Day 018 - Education
Jan. 18th, 2012 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfsbrideSo today my friend forwarded me a letter from a mom she knows that talked about her experience with her gifted child as part of the application process required by the school she is trying to get him enrolled in. While I was reading it I actually got teary eyed and I was a bit down for a couple of hours afterward as I have a lot of issues with school and teachers and education in general.
There was a part of the letter where the mother talked about her son's immense desire to learn and how that had started to fade because in a regular school setting the work wasn't challenging enough and the teachers just didn't know how to cope with someone that asked questions outside of what they wanted to teach. That's the part that struck me the most; not because I'm a genius but because I have the opposite problem.
I don't learn visually or orally or aurally. You can blather on and on and show as many examples as you want. My brain just doesn't get it. I need to actually physically do the steps in order to understand. Because of this, I was called slow and stupid in school. Very few teachers wanted to take the time to meet me either before school or after school to go over course work. In the history of my schooling I've had exactly three teachers step up and do what they're paid for - teach.
It didn't help that a lot of times, courses were assigned to teachers clearly not suited to the subject. Example: My grade 8 Math teacher was the Sewing teacher. Needless to say she sucked at conveying the basics of algebra. I will be forever proud of my Grade 8 Math marks because I went from getting zero in the first quarter to getting a B for my final mark. I basically taught myself algebra. I stayed up late painstakingly working through problems in the book. And when I say painstakingly, I mean it. I earned that B through blood, sweat and tears. Literally for the last one.
Another example: My Grade 10 chemistry teacher should have been retired years before. He was clearly senile. He would start teaching and then wander off and on topic for the whole hour. And he had NO control over the class. People would talk or throw paper planes. There was one day I got so fed up I actually stood up and yelled would you all SHUT THE HELL UP. That shocked everyone into silence because at that time I was very shy. Amazing what happens when you push people far enough.
For years I thought I was stupid about math. I remember so clearly one night watching the news. They were featuring a mathematician. I sat with my mouth open as he talked about things I had always had trouble with and yet I understood. He was passionate about his subject and explained it clearly. I cried when the segment was done because it was then I realized the problem wasn't me.
I mourn for my younger self because I actually like learning. The rush you get when you finally understand something is incredible. I've always wondered what I could have become if I'd had good teachers that understood that not everyone learns in the same way at the same rate. That didn't label me and deride me for holding up the class. Water under the bridge I know. But there'll always be a part of me that says if only.
Sadly, it seems to me that the education system we have isn't really about learning no matter what they say. It's about teaching kids to conform. Don't ask the wrong kinds of questions. With ever growing class sizes and no real teacher performance review system in place, it isn't likely to get better any time soon.
There was a part of the letter where the mother talked about her son's immense desire to learn and how that had started to fade because in a regular school setting the work wasn't challenging enough and the teachers just didn't know how to cope with someone that asked questions outside of what they wanted to teach. That's the part that struck me the most; not because I'm a genius but because I have the opposite problem.
I don't learn visually or orally or aurally. You can blather on and on and show as many examples as you want. My brain just doesn't get it. I need to actually physically do the steps in order to understand. Because of this, I was called slow and stupid in school. Very few teachers wanted to take the time to meet me either before school or after school to go over course work. In the history of my schooling I've had exactly three teachers step up and do what they're paid for - teach.
It didn't help that a lot of times, courses were assigned to teachers clearly not suited to the subject. Example: My grade 8 Math teacher was the Sewing teacher. Needless to say she sucked at conveying the basics of algebra. I will be forever proud of my Grade 8 Math marks because I went from getting zero in the first quarter to getting a B for my final mark. I basically taught myself algebra. I stayed up late painstakingly working through problems in the book. And when I say painstakingly, I mean it. I earned that B through blood, sweat and tears. Literally for the last one.
Another example: My Grade 10 chemistry teacher should have been retired years before. He was clearly senile. He would start teaching and then wander off and on topic for the whole hour. And he had NO control over the class. People would talk or throw paper planes. There was one day I got so fed up I actually stood up and yelled would you all SHUT THE HELL UP. That shocked everyone into silence because at that time I was very shy. Amazing what happens when you push people far enough.
For years I thought I was stupid about math. I remember so clearly one night watching the news. They were featuring a mathematician. I sat with my mouth open as he talked about things I had always had trouble with and yet I understood. He was passionate about his subject and explained it clearly. I cried when the segment was done because it was then I realized the problem wasn't me.
I mourn for my younger self because I actually like learning. The rush you get when you finally understand something is incredible. I've always wondered what I could have become if I'd had good teachers that understood that not everyone learns in the same way at the same rate. That didn't label me and deride me for holding up the class. Water under the bridge I know. But there'll always be a part of me that says if only.
Sadly, it seems to me that the education system we have isn't really about learning no matter what they say. It's about teaching kids to conform. Don't ask the wrong kinds of questions. With ever growing class sizes and no real teacher performance review system in place, it isn't likely to get better any time soon.
