There’s ALWAYS complaints about how bad education is, and how little teachers care for their students. And then, over and over, we find examples of teachers who really feel that their life’s work is truly personal. Take this TA presenting solutions to a student needing help (who happened to ask and get answered on Reddit):
There are a couple of things to say about people demanding better education. One is that, while our educational system needs vast amounts of improvement, it is not to be solely focused on evaluating teacher’s and student’s performances. We’ve been looking at education with the wrong prism for too many years, and the results are biting us on the nose. Another is that Australia really understands the importance of teachers in our world.
Education isn’t a business, any more than government is. These teachers go into a line of work that typically has very little appreciation. While this may not be true universally, it is causing a mass exodus from the teaching field which will impact our collective futures.
Teachers are not only there to teach, but also to inspire. TA’s and professors, like the one above, show how a good teacher acts. If you want to create a benchmark for comparison, then use this and the corresponding results as that line. What these people need is the freedom to teach in a manner that will keep both students and teachers engaged and enthusiastic. They don’t need more tests, more numbers, more measurements of performance.
Education is not something to master. It is something to be engaged in for life. It’s what enables us to grow as individuals, so that we in turn can inspire the world around us. If anyone wants to re-evaluate education, then start at the top at the management level, because this is where the wrong message is being created. No one’s there to get monetarily rich. They’re there to be replete with the type of information that’s the building blocks of life.
Let the re-evaluation begin, and let the changes continue as they have been with the likes of the Khan Academy, Udacity, and so many more. We’re entering into the enlightenment period of education, and it’s a beautiful experience.
