News Release
No Child Left Behind from a Different Perspective
Edgewood, WA 98372
January 11, 2009
Our country has departed from our pioneers in education: such as John Dewey,
Jean Piaget, and Abraham Maslow. Friedrich Froebel's philosophy was that
humans are creative beings. These educators provided an innovative process
producing real education for pupils. Teachers need to assist a student in
finding their own abilities while discovering learning is limitless.
While a test score is data for that time and day in that one moment of a person's life, it is not an indication of intelligence or a realistic way to base a person's success. The only test should be to see if a person increases his or her own talents from previous testing.
Students are not failures; however No Child Left Behind leads them to believe this false opinion of themselves. Mass testing only creates stressful competition for the students. Many students have learning disabilities: dyslexia, testing anxiety, or cannot express themselves in a test format. The current process destroys self esteem and reaches dangerous levels when the test is taken repeatedly.
Is it realistic to judge only left-brain skills on tests of a young student, still learning and immature? A balance needs to return in the form of right-brain activities such as: music in all its forms, art, drama, and other courses that encourage self-expression. When students are allowed to express themselves in their school experiences, drugs and violence are not used as cries for help.
NCLB is responsible for narrowing the diversity in students rather than promoting growth and wisdom. The current focus allows that only those that pass the test are successful. In educating students this is not realistic. First, it forces everyone's thinking through the same hole; students become rubber stamp followers. In addition, when government forces students to learn only certain things in certain ways, their freedom to discover new inspired solutions is stifled. The current testing process creates a cheap labor force for factories and other repetitive types of jobs.
NCLB was intended to solve some of our educational problems. Instead it has created new problems and exacerbated some that already existed. Students are easily lead so the next generation of leaders is silenced. There is no questioning of leadership or government and challenging the status quo is discouraged. Is this what we want for our future?
Another way to curtail free thinking is by drugging students. No matter what the medical diagnosis, drugs create toxic thinking and only address symptoms. Sadly, the more brilliant students, who unfortunately are causing disturbances with their free thinking challenges of what they are being taught, are being suppressed by medication. We must find another way to address teaching these brilliant students.
Education that teaches life is an experience to be lived with imagination and originality restores power and vision. Knowing yourself and being able to express it, indicates an educated person. "To Thine Own Self Be True", is the best education we can teach.
While a test score is data for that time and day in that one moment of a person's life, it is not an indication of intelligence or a realistic way to base a person's success. The only test should be to see if a person increases his or her own talents from previous testing.
Students are not failures; however No Child Left Behind leads them to believe this false opinion of themselves. Mass testing only creates stressful competition for the students. Many students have learning disabilities: dyslexia, testing anxiety, or cannot express themselves in a test format. The current process destroys self esteem and reaches dangerous levels when the test is taken repeatedly.
Is it realistic to judge only left-brain skills on tests of a young student, still learning and immature? A balance needs to return in the form of right-brain activities such as: music in all its forms, art, drama, and other courses that encourage self-expression. When students are allowed to express themselves in their school experiences, drugs and violence are not used as cries for help.
NCLB is responsible for narrowing the diversity in students rather than promoting growth and wisdom. The current focus allows that only those that pass the test are successful. In educating students this is not realistic. First, it forces everyone's thinking through the same hole; students become rubber stamp followers. In addition, when government forces students to learn only certain things in certain ways, their freedom to discover new inspired solutions is stifled. The current testing process creates a cheap labor force for factories and other repetitive types of jobs.
NCLB was intended to solve some of our educational problems. Instead it has created new problems and exacerbated some that already existed. Students are easily lead so the next generation of leaders is silenced. There is no questioning of leadership or government and challenging the status quo is discouraged. Is this what we want for our future?
Another way to curtail free thinking is by drugging students. No matter what the medical diagnosis, drugs create toxic thinking and only address symptoms. Sadly, the more brilliant students, who unfortunately are causing disturbances with their free thinking challenges of what they are being taught, are being suppressed by medication. We must find another way to address teaching these brilliant students.
Education that teaches life is an experience to be lived with imagination and originality restores power and vision. Knowing yourself and being able to express it, indicates an educated person. "To Thine Own Self Be True", is the best education we can teach.