Against School

Against School

            Education systems all over the world have not been up to the standard. The standard here does not refer to the attainment of the set key performance indicators, rather the developmental changes that education should instill in human behavior. America’s education system, to be specific, has been criticized for discouraging creativity and individuality among students. This is true because such an education system does not evoke the students’ competencies as a result of a rigid curriculum and standardized testing. Students are made to believe that it is only through education that they can make it in life. The grading system makes students focus on grades rather than the outcome of classwork. This is why students have to be imprisoned in twelve long years of secondary education. Experience and examples throughout the world prove that short school time can also help produce experts, especially if the talent is considered; hence the American system is not as necessary. This argument can be justified by the rule on natural selection and interdependence whereby every child should grow to pursue their talent; each succeeds in what they do best and complement with others to make their lives complete. This paper explores the different ways in which the Us education system discourages creativity and individuality.

America’s education system provides a rigid curriculum. A sound education system should be one that evokes and triggers the learners to expose their areas of competence. US curriculum is focused on developing the so-called professionals with no consideration of specific student competencies. As a result, no chance for students to display their creativity in relation to their individual talents. To this end, the learner is discouraged from exploiting their abilities to the fullest, and hence they fail to develop efficiency and mastery of their competencies. This way, the learners only rely on what is taught in class, making them less creative.As argued by Gatto (34), America’s education system lacks student autonomy. This is to mean that students are trained collectively, with shared objectives. As a result, students end up pushing themselves into things they do not have passion for. This leads to boredom and, eventually, a lack of creativity. Lack of creativity because those poor in mathematics will not be motivated to explore anything along that line, and neither will those good in mathematics explore anything in arts. The curriculum should be open to promote student’s creativity in all directions so that students willfeelrecognized..

The second problem with the American education system that plays a part in discouraging creativity and individuality is standardized testing. In the endeavor to produce a pool of professionals aimed at filling positions in the development of the economy, the education system sets out the objective to make the learner his or her personal best. This objective is rather ironic. Ironic because, as Gatto (35) indicates, by borrowing H.L. Mencken’s statement, the objective of public education in many nations is to develop a “standardized citizenry.” It is the pursuit of this objective that makes the curriculum set standard examinations for all learners. The learners are focused on passing these tests because, in the eyes of the policy, that is what will determine their future. As a result, the learner does not think of anything that is not likely to be tested, and hence they are never creative. Also, if one fails in these exams, they end up thinking that they are fools, leading to self-hatred and hence a lack of individuality.

Subsequent to the standardized testing is the grading system.America’s curriculum makes students believe that good grades mean good lives. Those students who cannot attain these grades find the system to be oppressive, and they lose self-esteem. Gatto uses examples of presidents such as Thomas Jefferson and others who were only taught “to be sure” and to trust in their conscience (Gatto, 34). These presidents redeemed America from the colonial talons, yet they did not have huge class grades. The thought that success is synonymous with education is a bad idea that the American education system feeds children with. Authors like Margaret Mead and entrepreneurs like Carnegie never valued secondary education, but they managed to soar higher. To this end, the boring education system as Gatto calls is a discouragement to many students.

Finally, poor class funding is another problem with America’s education system. Again, it is hypocritical of the government to propose and agitate for civilization through education then fail to fully fund it. It is right to think that the rigidity of the curriculum is partly as a result of underfunding. If the government fund schools appropriately, it could be possible to put appropriate tools and equipment in place to give students a chance of innovation. As such poor class funding leads to a lack of facilities, which in turn discourages creativity among the students.

In conclusion, the education system in America discourages creativity and individuality. Learners are not given the freedom to establish and explore their competencies as a result of the rigid curriculum; rather, they arefocused on passing the standard exams and attaining good grades. They are technically conformed into a cocoon of standardized citizens with a misguided ideology that good grades mean success. These taught principals make students not to prosper later as entrepreneurs because the world is dynamic, and what worked today might not work tomorrow as such students should be left to learn from their failures and forge their success from it. However, due to poor funding, the schools do not have enough resources to provide the students’ facilities to motivate creativity.

Work Cited

Gatto, John Taylor. “Against school.” Harper’s Magazine, 307.1840 (2003): 33-38.