Most of my life I have been involved in education. My grandfather was the Dean of Education at San Diego State University for 22 years, my father was an educator in the Navy (after flying in Viet Nam for 3 tours) and after retirement became an elementary and middle school teacher. My brother is a lawyer and often teaches at various law schools. My other brother is an instructor for the Navy. And I was a teaching assistant in graduate school and later a lecturer at a university. Also, many of my past and current friends have been school teachers. That's my background in education.

That being said, I agree completely with you. Preparing students for standardized tests detracts from meaningful learning (of course, in my opinion). As a university lecturer I had very little of this sort of activity to perform. In my introductory programming classes there was a standardized test that was used as an advising tool for the next level of courses. Because passing the test was not mandatory (it was just used as a measure of how successful the student MAY be in future computer science courses) I did not put too much emphasis on it. However, I did get some pressure from my bosses to better prepare my students. So I would end up spending a week or so towards the end teaching to the test, instead of covering one last topic that might have been useful.

I hated doing it, because it wasn't teaching the students new tools or tricks, but rather rote memorization. That is my least favorite form of "knowledge". I hated having to do it as a student, and I hated imposing it on my students.

As the parent of three students, and as a former teacher, I couldn't agree more!! Everything these days is about teaching the proficiency test, so the scores are high, so the school gets a good rating...blah, blah, blah.....whatever happened to making sure children LEARN something they can carry with them forever? And just recently I learned there's this crazy law, at least in our state, that a child can only be held back once in their entire time in school...after that, no matter how poor their grades, they HAVE to be promoted...although I presume that a parent could force the issue and INSIST their child be held back if they felt it necessary.

And just recently I learned there's this crazy law, at least in our state, that a child can only be held back once in their entire time in school...after that, no matter how poor their grades, they HAVE to be promoted

Another disturbing trend that I have learned about from some of my friends that are elementary teachers has to do with math. In their school district it has been proposed that they not grade tests as "right" or "wrong". This includes math tests. What these administrators are saying is that we shouldn't teach children that there are no absolute answers to questions, even math questions. So instead of having 2 + 2 = 5 marked wrong, and having that reflected on their score, we should just tell them "thats pretty close" and not score it at all.

That's why it's not referred to as "learning." No one "learns" through the process of education. They learn about the process of education - how to suck up or lie with a straight face or how to cheat for the grade. That's the only learning process that comes from an education.

That's why it's not referred to as "learning." No one "learns" through the process of education.

I have to disagree with you there. I have been in education systems that promoted learning and thinking. The most consistent example was graduate school. The courses that I took and the professors teaching them contributed a great deal to my learning. In some cases it was directing me towards personal research, and in some cases the interaction provided by the class/professor provided insight and triggered thought processes that lead towards learning.

Now, I do admit that I've known many people who have attended graduate school and not experienced such an environment, and prior to grad school I can think of a handful of classes/situations that lead towards actual learning. Having heard your view and having discussed this same issue with a number of people of various education backgrounds I have to conclude that I was pretty lucky.

I, too, went to graduate school - not for education, but for an MBA. Let me give you an example of what I learned. The class: Business Law. We were discussing an employee's use of e-mail - does the company have the right to read an employee's e-mail. The entire class, with the exception of myself, argued that it was constitutionally acceptable that a corporation has a right to read an employee's e-mail. I argued the point, citing the first amendment. After a much heated debate, the professor had to step in and acknowledge that the very point I was making. . . .and nobody was "learning," just citing from their employee manuals. . .that first amendment freedoms are being argued in the lower court and will eventually reach the Supreme Court level. My point - everyone in the class was there for one reason only - not to learn, but to receive the MBA because they needed it for promotion.

So, kudos to you for learning something during your graduate days. It does happen, but not often.

When you say everyone, does that include you? I admit it is true that most people seek "education" for some pretty base reasons.

1) it is what is expected of them (thats why I first went to college)
2) a paycheck
3) a mate

I just hope that your arguments in that class caused some of your classmates to do some thinking and perhaps some learning. That is one of the benefits of taking a class. You (hopefully) gain benefit from the knowledge/experience/perspective of your classmates and teacher. All too often that is not the case, and a class becomes nothing but a lecture and some sleepy people.

In Italy students are only required to go to school through the 8th grade. Then, they either are trained to enter the work force or continue their education.

Here we force students to continue on through the 12th grade. You have students who want to learn mixed in with students who don't want to learn. They might as well be playing trombones in the band.

Johnnie Piehole,

The trombone just might benefit those students more than you think....read my article about corrupting the youth.

AW

I feel as most do that education nowdays is seriously overrated. However, employment is getting scarcer unless you have a degree and/or some college hours under your belt. I stress to my children how important school is, both finishing high school and completing one year of college/trade school, simply because I don't want them to be overly concerned with their financial future. I want to see my kids independent and financially secure, with or without me in the picture, because you never know what tomorrow may bring.

If you vote for Bush, it will bring more of the same.

Come on you Republican's - what didn't you like about Clinton - peace or prosperity?

Yes education is about drawing out your innate abilities. It's about learning how to learn. But,more importantly, it's also about how to unlearn many of the things you learnt, esp. after the internet age.