Education used to be a privilege only the well to do or the educated elite could effort, and thus schools were filled with students who knew what they were supposed to do at school, and what the consequences of not doing it were…
The mandatory ‘education for
all’ brought along with its blessing the drawback of becoming an entitlement instead
of a privilege, a basic right to be used or abused…
I don’t suggest, of course, going
back to education for the advantaged only. Young people need education whether
they realize it or not. Some privileges of education, however, should be
restrictive, not according to ability, but to motivation.
There are two factors that
can completely change the climate of education in our country: System’s
accountability and student’s accountability.
Student’s accountability has
to do with motivation to graduate. Motivation must be part of the picture. In
contrary to all the wonderful theories that I learned at the credentialing
school, it is not up to the teacher! Motivation should come from the student or
at least from his/her family. Despite the disapproving silence from my
professors, I still believe this is the key!
With years of teaching
experience came the realization that indeed, students’ motivation does not
count as a factor in students’ achievement. We talk about teachers’ motivation
to teach well, about school’s motivation to perform well, administrators’
motivation as their career is heavily weighted on students’ achievements, but
we don’t talk of students’ motivation. As if all the other factors could make
up for students’ lack of motivation and be OK…
If there is one big missing
link on the way to improving education, it is students’ motivation. You can
bring the horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink…
Of course, if we could motivate
students to study by invoking interest in the subject, it will be the perfect
way of learning, but it is a rare commodity at this age. There are few who
learn for their own enjoyment but it is hard to count on it... Furthermore, if
a person really enjoys history, chances are that he/she does not care for math,
for example, but the fact is that every subject does count...
Ideally, a source of
motivation should be internal, but it could be also external; being promoted to
the next grade level, being able to choose a good university, pleasing a parent
or a teacher, or even appreciation of a certain group of friends…
The source of motivation could
also be avoidance of undesirable consequences, like transferring to a lower
level class, removal from the school, separation from the group of friends, parents’
punishment or privileges taken away…
Students who attend school
with one purpose in mind – disruption (no matter why – teachers are not
therapists), should not be in a classroom with students who are there to learn.
Students who consistently doing nothing in a classroom should be removed from a
regular class and be placed in a program that suits their needs at the time,
regardless of ability. They could be channeled to a vocational learning,
individual learning, or even to a program that involves part time employment
and part time schooling, similar to continuation schools. These students can be
engaged in activities in which they excel and happily participate. When ready,
mature and emotionally stable, they could be re-introduced to the regular
academic program.
I don’t mean to ban these
students from an academic lane altogether but to let them decide when they are
ready for the challenge. Once they are ready it will take them half the time to
complete their studies. In the meantime, their peers in the academic program
will cruise without interruptions and be able to learn twice as much…
From time to time, a school
would do something creative along this line. A school where I worked decided to
remove the problematic and unsuccessful math students from algebra classes and
put them in a general math. I was assigned to teach them. My experience over
all was quite good and I felt students benefited from the extra help. The real
advantage, though, was for the algebra teachers … they experienced such an
improvement by the removal of few problematic students … They were actually able
to teach instead of fighting discipline problems…
Another school, a private
school contracted with the district, was dealing with the disruptive students
by isolating them from the general student population. Students were assigned
to a special program, working individually, and were not allowed to mix with
their classmates, not even during break. These students had to meet very strict
conditions before they were able to go back to their general classes.
When I was teaching at the
special education program, I noticed that students were so embarrassed to be in
the special classroom, they would do anything to hide it from their pals. Coming
from breaks, for example, they would walk with their friends pass the classroom
and once they were safe, they would sneak back. This is an example how
avoidance of a situation might motivate students to do well.
Students should be motivated
to be at a certain settings. Students at a Magnet programs, for example, behave
completely differently from their peers in the regular program. Schools should
create curriculum to which students would want to belong, and face
consequences of removal for not complying…
Many things are different now
from the “then”, that are beyond our control, like discipline measures, respect
to authorities, cultural changes, technology. But one thing cannot change -
students must do their job. They must be accountable!
The other factor in improving
education has to do with system’s accountability, meaning setting a bar for
successful education, and calling for students to reach it, rather than
lowering the bar to meet students’ level…
A grade of ‘B’ in math
analysis must have the same meaning in a well to do areas as in less fortunate
neighborhoods. It should mean that a student is competent in this subject, as
well as Algebra and Geometry. There should be one standard level in each
subject that defines success or failure. A system cannot be accountable if a grade
means different things in different schools. I don’t care what level of math
should be mandated for graduation, but this level should be uniformly enforced.
To achieve a standard bar,
equal for all students, we must have an objective, state wide (or nationwide)
standard matriculation test in every subject; A test that will be fair,
straight forward, and will require the same level of competency…
As I write, I know how
impossible it will be to implement these changes, for reasons completely unrelated
to education, but rather to politics… Nevertheless, to be ready for the future
and able to compete with other nations on equal footing we must create an
objective bar, measured by objective tools…
Carrying out this plan will dramatically
improve our educational level. Creating an accountable system will demand accountability
from its students that, in turn, will inspire and motivate them to actively perform, not just
passively comply, in order to graduate…
