Failure In The Education System In A Talk To Teachers By James Baldwin

Failure in the Education System

The most important concept in the world today is education; the education system however, is failing students. This failure was a problem in the 1960s, and is still something that people face today. It is a problem because education is supposed to teach students how to find their own identities, so they can question the society around them and change the problems they discover.

Writer, James Baldwin, addressed this problem in his A Talk to Teachers. He says that the purpose of education is “to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself…To ask questions of the universe, and then to learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity.” (Baldwin 198). This may be the theoretical purpose of education, but I don’t believe that is what is taught in schools today, and it wasn’t taught in schools then either. Education is all about standardized tests, and how well a child can memorize the answers to questions. Baldwin ensues the point later on in his speech, that if he was a teacher he would teach his students about what is wrong with society, and how he should learn who he really is so he can go on to change society and make it better. If the education system had just a few teachers

that would teach kids how to truly find themselves, society wouldn’t have the problems that it does.
Another problem with the education system and trying to guide children in finding their own identity is that history is inaccurate. Baldwin addresses this point in his speech as well. He is mainly focusing on the history of African Americans, but by twisting the history of African Americans, the history of Caucasians is twisted as well. He explains that history teaches kids that the only reason African Americans were ever brought into the U.S. was for labor reasons.
By teaching history this way, it is teaching African American children that their ancestors never contributed to society, and this hurts their confidence when finding their own identity. If they believe their ancestors did nothing and were worth nothing more than labor, then why would they be any better? White children learn from history that their ancestors were superior to those of children of race, which can lead many to believe this is still true.
Many people blame the teachers for the problem with the system, but it is not their fault. The standards when teaching limit the amount and type of information that a teacher can cover. Baldwin said that if he were a teacher, he would teach his students how to find their own identity and how to change society, but he doesn’t address the simple fact that teachers cannot do that. Teachers can’t teach whatever they want and still expect to keep their jobs. Those who argue against the way the school systems are teaching the children don’t blame the schools, they blame the teachers. I have heard many teachers talk about their dislike of the standards and how they would love to teach what and how they want to.
Another part of the problem lies in the teachings of the parents.

Baldwin mentions this when he said, “It would seem to me that when a child is born, if I am the child’s parent, it is my obligation and my high duty to civilize that child” (Baldwin 197). In order for an education system to teach kids anything having to do with their history, right or wrong, the children need to have basic morals and values instilled in them. If the parents provide their kids with this basic building block of life, it won’t matter as much if the education fails them when it comes to finding their own identity, because they will have an understanding of their values and may be able to find their own identity by

themselves.
The history of this country has been manipulated for years, and many people don’t acknowledge it. Education should have the purpose of teaching kids about their history, and teaching them how to live their own life too. Unfortunately, this is not how it is, all kids are learning in school is the varying degrees of an angle in a right triangle, and how to memorize the answer to one hundred questions so they can get a letter on a piece of paper. This is how education has been for sixty years, it hasn’t changed, and it needs to.