Magnvs I
New member
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2006
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 3
- Location
- A rural town in Indiana.
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Moderate
The purpose of education, as its etymology suggests, is to "lead on" the students, from childhood to adulthood, all the while giving them a sense of identity, purpose, and independence. So there lies my argument. Is this happening? Are students being educated? Or is the system flawed?
Education's intention is benevolent, but I believe that the students are not truly learning. By today's standards; knowledge, value, and general character are all defined by grades. If a student brings home A's, he/she is doing well. If a student brings home F's, he/she is doing poorly.
But do these grades reflect knowledge? I recall one incident at school in which I forgot to take an assignment home. It was a simple mistake; a mere slip-up. That particular assignment was worth 100 points. And this was a course in which there were only 4 or 5 grades, so that little mistake landed me a solid F. Despite the fact that I had mastered the material and could have easily aced a test given the opportunity, I was a failure. Now imagine how I felt, going home to my parents and explaining why my grade card read A A A A B B F.
They were ticked, naturally. It's disheartening to see that even the parents of school students are only worrying about the grades. Get good grades! Get A's and B's! Forget about the arts; forget about literature; just focus on that report card! Then we students can move on to more testing and more busywork! We can continue to cram for our tests, memorizing pointless facts and then forgetting them after the exam! We don't need to LEARN in school!
Several years later, the students graduate from high school. Congratulations! You got straight A's! Now, what did you learn? Who cares, you got straight A's! Here's a high-paying job.
These grades, these letters upon which we base our entire educational system, are flawed. These mere symbols on a sheet of paper stand for nothing. Good intentions aside; we are not learning in school.
Here I stand, a young student with reasonably high "grades", ranting about the inaccuracy of our educational principles.
Am I alone?
Education's intention is benevolent, but I believe that the students are not truly learning. By today's standards; knowledge, value, and general character are all defined by grades. If a student brings home A's, he/she is doing well. If a student brings home F's, he/she is doing poorly.
But do these grades reflect knowledge? I recall one incident at school in which I forgot to take an assignment home. It was a simple mistake; a mere slip-up. That particular assignment was worth 100 points. And this was a course in which there were only 4 or 5 grades, so that little mistake landed me a solid F. Despite the fact that I had mastered the material and could have easily aced a test given the opportunity, I was a failure. Now imagine how I felt, going home to my parents and explaining why my grade card read A A A A B B F.
They were ticked, naturally. It's disheartening to see that even the parents of school students are only worrying about the grades. Get good grades! Get A's and B's! Forget about the arts; forget about literature; just focus on that report card! Then we students can move on to more testing and more busywork! We can continue to cram for our tests, memorizing pointless facts and then forgetting them after the exam! We don't need to LEARN in school!
Several years later, the students graduate from high school. Congratulations! You got straight A's! Now, what did you learn? Who cares, you got straight A's! Here's a high-paying job.
These grades, these letters upon which we base our entire educational system, are flawed. These mere symbols on a sheet of paper stand for nothing. Good intentions aside; we are not learning in school.
Here I stand, a young student with reasonably high "grades", ranting about the inaccuracy of our educational principles.
Am I alone?