Education is evolution for the mind, necessary and essential for the progression of the human species. Throughout time, there have been a limited amount of people who aid in the progression of the mind which allow ourselves to construct something of ourselves to succeed in day to day life, and those warm-hearted individuals, are teachers. Teachers graciously spend hours in classrooms forming and revising lesson plans to educate students the best they possibly can to forever impact their lives in the short amount of time that they are allotted. Educators are revered by their pupils while contributing greatly to their lives, but they endured a long struggle to earn that future rewarding moment. Despite all they do in college, future educators are constantly ridiculed by fellow colleagues for picking “the easiest degree” since they were not smart enough for a “real job.” Little do they know how wrong they are. Education is far from the easiest career; for they are blamed for everything that is wrong in society, endure a rigorous process, and teach children more than just the academics. Sargent Shriver once said, “teaching is the hardest job, they are required to teach students values that they are not seeing lived all around them in the society overall” (Elias, 2013). The values Shriver was referring to are reverence for life, honesty and truth, brotherhood/sisterhood and unity, desire, and respect for knowledge and education and Shriver has never been more right. The world
Teachers shape the minds of students to realize what their purpose is in life. Lately, because of certain educational reforms, it has been hard for teachers to say what they need to say. “In 40-plus states, the math and English guidelines determine the knowledge students have to master by the end of each grade, what they’ll be tested on this year, and in many cases, how teachers and principals will be rated at their jobs once those test scores are released” (Strauss). Most educational reforms are adopting standardized testing and should be reconsidered. Statistics even show that since we have taken part in reforms like No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, and Common Core State Standards math and reading are declining. These standards tell teachers what to teach and what the students should know by the end of the school year. The reforms also evaluate teacher performance by how well the students learn the information. Some people believe educational reforms should not be telling teachers how to teach their students, and others believe that the reforms are absolutely fine the way they are. However the truth is educational reforms are yet to be perfected.
There is an unambiguous flaw in today’s education system when high school seniors graduate without the common knowledge to perform necessary adult tasks. Schools need to place a higher priority on teaching life skills than on teaching useless facts. Budget cuts have taken the most beneficial information out of the school’s itinerary. When essential life lessons are left out of teacher handbooks, students are left to self teach the preeminent information that could have been taught otherwise. This results in young adults relying on trial and error; hopeful not to make a huge mistake while making potentially life altering decisions.
The United States education system presents proposed education reforms with the intention of strengthening the education system for all American students. The United States seeks to teach children with a focus on quality education, creativity and critical thinking, and self-development and empowerment; preparing students to be active and engaged citizens. The United States has built a foundation of universal education; unlike many other countries, all American children are entitled to a free and public education. Children are ensured an education in the United States regardless of disability, socioeconomic status, academic achievement, or immigrant status. Despite intentions to provide high quality education for all students there are areas in which the United States falls short compared to our neighbors nationally. As Andreas Schleicher, a scientist with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development states, it is in our benefit to look “outside for ways to improve, questioning the established wisdom” (Ripley, 2016).
College education will serve as a basis for someone’s lifestyle if they work for it. This will open up doors and release opportunities for individuals that want it. College graduates will gain more intelligence than those that have only graduated high school. This type of constructionism will only work if students have a motive to be successful. The price of a four-year degree is quite valuable. College graduates have been proven to gain more money, learn an abundance of skills, and embrace diversity.
Personally one quote that resonated with my individual teaching philosophy states “The job of a teacher has expanded to ‘counselor, therapist, doctor, parent, and attorney’” (Layton, 2015, p. 3). Through social media and rumors, society has created an image about education as being as simple career that anyone can do. However, they do not realize that education is not only about teaching students the standard subjects, but to teach them how to be active and become productive citizens within
I believe that education is the basic foundation of any society, and that the way in which a student is motivated during their education will inevitably determine their degree of success or failure in the future. Only after my graduation from high school and my entrance into college did I realize how significant the role of a teacher really is in relation to the shaping of a society. In their classrooms, they have the privilege of instructing the individuals who will be the doctors, lawyers, and teachers of tomorrow. As a teacher, I hope to instill a love of learning in my students that will, in turn, motivate them to study not only the basic things I have taught them to be important, but also the things they, as
Education is an essential mechanism for gaining knowledge and learning new skills. We begin the process at home, then we carry our journey into the different level of schooling and finally into the real world. Education guilds us to make decisive and better choices for our lives. Also, it supplements a humans understanding and intelligence of leading a strong and prosperous life. But, is it necessary to get educated only at school? The answer is no, however, the education we receive at school, gets us prepared to compete and challenge this world.
Public school education seemed to prepare me for every piece of knowledge necessary; with the exception of common adult skills. Following graduation, this went unnoticed until I was faced with situations that I was not prepared for. There is undoubtedly a flaw in today’s education system when high school seniors graduate without the common knowledge to perform necessary adult tasks. Schools need to place a higher priority on teaching life skills rather than strictly focusing on educational facts. Budget cuts have taken beneficial information, such as life skills, out of the school’s itinerary. When essential life lessons are left out of teacher handbooks, students are left to self teach the information that could have been taught otherwise. This results in young adults who are hopeful not to generate monumental mistakes while making potentially life altering decisions; through trial and error.
