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What if Education Worked
Outside the Box |
 October 18, 2004
- Imagine a school that is allowed to function outside
the box. The possibilities would seem endless. Much of the stunted
creativity that teachers forget they have tucked away somewhere in the
recesses of their imagination would be allowed to bloom. Is it just too much
to envision? The power of idea starts to percolate and pretty soon, well…
What if there were 12 month school years, where students had core academic
classes for half the day and the other half was spent in study hall, the
library, and Encore classes where they could dabble in Performing Arts,
Music, Drawing, Painting, Sculpting, Drafting, Cartooning, or physically
challenge themselves with sports or exercise that normally gets just a brief
introduction in a typical PE class?
What if students could be promoted to the next academic level at their own
rate, not at a predetermined rate set by a school calendar based on the
growing season? Some students would be able to attain a much higher level of
academic
excellence, others would find themselves falling further and
further behind their peers…in and of itself motivation to work harder
instead of being left behind. Those who forge ahead would be rewarded with
more personal autonomy and freedom as well as the possibility of graduating
high school with accumulated college credits that would alleviate college
tuition costs by decreasing the number of required courses their first year.
What if teachers actually had time to lesson plan and grade papers during
the day so that when they went home at night they were able to physically
challenge themselves, cook a decent meal, or spend time with their families
without worrying about how much they had to do? Teachers could keep their
rooms clean, change their bulletin boards, and make their classroom
environments so much more inviting.
Teachers could become experts in their academic areas because there would be
more time to read the newspaper, take extra courses, and read additional
books on the material they are responsible for teaching. Teachers would have
time to eat lunch with their peers and talk about current events instead of
misbehaving pupils and uninvolved parents who are too stressed out or busy
to coerce their children to do anything more than watch TV when they get
home at night.
Uh-Oh, I can feel my heart racing! I can’t stop thinking about what kind of
students would leave our educational institutions in an academic world
unconstrained by traditional fixtures like unions, federal and state tax
dollars, or politically correct texts and curriculum. The excitement is too
much! I have to reign myself in. There now, calm down… It’s alright… But it
could happen, it really could…
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