How the Educational System Fails Us
Since we enter school, we are taught to memorize our material in order to answer multiple choice questions or write essays, we have been taught to learn the material in order to be tested on it, and we have been taught to learn the information, not how to apply it. We live in a world that is constantly changing, and in which each person is different than the other. Each one of us has a specific talent or passion, be it inborn on not, which if worked on since we are young we'd be magnificent at it today. The problem with the educational system is that it assumes each child in the classroom is the same, with the same mental capacity, and with the same interests, so they teach each one of us the same curriculum. They disregard the fact that a child might need more time learning certain material, or that he might be faster than the others, or he simply isn't interested. So as a system they have failed to teach students how to think for themselves, and prohibited their minds from flourishing on their own.
Let's play a game!
These are 9 dots, which you should connect, and the rules of the game are as follows: You should not lift the pen, and you should only use 4 straight lines
As you try a couple of times you will realize that your mind is going in the same pattern, and if you compare your way with yours friends it’s more or less the same, inside the box. Have you heard the expression "Think outside the box"? Well, this is exactly what this mind game is about, you must be able to think creatively and make it work, but our minds are not trained to think outside the box. This is why during exams, if a certain math problem comes which is not similar to those we practiced in class, many of us get lost, and only a few to none get that problem right.
I asked a few graduates about their opinion in education, and how much they have learned from all those years, I got the following answers;
Abir: I have always had great grades, and have been a "top student”, but truth be told I haven't learned much, and most of the things I spent hours memorizing I have forgotten.
Carolina: I was never interested in the school curriculum, except for art class, and I am great in art. Today I draw for a living, and cannot even recall how I managed to graduate.
Sara: I think it depends on the teachers, and how much they challenge us. Some courses I don't recall, but others I have learned a lot due to the great teachers I had.
It has partly failed us because many students have lost the true meaning of learning and education, instead since young they grow disliking to sit and study. Children know that if they don't learn the material they will be given a bad grade which means trouble, and this stays with them. The true meaning of education is when we allow students to enjoy learning, challenge their minds and enhance their skills, and allow their minds to "think outside the box". Once students are capable of this they will be able to do great things, and they will love it.
Truth is, there is nothing more beautiful that learning, but if we are taught to learn right since we are young. Learning is letting a child go into the wild and ask him to collect the most interesting things he finds, once he comes back you may explain every insect, or item he got back. Such ways allows students to actually touch knowledge, not simply learn theories which might be forgotten.
The solution for the game is:
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