School of "ROCK"Y reality?

Wow, signing up for school so far has been a rocky adventure.  It seemed like I was riding on a dilapidated carousel running into road blocks and twisting and turning on a crooked avenue. Phew, can I just say, I'm glad that things are beginning to resolve themselves. 

In the reading this week I agree with the point of views of Kohn and Dewey on the psychology of teaching.  One thing that I didn’t agree with so much was the idea of sorting students into different categories like they way Kohn mentioned in his article.  While I may not necessarily agree with his view point, at times the schooling system does feel like a factory of sorts.  Like so many students who struggle with adapting and maintaining with their peers, quite often I see the affects of students who are placed in the wrong piles of “potatoes”. 

            An example of this would be my observations I have experienced in several special education classes I have substituted for in the last five years.  Now, I am by no means the expert of where a student should be placed at academically, but I often find that students who may be lacking or rather not progressing at a “typical” standard are placed along with other students who may be excelling at the subject matter but struggle with social and economic aspects that are largely grouped together. Another aspect of sorting our students on standardized test scores is that there is such a multitude of factors that may influence the way a student tests.  One student may have crapped out on standardized testing, but upon speaking with that student, one would discover that the student has no business in a special education class.  Or rather, a different kind of intervention class should be in place for instance, “How to take, and be successful at standardized testing”.  Well, my intentions are not to sound bitter, they are only to recognize that things are in need of desperate change. 

            In my opinion, I have realized that we have come to a point in our academic society that mediocre work is considered “excellent” work.  An example of this is, just over hearing a conversation between math instructors at our school during our lunch break, a fifty percent on a standardized test was considered “passing”.  Now, interesting as that may seem, one said, “fifty percent doesn’t count when you’re building the Hoover Dam...”.  Now, in seeing this happen in our own school, standards and expectations are affected by external factors.  This brings up the question, will students rise up to what ever expectations we set for them?  Dumbing it down and lowering our expectations of students is a huge disservice to our children.

            Dewey says, “I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.” Are we preparing our students for a future which grades identifies their very essence?  Upon discovering in my own experience, students who are able to identify with a subject presented, are much more apt in imprinting a permanent experience in their mind.  Dewey suggests that correlating the realities of life in education sparks interest and inquisitive learners as opposed to force fed subjects that students have no interest.  When a student is forced to learn something they are uninterested in, the final outcome is the succeeding at the process of getting the project done, rather than the subject matter presented.  Our responsibility as a teacher is to train the essential basics such as math, sciences and communication, but one other critical aspect as educators are the social aspects of life between individuals.