Everlasting Curriculum
Let us replace the contents of our nation’s education vault by throwing in our bubble sheets and test scores and pulling out the Great Books of the world. This belief is the cornerstone of my educational philosophy. As a teacher, I hope to develop a perennialist classroom, where the enduring truths take priority over grades and tests. The term “perennial,” which comes from the Latin word for “everlasting,” fits my curriculum perfectly, for the Great Books contain ideas and concepts that have always been and forever will be essential to understanding our world.
As an instructor of secondary English, my task to promote the Great Books will be simple. I can choose novels from a list of hundreds of classics that have persisted over time. I am very exciting about sharing books that I love, like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Voltaire’s Candide, with my students. My mathematics and science colleagues will have more difficulty, though. They will be forced to reeducate students who have learned by example into a curriculum that focuses on theory. Here lies another reason that I champion the Great Books philosophy: students learn from an epistemological standpoint, and therefore see for themselves how concepts originated. I believe that knowledge is absolute, and perennialism gives a basis for my claim. The Great Books have provided us with the answers to our questions, we only need to discover the truths for ourselves.
I do not agree with the ideas proposed in A Nation at Risk. This document puts too much emphasis on tests and competition. Its principles establish the basis for essentialism, the “back-to-basics” approach to education. This me...
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In sum, I am very excited about beginning my teaching career. I cannot wait until I am given a classroom of my own. I love perennialism and will base my classes around it; the Great Books philosophy encompasses all the reasons I have ever had for wanting to become a teacher. I also love games, riddles, and word puzzles which I will use to make my lessons more interesting. Sadly, many of today’s young people do not recognize the names Milton, Defoe, and Twain. This is a problem I want to fix. The Great Books curriculum is forever changing. I predict that, within the next twenty years, the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien will be added to the Great Books list. This list is so impeccable that its content have been deemed everlasting, just like the knowledge I hope to instill in my students.
President Ronald Reagan once described America as, “A Nation at Risk,” He was addressing this statement to the education department thirty years ago and meant it as a wake-up call. He was aware that the United States was falling behind in education and needed to take action in order to prevent the demise of the country. Reagan correctly predicted the grim fate of America if education did not see improvement. Today, research finds that American education is failing to provide the necessary skills to succeed in college and various careers. The quality of education in America is a growing issue and every year graduate students are finding it more difficult to obtain high paying jobs and start his or her career. According to studies conducted globally, the curriculum in America is not as advanced and years behind international schools in countries such as China and Japan. There is much controversy in government over what can be done to reverse the situation in public schools but possible solutions that have been suggested are hiring more qualified teachers, more classroom time, and investing more money into education.
The human mind is perhaps the greatest object on the earth, animate or inanimate, but without the proper training, the mind is a relatively useless tool. Through the development of formal education systems, humans as a whole have tried to ensure the training of all minds so as to continue prosperity for the world. Most of the time, though, education systems do not realize the harm they are doing to developing minds and the subsequent negative consequences. Among the largest of these inadequate education systems is the American primary schooling system. The American education system is in fact failing; it continues to deplete children of their natural creativity and thirst for knowledge while preaching conformity, which in turn creates an ill-prepared and incompetent public.
In his book The Element, Sir Ken Robinson argues that the current education system is flawed in how it does not help us to find our “element”. His four main points identify the flaws in: the main focus of schools, the order of subjects, the assessments, and the curriculums. First, he talks about the specific focus on the student’s ability to perform academically. He goes into detail about how schools mainly value the success of students through their academic skill and their other aspects are overlooked. Next, he describes the order of subjects and its inequalities. Robinson explains how only a handful of subjects are emphasized at the top of the order, while others are undervalued. Then, he brings up the assessments given by schools. He explains how standardized testing does not aid the discovery process of the element. Finally, he talks about the curriculums set by many schools. Robinson explains how the curriculums are not personalized for every student's’ interest and needs. Overall, he is very critical of the education system and makes it clear how the
Sullivan, C. W., III. "J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit: The Magic of Words." Touchstones: Reflections on the Best in Children's Literature. Children's Literature Association, 1985. 253-260. Rpt. in Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski and Deborah A. Stanley. Vol. 8. Detroit: Gale, 2000. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
The ability for all children from varying walks of life to receive a well-rounded education in America has become nothing more than a myth. In excerpt “The Essentials of a Good Education”, Diane Ravitch argues the government’s fanatical obsession with data based on test scores has ruined the education system across the country (107). In their eyes, students have faded from their eyes as individual hopefully, creative and full of spirit, and have become statistics on a data sheet, percentages on a pie chart, and numbers calculated to show the intelligence they have from filling out bubbles in a booklet. In order for schools to be able to provide a liberal education, they need the proper funding, which comes from the testing.
