Education Revolution

In Little Prince, the prince said this. “They never say to you, 'What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?' Instead, they demand 'How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much money does his father make?' Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.” The same thing is happening in the modern education system. Many schools only focus on academic subjects which rooted from traditional goal of public education. Also the system does not consider passions or interests of students. This must change for the students and also for the society. This can be done with few procedures.

 In the time table, most of the subjects you see are academic subjects such as math, science, and philosophy. It is true that some classes deal with music and art which are considered as ‘non-academic’ in this society. However, if you consider the amount of time the classes are distributed, it is easy to notice that academic subjects take most of the time. This shows how much the non-academic subjects are so underrated. Most people also have the conception of thinking that getting the good grades in school is the best thing a student can achieve. Such wrong biases are the causes for the undervaluation of non-academic subjects. According to Ken Robinson, “Human communities depend upon a diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability.” The schools are doing the exact opposite of what Ken said by restricting students to only study academic subjects.

In most of the high schools, students do not get the chances to choose which classes they want to listen which is different in KMLA. This shows that the education system does not care about students at all. This does not mean that the traditional educations are just worthless. Some students learn new useful knowledge from them. However, the influence of students in the system is so insignificant that it cannot reflect most of the students’ ideas and opinions effectively. Not every student enjoys spending time in schools. There are some teenagers who go to schools for the lunch and sleep rest of the time. This is happening because the purpose of education is not actually educating at all. Rather it is close to standardizing. By standardization, the society can get young people who are the products made in factory of education. The public education is not a true education but a method to maintain and stabilize the society.

 To fix the problem, there are two things to consider. It is about changing people’s thoughts. The society needs to allow more space for the arts in the education system. A lot of students lose their interest in schools because they do not get to learn things they want. By providing more opportunities to participate in classes they want, students will become passionate about it. Ken argued that we should recognize the power of human talents and passion. To maximize those two qualities, the education must not restrict student’s ability but rather broaden student’s talents and creativity for their future. This can only happen if all the people, including students, teachers, parents and our society, are trying their best to fix it.

 The goal of traditional education is to standardization. However, it is time for the change. Now the purpose of education should be diversification so that everyone can expand their abilities in their talented areas. Education will no longer kill creativity but guide students to their bright future. Until Ken Robinson loses his job, everyone should try hard to improve the education system into a more idealistic one.