Public Education for Tomorrow's World: A Completely New and Redesigned Approach to Educating Children
The education of young people is by far the most important job of any society. Young people have the power to change the future and completely reshape a nation, its politics, and its culture. As such, the public school is the most powerful institution in America. The power to shape young minds and affect young lives is one that must be wielded with great caution and respect. The public school system must make educating children for a better tomorrow its main purpose.
Many great educators and reformists throughout the history of public education have contributed great ideas and noble goals to the world of education. An ideal education system is one that finds balance between these many different ideas and approaches. Ultimately, the goal must be the welfare of the children and the outcomes of the adults who come out of the system. Public education must be progressive, forever changing to reflect society's needs and values, and always striving for progress. Great progressive educators include Marietta Johnson, William H. Kilpatrick, and Stanley Hall who “rebelled against rote memorization and authoritarian classroom management” (204, Ornstein et al.). These educators sought a more diverse classroom environment with more opportunities for children outside of the traditional, dull system of education. Marietta Johnson, famous for founding the Organic School in Fairhope, Alabama, suggested that childhood should be lengthened rather than shortened. She believed that children should “follow their own internal timetables rather than adults' scheduling” (204, Ornstein et al.). Because children have their own stages of readiness, they s...
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...fieldwork each year of their education. Nothing will prepare them to become teachers better than experiencing it for themselves.
A progressive approach to education in which students are valued is the most important foundation upon which a new system of public education must be built. Children should be encouraged to become self-motivated and flexible, while instilling a love of learning. Real world life and career skills must be taught at an early age and nurtured throughout development. Children should be given the freedom and resources to develop their skills and interests on their own. The goal of education must always be the well-being of the whole child, and the effects that those children will have on the future of society. With cooperation and an open-mind to new, progressive approaches, the world of tomorrow can be improved beyond anyone's greatest dreams.
In the beginning, there were basic schoolhouses to fulfill the needs of a newly industrialized society. The subjects taught had the sole aim of the student being able to secure a job with the ultimate goal of creating a large enough workforce to fill the new societal needs, creating a stigmatization that any subject that does not help to secure a job is useless. Now that that goal has been met, the bases of classical higher education have been fighting their way into primary education while trying to destroy the previously mentioned stigmatization against non-career-oriented subject matter. Only after hundreds of years, humans as a whole are figuring out that the only subject of education should life and all of its manifestations with no other distractions. Because of this, the main ideas of education should be few, but very important. The ideas taught should be applicable to many scenarios and students should be thoroughly taught their application in life. A...
The author of this website, which would be the National Council on Public History, is specifically looking at what exactly is public history and what exactly is meant by public history. Public History can be defined as history in the field. It is the use of history in real life situations. It is history applied and goes outside the realm of academic history. The author does mention that while there used to be clear definitions between public and academic history with public history being more multi-disciplinary, history as an academic subject has also increasingly become multi-disciplinary. Public historians have many different names such as archivists, museum professionals, and local historians. The author’s main argument surrounding these definitions of public history is that there are different forms of history with public history being the kind that the average person sees. Public historians can deeply impact their local communities and many collaborate with local community members on projects to ensure that the history they’re detailing is that of the community who is affected by it. The author does note that while many public history projects can be educational, the purpose might be more for an intellectual history like for a business’s archives. Public history projects could also be used to promote the local town or for the town’s own economic development.
When one examines the history, the quality, and the long-term effects of public education, and compares them to the history, quality, and long-term effects of other education methods, such as home-education, public school is found lacking. Although it may be simpler to merely follow the modern status quo of sending one 's children to public school, it is imperative to thoroughly research other available options to determine if public school will provide more benefit to an individual family than it does harm to both one 's family and society as a whole. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the American educational system has undergone much transition in response to our changing society. Though there have been many problems raised throughout the years in regard to what our school systems should be teaching our children, there have also been many developments.
