Good Example Of Essay On Responses To Student Ideas Regarding Education

Upon reading fellow student, Amanda’s reflection, I think that it really is a bit odd for American business executives to be the ones who were in charge of creating school reform. School is a business in some aspects, but with public schools as a sector of state government, it is not really up to business executives to determine what an ideal school should look like. Traditional educators should have been the ones to formulate these decisions. I am in agreement that the government creates policies which control education and that they really do not know what goes on within the walls of school. Unfortunately, that is why it seems that education is focused more on standardized testing and less on education that could actually be useful for students in the real world. Children are to be molded by those who are familiar with methods that are effective for successful learning within the classrooms. I agree that business elites could see these decisions that they are making to try to conduct reform in order to conduct ideal schools which would then turn schools into factories, and turning children into robots almost. It is imperative for educators to lay the groundwork because most children learn best with one-on-one time and using the best methods that work in each classroom and based on each student’s personal needs.
According to Amanda’s questions, I believe that technology has actually been effective in the classroom. Technology is constantly evolving in the real world and it is a necessary skill for students to learn within schools how to use technology and apply it in the real world. While it has hindered education in some ways by taking away from the personal time that students get with the teachers and it also forces teachers to adapt technology in their classrooms, there is so much information that can be found online. Learning more about technology at a young age can help to foster education because jobs in the technology-related fields are growing exponentially and with exposure to technology, it can only help the students more.
Also, I think that rewarding students to help motivate students is good. It helps to positively reinforce behavior. However, the best motivation for students to retain information is through encouragement. Rewards do not have to be tangible. Simply building up a student’s confidence through positivity and personal achievement can oftentimes be rewarding enough. The biggest motivation to try harder is often other peers. No child wants to be the dumb kid in class. If rewards such as gift cards or pizza parties are given occasionally, these reward systems can be more effective.
Also, with more education being found online, I think that online education will actually lost success and it will be short lived. There is something about participating in classroom discussions, getting to know other students, forming a bond with the instructor, and learning more through hands-on experience that is taken away from students involved in online learning. In my own personal experience, I have met students who are homeschooled and in some ways, I find that to be a similar situation and I have found that many homeschooled students have the tendency to be socially awkward. However, some online classes are much easier to work with for those who need to take a few classes here and there to work toward a degree. Some people need to work or are interested in courses not offered at their own universities. This helps people in rural communities or those who have tight schedules. I have found that online education is actually rather expensive and operates more like a business, which I do not agree with.
In response to Jamie’s reflection, I like that the question, “Does that mean that we have failed to improve public education?” was asked. I think in some ways through too much influence coming from government policies has greatly hindered progress in public education. It has made it easier for some people to become teachers and harder for some students to pass. When all kids have to focus on is passing tests, there is a failure in the school system. The focus on actual learning has been taken out of the classroom. While I expected changes to occur in the past 20 years, little things like standardized testing and even the new methods that elementary students are taught to use math, this is ridiculous. Parents cannot even help their children complete their homework because they do not even know this new way of math that children are having to use in order to show their work. I completely agree that educational reform is just a method of tinkering. Former President Bush attempted with the program “No Child Left Behind,” and it was controversial but it was positive in some aspects. I agree that educational reform cannot occur in one day but I think we can teach methods that students can use more toward preparing for real life than figuring out how to show their work on math problems that they will never use. Who has ever used much of the algebra they have ever learned? Some subjects just need to be touched on and some schools simply do not even have the proper budget to keep their institutions up to date. Those are bigger problems rather than fixing what really is not that broken.
In my opinion, culture diversity is just a melting pot of different races, religions, ethnicities, demographics, and being able to put people from these different backgrounds and cultures and people are able to learn from each other.
I think children are actually exposed more to differences in education between different cultures. Different generations will experience different outside environmental factors. When I was in school, gay rights were never even discussed. When my parents were in school, racism was a major issue. Today in schools, bullying is a major topic and so is social media. There are less middle class people in the world and the media also portrays people from different cultures in ways that can make it difficult to erase those thoughts in children’s minds. Muslims are currently taking a bad rap and children can see that.
If I was in a minority, I just would want people to be OK about asking me questions about myself. That is the only way to clear up misconceptions, by just going straight to the root.