Time To Change The Way Schools Work

Education is the key to success in today’s society. The leaders of the United States of America have been acknowledging this fact for many years, but reform is needed now more than ever. The Prussian model of schooling has been the most popular and is widely used in public schools around the USA, which lumps students together by age and separating subjects. Teachers are bound to a educational model which is “one-size-fits-all” which leaves little room for helping students who may fall behind. Despite spending an enormous amount of money on education, the United States of America is not even in the top 10 countries in regards to mathematics, science, and reading. In order to better the educational system in the United States, radical reforms need to be made to the ways in which students are educated.

One of the reasons that the Prussian model was adapted in the US was its cheap cost, ability to teach a wide range of subjects, and give a decent education to most of the middle class who were not able to get educated before. This model has been successful for many years, enabling large amounts of people to find higher paying jobs and more successful careers. But according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), on the 2009 PISA assessment of 15-year-olds, the united States performs around the average in reading (14th) and science (17th) and below the average in mathematics (25th) among the 34 OECD countries. How can a country which spends more money on education than any other nation be at or below average? These statistics illustrate the need for a change within the education system.

Sallman Kahn has grown to become one of the world’s most popular teachers, reaching over 6 million different students each month. (Noer) How can one man accomplish such a feat? Technology is the key. Kahn is the founder of the Khan Academy, a website which has over 3,600 videos which teach different subjects from mathematics to humanities. And best of all, pupils do not have to pay for any lessons, everything is free. The website provides lessons and practice for those who use this terrific resource. Many schools and teachers, whether it is formally or informally, have begun to integrate Khan Academy lessons into daily work. This is beneficial to students who have grown up using technology their entire lives and allows each student to work at his or her own pace. This also enables the teacher to give more attention to the students who need more help without preventing those who are finding the lesson easy from moving forward.

This model, which combines technology and a new teaching method, has the possibility to greatly help students. There have been studies which show the teacher has a large impact on the success of students, and if a teacher can provide personal attention for each student, new levels of education can be reached. By implementing a system in which a student progresses at his or her own rate, the material is taught at a personalized pace which can produce optimal results.

Strong public education is one of the most important features of modern society. But since the traditional model of education has become outdated, the potential of many students have become stunted. In order to maximize the intellectual prowess of the students, it is important to find a new utilitarian model which best suits the needs of the greater good. Education reform has been talked about for many years, yet few things have been done. It is time for a new system to try and get results and bring the US back to the top in the educational world.

Here's a video I found soon after writing this that sums up many ideas that I share: