Modern Schooling is an Artificial Construct
Yesterday I had a conversation with an adult who is an expert in the medical/psychological needs of children. This person is not an educator but we were talking about school.
I was making a point by contrasting two types of students I've taught.
Student A: super hard worker, always on time to class, comes prepared, completes every assignment, spends hours on even the most trivial of worksheet, doesn't score real high on tests but gets good grades because they do every bit of busywork, doesn't take the real hard classes but has a high GPA.
Student B: risk-averse, reluctant, never speaks in class if they can avoid it, may or may not complete any assignments, almost always turns things in late, aces the tests so passes classes despite doing very little schoolwork, ironically is most engaged and gets the best grades in the hardest classes but has a lower GPA overall.
After describing these students from an academic standpoint we moved on to discussing each type of learner's emotional needs. And here is what this expert said in referring back to Student A v. Student B. He called the first student, "smart". Why? Because in my description I'd said that Student A had a higher GPA than Student B.
Uhm, no. Student A remembers very little of what they've learned, that A or B grade they earned is indicative of nothing. The construct of school--which rewards busywork--has artificially propped up a student with mid-level intelligence and little true ability. That same construct--rewarding busywork--has simultaneously squashed Student B, who really does understand but is not engaged with the content due to the endless barrier of busywork, and made him appear less qualified/educated/successful, etc.
The modern construct of schooling rewards busywork and disregards true learning. Actual comprehension and ability to apply the concepts is irrelevant. In fact, there isn't even an opportunity to demonstrate application of concepts. Once in awhile we'll find a great teacher who's been teaching for decades who has held onto old projects where kids have to do something (e.g. the egg drop challenge). Everyone remembers and talks about those projects because they are so rare. Because meaningful application of concepts is now the exception to the norm. How sad is that?
And, even more concerning, what happens to Student A when they graduate? Most kids are kinda okay, but this very specific type of student, the one who has actually understood nothing but thinks they're successful because of their grades, really hits a wall when they graduate. Real life actually requires real skills. Unless this student can find a meaningless-busywork job (and, yes, they do exist) they cannot succeed.
But what a horrible life. Doomed to a life of endless check boxes and rote tasks that anyone could do, that require no specific talent or skill. Aren't these the people who experience a mid-life crises at some point? Aren't we setting them up to one day look around and wonder if their existence ever had any meaning?
That's not the life I want for my children.
I want my children's school years to be a time when they learn to struggle and master difficult concepts. I want them to return to a task over and over again until they can demonstrate real-world application of the concept. I want them to connect all subject areas by deeply understanding the relationship between all living things and all of the human story. I want them to know there is meaning and to seek it passionately.
Modern schooling has completely lost sight of learning. Think about that. Modern schooling is about grades. It's about the outcome. We special ed teachers tie ourselves in knots modifying and adapting and then cramming with kids so they can get "the right grade"on a test. Because the grade is what matters.
I picture the modern school like this: imagine you signed up for a cooking class. You show up and at every work station every single food item has already been prepped. An array of bowls holding pre-measured and pre-chopped foods is laid out, left to right, in the order you'll need them to make the dish. A giant recipe card has pictures and arrows and illustrations beautifully laid out showing you exactly what and when to pour and stir. It's a fun environment. The instructor has music playing and is making the dish along with you at the front of the room under a video camera displaying her work station on a giant screen so you can just follow along when you're prompted to do the next thing.
At the end of the night you pull your baked dish out of the oven, take it home, and everyone loves it. Success! But...really? If you don't know how to chop an onion, did you learn a cooking skill? If you don't know what frying onions look and smell like when they're done, did you learn how to interact with the material? If you can't even remember the ingredients of that dish or what temp it baked at, do you truly know how to make it again?
That's modern schooling. Teachers are working so, so hard these days. They're exhausting themselves pre-chopping and pre-measuring by creating the most detailed study guides, interactive videos, super fun app-based study tools, etc. etc. etc. Teachers have made the classroom so fun and busy (to replicate the world of video games) that children aren't ever asked to concentrate in a quiet room and think for themselves anymore.
Our children are leaving school without either the skills of learning (focus, classification, memorization, attention to detail, self-assessment, etc.) or having mastered the actual content ("I'll just Google it.").
This is why I believe we have to completely leave the entire construct of the modern school. Ironically, I believe the modern school is the last place my children would learn to learn.
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