My life has been greatly influenced by family members who are educators: my mother is a third grade teacher, my father an elementary school principal, my sister a high school English teacher, and my brother who obtains a degree in agricultural education. This has instilled in me the desire to become, like them, a good educator but is defiantly not the only reason for my decision to peruse teaching as an occupation. There are several reasons why I have chose to teach, but three in particular: to make a difference in anyone’s life that I can, help a child who is struggling more than just academically, and simply because teaching remains all I have ever wanted to do since I was just a little
“Teachers are people who could not get the careers they really wanted” a misconception some people have of the teaching profession. Most teachers are people who have chosen to fill the arduous, yet rewarding role of passing social norms and information on to others. Teachers do not always have a good reputation, they are misrepresented in media and by uninformed people. One way to combat such misconceptions is for teachers to continue advocating for the utmost highest educational standards. This semester, on my journey to become an educator, I encountered three major themes that have been a persistent in factor in my school observations, in selected novels, in lecture, and in the required text for this course. Those areas are how the
Currently, in our society, a college education is no longer an option or privilege, it’s a necessity. Education has been around for a very long time and college education is one of the most important of them all. College education prepares me with the very much needed understanding to be able to handle problems occurring in today’s society, jobs, and obstacles. Getting a bachelor’s degree is the right decision for me because it’s an important asset that will give me advantages in my career such as in job searches, salary, and job security.
As a recent high school graduate, high school was an important time for every student. High school is the transferring stage of a student to the real world. Needing to learn important subjects that they will be able to carry and use for the rest of their lives. Which this is a situation faced in many school systems throughout the United States and across the world. Students losing important lessons from our education systems, going into adulthood. This problem was first realized by Prince George's school system, they had integrated a new way for students to learn and adapt to new ideas and concepts. The school system had added art techniques and classes into their core subjects. This addition to the classroom has greatly benefit the student and the people around it. This adaptation has been only used in elementary and middle school systems. Yet to come to a high school education system or any similar ideas to the system. Many High schools are not required for the student to take an art class. Losing many important traits and other ideas, including the ideas that have been used in the Prince George’s school system. To prevent such losses, high school students should be required to take an art class to help self-exploration, new techniques for learning the core subjects, and giving the ability to have a fun and a relax time.
Often in discussions, many quarrels about the school system arise, regarding many different issues. These issues may concern the salary teachers receive, dress codes, and if fine arts should be included in the curriculum for schools. Now the first two issues deem as simple from my own personal experience the majority of people believe that teachers should receive an increased salary and that dress codes should be weakened. However, the last dispute usually deems to display different opposing views regarding the solutions to the issue. From my encounters many consider that fine arts should not be included in the school’s curriculum; this is since these certain groups of people believe that fine arts classes utilize time that could be utilized for studying core academic subjects. Also, they believe that the skills gained through fine arts courses are not necessary skills required for life, so students should not ponder their time away learning these talents and since they are not obligatory skills the government should not waste their tax dollars paying for fine arts teachers. However, those who oppose fine arts in the schools, should know that while core subjects are more important than fine arts that fine arts succor students improve on those primary school subjects. Also, when one is in a grade from kindergarten to twelfth they are not necessarily positive on which career they would relish participating in for the rest of their life, so who knows if these fine arts skills will be important to a career or not? For example, jobs exist in art, theatre, and dance out there, there is a popular job for those who adore art, known as graphic design, which includes designing ads and magazines. However, without that “useless” art class, one may never discover their passion for art and never major in graphic design. Now many also contemplate that if a non-core subject is in the curriculum the course should be for psychical education, however a fine arts class could also count as a physical education course, such as a dance class, meaning the government could utilize funds to hire a dance instructor providing a psychical education teacher and fine arts teacher in one. Although many ponder on the idea of removing fine
“If you don’t use it, you lose it.” This saying is a 100% true about knowledge from education over the years. The brain is a muscle that must be exercised like any other muscle. We have to continue to grow and strengthen our abilities. One way we do this is by attending college to extend our knowledge in a field of study. I decided to finish my bachelors after years of not knowing what to complete it in. Not everyone takes the same path to achieve their goals, but it is a good idea for everyone at some point to continue learning and perfecting their skills. The worst thing a person can do is to become content and comfortable in their ways. We work every day to make ourselves better. We exercise and do things to improve your physical appearance. Why would we not do the same for our minds? There are many sayings and clichés out there about why we should continue learning. These sayings aren’t in vein, without knowledge we are doomed to make mistakes of the past or miss out on new opportunities’. Knowledge gives us the confidence to step out of our comfort zone and try new ideas; it also helps us not make the same mistakes of previous people. We grow and try to perfect our crafts so we are adaptable, forward focused employees. In this paper I will discuss why I decided to continue my education and why I think it is a good idea for everyone else too.
Many students and teachers in Seneca share the same goal: to make sure grades are high. For grades to stay up, it’s important that teachers make sure their students do well in class–especially on the tests. This may not seem like a problem, but it is. Students are incapable of learning to the best of their abilities because of teachers’ tendencies to focus specifically on testing. In my high school career so far, I have experienced many occasions in which this thought process has been apparent.