The National Institute of Nursing Research?
In his article “Against School,” by former public-school teacher and educational consultant John Taylor Gatto, the author analyses the origin of compulsory mass schooling in the United States. The article challenges parents and educators to carefully reconsider the mission of public education and evaluate whether it can, in fact, be successful in developing bright minds capable of problem-solving. Ultimately, he concludes, public education is failing. After reading the John Gatto article, I agree that public education is hindering the development of creative and independent thinkers. State-funded schools are not inspiring students due to the rigid curriculum, standardized testing, A-F grading system, and poor classroom discipline.
The rigid structure of our current educational curriculum does not allow for creativity in teaching or creative students. For starters, the curriculum is structured to mold students into the so-called good citizens. As a result, students are made to pursue common goals, which hinders their freedom of establishing and exploring their own competencies. Similarly, since teachers are helping students to attain the same common goals, they are also denied the opportunity to identify student talents. It is a common understanding that each student has their own needs. America’s curriculum fails to account for individual student needs. As a result of the one-sidedness of the curriculum, students are not helped to discover their unique skills, talents, and gifts; hence the students remain dormant regarding creativity. Gatto quotes H.L. Mencken on public educations mission “to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality” (Gatto, 9). This quote summarizes the narrow purpose and goal of education and how it makes students conform to the rigid purpose. As such, the curriculum hinders creativity among students.
Standardized tests measure only one dimension of learning. They do not reflect the diversity of today’s culture or prepare children for our modern society that is in a constant state of change.America’s obsession with testing strips the classroom of the excitement of exploring material in creative ways. One of the reasons for this is the fact that teachers remove projects and activities that allow imagination/creativity since such materials are perceived to be useless and timewasting in view of the examiner. The aspect of common goals and objectives also contributes. It makes studentspush themselves into things they do not have a passion for, which leads to boredom and eventually, a lack of creativity. Similarly, the fact that the curriculum teaches students to master the content to pass in exams rather than comprehend and conceptualize leads to a lack of creativity since students strive to cram the content only. Gatto quotes Alexander Inglis on the intent of school “Divide children by subject, by are-grading, by constant rankings on tests” (Gatto, 12). Such rankings could strip students who are not good at cramming off their individuality because they are ranked as weak. Such students could have exhibited excellence if allowed to pursue their area of talent. Based on my experience, such rankings are not reliable in defining the student’s competencies. For instance, I had an SAT score of 950, average or below and managed to maintain a college GPA of 3.89 for 3 years
The current A-F grading scale promotes only a single definition of success. Students only focus on attaining a good grade on the scale. As a result, they never pursue any creativity and innovation because they end up cramming that which is likely to be tested. Cramming kicks out comprehension, and the student leaves school just an empty vessel. The student has only high grades to present for work, which leaves them with fear of failure if offered the job. Such students are risk-averse. Less risk-taking hinders creativity. Besides, the letter system of grading creates competition and a desire to win rather than a desire to learn. Students who attain less than desirable gradesare discouraged from striving to achieve excellence. According to a recent article from the National Education Association, “Are Letter Grades Failing Our Students?”, Research shows that when students are graded or encouraged to improve grades, they “tend to lose interest in learning itself,” “avoid challenging tasks, and “think less deeply than kids who aren’t graded” (Long, 3). To this end, the dependence on the grading system to determine student’s ability is not only biased but also discourages creativity.
A classroom that lacks the proper discipline creates an unhealthy environment for students. In the American educational system, students lack freedom of expression. The environment is disruptive in several ways, and hence not safe for students. This is because students who do not feel safe will not feel free to be creative. For instance, in fear of bullying or being made fun of, a studentwould refrain from taking risks. This limits creativity. Secondly, the system supports collective punishment, which affects those who follow the rules. Children punished for what others do lose their sense of the “autonomy he or she needs to take a risk” (Gatto, 4). Loss of autonomy leads to a lack of individuality and stifles creativity. To this end, the curriculum has failed to establish a conducive environment that upholds student’s individuality, and hence promote creativity.
In conclusion, the educational system in the United States is discouraging the creativity and individuality of its students. The problem revolves around the uniformity and conformity to standardized educational goals, which is failing students and teachers.The problem is that this 19th-century structure is unsuited for the entirely different circumstances of the 21st century. A sound education system should be one that evokes and triggers learners to expose their areas of competence.The standard should not be the attainment of performance indicators, rather the developmental changes that education should instill in human behavior.
Works Cited
Gatto, John Taylor. “Against School” Harper’s Magazine. 307.1840 (2003) 33-38.
Long, Cindy. “Are Letter Grades Failing Our Students”(2015).
http://neatoday.org/2015/08/19/are-letter-grades-failing-our-students/;Retrieved on 2/25/20