Albert Einstein once famously said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,“ and while he was not directly referring to an education system, the extensiveness of his saying could be applied to the current education system -- especially one that has so many flaws in society’s eyes.
I'm glad the candidates of the presidential election realize the core curriculum needs to be taken away in order to recreate a better world of learning for future generations; but, perhaps even more than that needs to be adjusted in schools. Why not add new things in place of ineffective classes that are constantly complained about by students and parents?
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With this in mind, I have arranged a list of classes I realize got me nowhere, and sadly only exhausted or distracted me in school. Back then I thought certain classes were just a nuisance, but today I realize they were more than that; they were a completely redundant practice that should have been taken over by other alternatives.
P.E. -- More like Potential Exhaustion (for the day)
I hate to think of all the futile hours I have spent in P.E. when I could have been learning about science, preparing for college, or even better writing skills. The list could go on, but even so I’m pretty sure taking a nap instead of P.E. would have been more beneficial, because at least then I would have been more awake to finish the school day.
I never understood why schools thought forcing kids to exercise weekly would make them stay active on their own. If anything, it made the kids who didn’t exercise feel even more repulsive about doing it, while the ones who already did exercise outside school, well P.E. was not only completely pointless for them, but drained the energy they needed for the exercise or sport they did. Schools can try to encourage exercise, but ultimately it's up to the person to decide that for themselves.
Yoga -- A much more practical and enjoyable activity
I was more than astounded to read that a school recently got sued because it was simply trying to teach yoga; a practice that is without a doubt much more enjoyable, effective, and considered outside of school, than P.E. -- the most forgotten and unpleasant part of most student’s school days. How a practice that sets the mind and body at ease, while still retaining the goal of having kids exercise, was sued; while something like P.E., which forcibly made student run the mile for a grade went on perfectly fine for years, is beyond me.
Why force students to run the mile for a grade when instead they can learn how to set their minds at peace, while exercising and boosting their mood with simple poses. This would certainly put them in a better zone for learning, and a better mood at that.
Pre-Algebra and Pre-Calculus a.k.a. Crazy Formulas you have to memorize, but will never use again
I ponder why schools made us calculate absurd formulas as if we would ever go to the store and buy 46 pineapples in real life, each one at a super odd price, but an even weirder price with the addition of pineapple coupons, and then only want to eat one-third of each one. Because that's definitely what life is like. I just don't know how I would live if I had to pass a triangle without knowing how to calculate the perimeter and circumference.
I'm so glad I had to invest so much time and energy memorizing formulas that fried my brain, which I never need today, or ever need for that matter. Yet, schools enforce learning algebra, something only aspiring mathematicians and engineers need to pursue -- but how many of the younger student population have those professions in mind, let alone fully understand?
Managing money might be in our better interest?
I once went to a meeting in my freshman year of college that was but a one-time opportunity, and I couldn't help but wonder why it wasn't a course. In it, a speaker that talked about everything on money from the costs of living, to the best way to invest money, and even the importance of paying bills on time sparked not an interest in me, but a fear of my lack of awareness about such important life skills. Who thought it would be a better idea to make students learn how to calculate the volume of a prism and cylinder than preparing us to be experts with money and paying for reality?
Although my parents did their best to give me a general idea of how to budget, It would be far more fair that the taxes we pay for secondary education were invested in a class that taught us the basics of money -- something we literally can’t afford to not know well -- and would have at least been much more interesting and applicable after high school.
Testing -- Making us think memorization determines our intelligence for over 150 years
Because in all job industries, everyone will take multiple choice tests on their employees names, the company history, and job skills.
I am ashamed day after day that my elementary and schools put so much emphasis on testing, which I was only naturally horrible at because memorization does not sufficiently determine intelligence or concentration in schools. Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Brown University, found that testing does not in any way improve student's cognitive abilities. Yet, my school taught us how to take SOLs as if they were an important factor in life
Finding careers and developing job skills might come in handy
Last year, I took a 300 level course in college. It was professional writing, and not only did it give me more professional writing skills overall, but I learned a great deal on writing cover letters, professional emails, interpreting complex text, and even how to build a resume. The advanced writing skills I obtained could have helped me for every future email, essay, exam, and the hundreds of homework, I ever took. It certainly could have sped up the process. The whole course should have had a prequel course in high school.
Instead of teaching us about multiple-choice answers and how to operate the many options of a computer-based test (which, again we will never need again in life), I wish I had been taught how to apply my skills and interests to finding my college major and future careers.
There is no possible way to develop a system that will be loved by all; in everyone's eyes the ideal school system is extraordinarily unique. but we can certainly improve what has been our education for years. I certainly would have gotten much more out of school had P.E. been taken away or instead been a more relaxing time, or if the flawed idea of testing that gave me a false perception of my abilities was out of the picture. While I did still develop my skills in time and figure out the career I want to pursue, I discovered them much later than I would have liked to. Everyone has a unique way of discovering their futures, and the impact of the education system is quite powerful towards that aspect of our lives but is not even close to it's greatest capabilities that can build easier futures and a better society.
