Last year while
conversing with some friends, my buddy Scott posed a question to our group. He
said, “What do teachers even do?”. Before I was able to throw in my ideas,
another friend, Jimmy, blurted out, “Teachers teach!”. Of course we laughed, but then we speculated
on what exactly teachers “teach”. In our own personal experience, what we
learned in the classroom were facts. As a teacher candidate I have come to see
that learning facts should not be the purpose of school.
I believe that school
is practice for an “adult” life, it is where students should learn to correct
mistakes. I think that this is something that is often forgotten. Traded in for
dates, equations, and the standard set meaning of literature.
School has become a box
that exists on its own, students disappear for 6 hours a day and come out
knowing things (on a good day), but not knowing its application to life outside
of the box. I believe that the idea of life should be amplified in school. I believe
school should focus more on correcting mistakes than praising accomplishments.
In my future classroom, I plan on focusing on ideas that students can use in
life. I believe that this is the value of school.
I believe school is a
place for practice. A safe zone where you can learn to excel at communicating
and navigating through existence. I believe teachers should always keep in mind
student lives outside of school and should work to connect everything in school
to students’ lives. Why we read certain texts or do certain equations is a
question that many people don’t know the answer to.
Why do I have to find
x? I can remember asking this and not getting an answer. Now that I’m older I
see that by finding x you have to manipulate the sides of an equation in
numerous steps the way we need to manipulate life to solve every day problems.
But why couldn’t they tell me this in school? Why do schools keep the purpose a
mystery? I believe that the purpose of education should be the forefront of education.
It shouldn’t be hidden like buried treasure that students need to go looking
for. I believe that students need to know why they are there and know that it
isn’t to get graded, but rather to learn skills to navigate life.