As a result, instructors are now told to teach to the test and the amount of material presented to students in class is lessened to emphasize the key points on exams that will improve test scores. This lack of curricular diversity affects students more than any other party involved; students are held back from their ultimate potentials due to the mediocrity of information they are presented at school. No longer are schools attempting to produce brighter and higher achieving students, but rather, students who are good test takers. Although this seems to be against the purpose of education, schools must unfortunately consider these options in order to attempt their state receiving more federal funding due to higher test scores. Standardized assessments prevent educators from exercising their role as instructors of all subjects, schools from attempting to build educated and successful students, and students from constructing thoughts abstractly, rather than to the answer of a
Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. New York: Basic, 2010. Print
Something I have always known since I was a little kid is that the educational system in this country is a complete fraud. American schools claim to live by the ideal of No Child Left Behind, but millions of students get cast aside each and every year. In schools these days, it is obvious which students are the elite—those that are raised up and motivated to go to college—and the ordinary student— those that are somewhat ignored throughout their schooling and are lucky if they even earn a GED. As a recent graduate of high school, and a product of this country’s educational system, I have had the opportunity to develop my own opinions regarding the myth of education in our society. Based upon my observations going through the school system, and the various arguments posed by several authors in “Rereading America”, I strongly believe that schooling in this society caters solely to students in the elite category while ostracizing students that do not live up to the elitist ideal.
Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. New York: Basic Books, 2010. Print.
Changing America for the better starts with educating its populace. I firmly believe that Challenger School is one of America's greatest assets, which will provide its students with the tools to fix the problems born of ignorance, indifference, and greed. By fostering free thought, encouraging students to ask questions, and educating them about their constitutional rights, the young students of Challenger School will become the leaders and thinkers who improve
Education is the foundation of American society. It empowers the youth of America to become the successful leaders this country needs for the future. Education has been one of America’s top priorities since 1965, when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed. Now, education is controlled by the No Child Left Behind Act, which was launched in January 8, 2002. This act was passed with intentions from the government to provide Americans with a more superior education system. However, The No Child Left Behind Act carried many flaws which were left unseen to a vast majority of the public. This act limited American students by not allowing them to demonstrate their full academic potentials while proceeding in school. While the act was still fairly fresh, there was already evidence to prove that it had already gotten off to a bad beginning. For the crucial math and science courses, statistics showed minimal improvements which had begun around the time period in which the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. The act was also supported by a number of educators who voiced themselves by testifying against having the right to teach at their own free will. Teachers across America claimed that because of this new act, they felt a constant heaviness upon their shoulders from the state government to “Teach the test.”
From reading Alice in Wonderland to now, I have grown to appreciate literature much more. At the beginning of the year, I read purely because it was assigned for me to read, and I only read for important events and story plots. When reading Alice in Wonderland for the first time, I missed everything that Lewis Carroll was trying to convey to the reader. I had no idea that he had written Alice in Wonderland with the intention of preparing children for the real world. I thought it was just a story full of random events and nonsense, but after my realization of a deeper meaning, I grew to appreciate his efforts. From then on from Beowulf to the Fairie Queene, I have learned to see literary works as more than just stories but a...
The solutions to improve our educational system is one, stop using students for international competition. Instead of competing against other countries, we should learn from each other and help each other improve. Two, our standardized testing scores should also not be depended on for funding, which can stop the process of “Teaching the Test”. Our educational system can improve if the system stops focusing on numbers and more about our education.
When analyzing contemporary issues in education, it is very important to ask why and how the issues arise. Some of these problems are obvious to the mass public, and some require a more in-depth analysis. One of the less obvious issues in education is the current philosophy in the classrooms. One may ask the questions, “Why is the philosophy of education important? And, why does it matter to me?” To put it simply, the philosophy imbedded in the goals of education and teaching methods in a classroom affects the students’ futures. This topic was chosen because the philosophy in schools is often overlooked as the absolute core of educational issues. Many students understandably struggle with sitting in a classroom, uninterested. In addition to the constant stress and pressure of having good grades, students often ask why the given curriculum must be learned.
A classroom constructed from Perennialism espouses a traditional philosophy where a teacher answers questions and inquires from the students in order for them to gain an understanding.The teacher role is clear, precise and specific; she is to teach the knowledge that we have about the truth, not anything more. A Perennialist teacher must not only possess knowledge grounded in the liberal arts and sciences; she must also have a repertoire of good teaching strategies. She encourages students to enjoy the world of ideas and to use them creatively. The main subjects for Perennialism are history, science, religion and English (Gutek 2013; Robert Hutchins. n.d.: Link