As the former president of Harvard University, Derek Bok wrote “The most obvious purpose of college education is to help students acquire information and knowledge by acquainting them with facts, theories, generalizations, principles, and the like. This purpose scarcely requires justification.” America needs educated citizens to help maintain the level of intelligence we have in society. Students need to be taught to their specific career and the knowledge needed in that career. Though education students are strengthened for their futures as good citizens. College is a more specialized form of the education they have received throughout their entire schooling and will need for their careers. College prepares students for the future by specializing
Today, the way the educational system works in the U.S. concerns a large number of people in this country. "Only 25% of adults have a great deal of confidence in the people running education, according to the General Social Survey, down from 49% in 1974" (Russel 4). A lot of discussions have been held to find the best ways to improve teaching methods. At the same time, people recognize that a very valuable solution to increase the level of education in the United States is to look at some problems that cause difficulties and hamper the enhancement of the quality of education. The first step is to define these problems. As in every country, the U.S. wants to develop its national standards in education and wants them to be high. This has always been a government function. Being democratic, the government is trying to fit the qualities of democracy into the way to set these standards. Of course, this is not an easy task since this country has a very diverse population. To please everybody has always been an almost impossible task. Despite this impossibility, national standards have already been set. "If a visitor from another nation was dropped into an American public school classroom without knowing the state or the region, he or she would be likely to see the same lesson taught in the same way to children of the same age" (Ravitch 9). Everything seems right except the fact that the abilities of children are different. Not everybody is able to study at a college; not everybody wants to continue being educated. It is obvious that every country wants to produce as many educated people as possible. But, at the same time, every country needs workers because, regardless of the fast development of technology, there is still a great necessity for human labor. To satisfy all the necessities of the country, the government should provide different kinds of education. This does not mean that we need to eliminate all of the standards; they could be set in each field of education. Although standards are set, there is still a very big difference in teaching methods in different schools. Perhaps, the most serious problem starts in high schools: some schools provide a higher level of education than others. Students from most city schools graduate with the confidence in their knowledge; their level of educati...
Children are important because they are the future of a country. So, education for children is necessary and compulsory education can make sure most of children can be educated. In the past, Chinese didn’t have enough money to execute compulsory education. After doing much effort, compulsory education was executed in 1986. The compulsory education system causes many effect and issues.
Education has been a hot topic in every political campaign, top news headline, and teacher’s first thought when they head to their classroom to teach America’s future. The education system is the most vulnerable aspect of a nation. It is the building block for creating successful individuals who dare to dream of changing the world and have the power of doing things people only dream of. A country is only as strong as the weakest link and for America it’s the uneducated. For as long as anyone can remember there has been one thing that the majority of the news headlines, workers strikes, and state questions have revolved around, education reform. Three highly educated authors provide three common overlapping issues that harshly impact the education system in the United States. In the article “Why the United States is destroying
Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” The importance of an education is repeatedly shown through past and present events. Those who can’t afford an education do whatever it takes to try and learn. They know that it will lead to a better future for them. An education will not only lead to a job with more money, but it will also expand people’s minds. They will be able to create new ideas and inventions. The best way for us to change the world is through educating our youth. With a better education, they can become inspired to invent new things. Some could grow up to find cures to diseases. Educating the youth is the key to changing the world. The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow. The best way for us to give a good education to our youth is by refining our school system. We need to redefine the term ‘education.’ Teachers in classrooms change the world because they are teaching the future generation that will one day lead. If we want to change the world for the better, educating the youth is th...
Provide at least three reasons why every student should be required to take general education courses. Explain your rationale.
This book, Dare The School Build a New Social Order by George Counts, is an examination of teachers, the Progressive Education Movement, democracy and his idea on how to reform the American economy. The book is divided into 5 different sections. The first section is all about the Progressive Education Movement. Through this, George Counts points out many downsides and weaknesses of this ideal. He also talks about how he wants teachers to lead society instead of following it. In the second section, he examines 10 widespread fallacies. These fallacies were that man is born free, that children are born free, they live in a separate world of their own, education remains unchanged, education should have no bias, the object of education is to produce professors, school is an all-powerful educational agency, ignorance rather than knowledge is the way of wisdom, and education is made to prepare an individual for social change.
Being a student for the majority of my life, I had never fully understood why anyone would desire to be a teacher. But after four semesters at College, I am slowly changing my attitude. As an education major, I now attend real classrooms and observe the wonders of how a young child’s mind works. Through my observations in actual class settings, I have also come to realize how delicate a child’s mind is and that the slightest external influence can build or destroy that child. I too want to experience the joy and wonder of seeing a young ingenuous mind finally understanding a new concept. I want to see the student blossom and grow as a result of change and experience, not only in a classroom setting, but also through social interactions with his or her peers.
Education is a vital part of society. It serves the beneficial purpose of educating our children and getting them ready to be productive adults in today's society. But, the social institution of education is not without its problems. Continual efforts to modify and improve the system need to be made, if we are to reap the highest benefits that education has to offer to our children and our society as a whole.
For long periods of time, education has been important to the development the different scientific, moral and ethical fields of the humanity. In addition, it has been recognized by some governments as a human right, but in some places around the world; education is not accessible for everyone. Many people believe that having an educational system without any cost would mean a better educated society, whereas others argue that this would not be possible. To develop a better educated society, governments should establish a totally free education system for the following three reasons.
The more unequal the United States’ education system will grow, the more our poverty line will struggle. Most people believe that hiring tutors or staying long hours after school will help, but little do they realize that all of that can be avoided if every child is given the opportunity to an inexpensive early education. An implemented universal early education program would contribute to a rise in grades, keep families connected, and hope for a better future.