeping these teens in a traditional high school setting, we are holding them back and even hurting their emotional development. They are ready to be on their own and be in charge of their own learning and instead we are holding their hands and giving out detentions for misbehaving. Botstein maintains that we should not have high school as it is now, but instead have teens attending college at an earlier age. I would have loved a system like that when I was 16!

College, especially freshman year was such an incredibly liberating experience, one that I will treasure for the rest of my life. It was a time to connect to people, to explore who I was, and to develop a self image that fit the person I am today. College was a teenage playground and if given the opportunity to experience it earlier in my life would have been a blessing. Instead I was stuck in a stuffy old lab learning things that I would have to relearn in college because I didn't retain them the first time. It all comes down to choice. High school was not a choice and college was. There is a huge amount of power in providing choices.

More Than Just Hormone Driven Balls of Attitude

This week in EDC 533, I was reminded of how tough and important middle school is. In my own personal experience, it was the most painful of all my years in school. I was uncomfortable in my own skin and I thought that I was all alone in this feeling (little did I know). I listened to a powerpoint presentation that reminded me that although I prefer not to teach middle school, the people that do need a whole bag of tricks for dealing with this special time in a child's development and education.

When I see the middle schoolers roaming the halls, I frequently think "Look at these young adults." Some of them are already taller than me and could buy cigarettes without being carded (even though they are only 13). I know I am among the guilty for thinking that these KIDS are adults. They are closer to being a kid than a grownup, regardless of how they look. Their brains and bodies are still developing (at a rapid pace) and their hormones are kicking into high gear, effecting how they act and what they say. They are all dealing with their own self-image and how they fit into the dynamic of their relationships with their peers.

The biggest thing that struck me was the point the presentation made about the development of their prefrontal cortex. Their hormones and emotions are on overdrive and their prefrontal cortex is unable to rein in their emotional responses. It's not that they want to be dramatic and cry all the time, it's what their brain is telling them to do!

The lesson for me and maybe you too is that the next time I see a hulking 8th grader wandering the halls, remember that they need reassurance and acceptance just like any other kid, in addition to a hefty dose of compassion and understanding. Go hug a middle-schooler today!

Current Trends

After reading the article at www.answers.com/topic/elementary-education-current-trends a few things stuck out to me. One is that is says that curriculum and current trends in education are a "focus of concern and disagreement." I think that just about sums it up. Everyone has an opinion, but what are we really doing about it? We are all concerned about it because ultimately we are all effected by it in one way or another and yet we tend to sit back and think that it is someone else's problem (even teachers)! It reminds me of the people that don't go out and vote and then spend the next 4 years complaining about who the president is. We need to earn the right to complain and disagree by putting ourselves out there!

The article takes education in several countries and talks about the similarities and differences. I liked part of the Japan section where it talked about the focus of their education being to "work together to become healthy in mind, body, and spirit." In the United States we sometimes focus so much on the test scores and where we are compared to other countries that we forget to work together and we forget that we are educating PEOPLE. We don't always take into account the whole child when we are teaching them. I am forced to think about some of my students that come to school worrying about where their next meal will come from and I am asking them to focus on spelling? Fat chance!

Just some interesting ideas and of course, more questions to ponder!