You know when I was a kid my teachers encouraged me to think for myself. You need to know how to learn things on your own. You need to develop independence. You need to be creative.
Well guess what. When I went to get a teaching credential, you know what they hammered into me ( academically speaking that is) from day one? Students need to develop creative learning. They should have real projects to develop independence. Students need to develop confidence and the ability to learn on their own.
So now my child is in school. Guess what is stressed in school today? Teaching to the test. Standardized testing, testing and more testing! What's wrong with that?
If the purpose of school is only to memorize facts then testing is fine. But if that's the purpose of school then it's just a step above baby sitting. It's baby sitting with memorization!
The purpose of school should be to develop mental agility. Learning how to think and problem solve.
The purpose of school should be to develop skills. Social skills, organizational skills, work skills, blue collar skills and athletic skills.
The purpose of school should be to exercise our creativity. While other countries have set the academic bar far higher than we do, we are the best with creativity. That is up until recently. We're switching to a model of standardized testing, this will only diminish our creativity. How can you be creative when you're expected to memorize facts? We're giving up something we're excelling in. Why?
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