As promised......this is the continuation of my previous blog of education system........
Achievers in life use inspiration and motivation to overcome barriers. Teaching to the test does not inspire or motivate anyone, memorizing does not inspire a love to learn, in fact, it does just the opposite, it turns off the desire to learn. Education’s goal should be to develop a love to learn that stays with students throughout a lifetime. Education should be a lifetime experience, not limited to the youth years.
Educators are switching to test because there is a crisis in education of their own making and society wants measurable results. This pressure is passed on to political leaders who base political decisions on what is measurable, which is academic test and test are based on acceptance of the status quo. Every student must now accept the status quo and be an academic intellectual or be labeled a failure. Natural talent and knowledge processing skills does not count. Students receiving the failure label are growing in numbers and percent, all because the system measures selected knowledge on a one day standardized paper test.Really "after 8 years in Primary School....one exam called KCPE determines if you are qualified to join High School?????........Wooow...what if l was a performer in the last 8years and l fell sick during exam week and l don't perform as well...then what....all my past performance goes to waste....wow,,,OK.
Consider the parent who is having a problem with a word processor. On their own they can’t solve the problem. They have been collecting knowledge for years, but their knowledge processor is in hibernation. With any new gadget someone has to teach them, they can’t figure it out for themselves. Their thirteen-year-old boy comes to the rescue. He has limited knowledge, but he knows how to processes available information. He explores the word processor problem until he finds a solution. He is not unusually smart, this is a teenager’s natural approach to finding solutions.
All young children have a natural talent for creative process of information. It’s during the teen years that natural creative processing is replaced with the status quo. The status quo memorizes knowledge and forgets how to process it. In the classroom, memorizing is what counts. Standardized test reinforces the status quo. It kills creative processing ability. Status quo attitudes will follow them into adult life where they will have to ask their children for help.
Today any student who refuses to accept the status quo is labeled a troublemaker. The student now behaves in the classroom with glassy eyes and school officials receive high performance ratings. The student may get passing grades and land a job with a comfortable wage, but that will be all. Teenage dreams of great ambitions are gone.
Fact: Self-made millionaires are not "A" students in the classroom. The way they process knowledge is in conflict with classroom priorities. The self-made millionaire has a vision, then he researches specific knowledge, applies intuitive knowledge and process all elements, searching for a workable solution. Finding alternative ways to do common tasks makes millionaires. The secret is vision, research and processing, not pre stored knowledge alone.
The typical employer wants employees with dictionary knowledge, not visionaries. They want employees who follow orders, are willing to do repetitive tasks, be happy with a limited role, and accept the status quo. Repetitive tasks' is efficiency and this is where profits are made. Also, accepting the status quo prevents the exposure of blunders by leaders. Too many blunders and profits disappear. In a status quo environment visionaries become bored quickly and soon receive the troublemaker label by offering alternatives or exposing blunders, sometimes leading to dismissal, yet, their ideas increase efficiency and create new sources of profits for the company. In the long haul, visionaries are the one’s who make above average wages no matter what their formal education level. As these students move into the workforce, status quo and blunders will kill off the typical business. This explains why generation "Y"and "Z" are considered "Troublemakers".
What can be considered a quality education? A quality education is custom design that addresses the unique abilities of each student and has a positive emotional experience. Custom education evaluates natural talent and how the student learns. This is why home schooled students out perform classroom students. Parents learn what works and does not work, then focus on what works. With this method, students develop a love to learn and learning becomes a lifelong process.
What type of education environment, do you think, will produce consistent winners?
E-learning is becoming an education model that the present system cannot compete with. It is focusing on what motivates rather than what the system thinks is good for students. It is also leaving out politicians, textbook industries, testing companies, and unions. These forces are now fighting back, trying to maintain a system that is in their interest, not the students. At this time, they are focusing on standardized testing, which seems to be a last ditch effort to maintain the status quo.
There is light at the end of the tunnel........of "Quality Education"!!!!! Must congratulate USIU-Nairobi. They offer quality education.Their grading system is not based on exam/test only....they consider other factors too...such as participation in class,team-work via group work,continuous assessment......etc
The United States International University (USIU) was founded in 1969 as the first private secular university in Kenya. Today, USIU is considered one of the top universities in East Africa. USIU is accredited in the USA by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and in Kenya by the Commission for Higher Education.The University strives to provide a diverse community of learners with high-quality, broad-based educational programs that promote inquiry, mastery and application of knowledge, concepts and skills, while fostering ethical leadership and responsible service.
Am a proud Alumni of USIU. For more details about USIU.....check out http://usiu.ac.ke/
No comments:
Post a Comment