Give Us More Choice For Education

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Russell_Hamel]Russell Hamel

Isn't More Better?

Students are writing more these days, with blogging, online chats and text messages taking up more time than their traditional homework. You would think educators should be happy. More is better; practice makes perfect, right?

As a private music teacher for the past 37 years, I have seen the effectual difference between students who are forced to learn a particular curriculum in order to pass examination requirements versus students who play strictly for enjoyment. The latter group plays more... far more, and they play better because they play more.

I observed that parents who insisted on pushing and dragging their children through a strictly classical approach in order to get a certificate ended up with a child who merely tolerated the 'torture'. These students literally counted down the days to when they could quit. Only weeks after passing their final exams, they couldn't remember how to play a single song.

Wake Up, It's 2009

Parents, teachers, administrators, and staunch supporters of traditional schools need to take note. The internet and cel phone have changed the way we communicate forever. People are writing more than ever, creating and sharing more information than ever before, not because they have to, but because they want to.

Yet, traditional systems argue that without formal training in 'good' writing and literature, students will suffer. The question is, who gets to decide what's 'good'?

In music, Bach laid the foundation for western music as we know it today. But Mozart came along and added to that foundation. His music was pretty good, too. Later came Beethoven who revolutionized classical music with his bold and daring changes. He was criticized and even cursed by the music afficionados of the day. Now however, we consider Beethoven's music to be 'good'.

Name the discipline, whether it be art or science, and you'll find that all throughout history, the associated governing boards for each particular field resisted mightily before change eventually was embraced. Imagine what would have happened if such notable 20th authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Margaret Mitchell, James Joyce, George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway, Aldous Huxley and countless others writers we revere were confined to write strictly in the style of Shakespeare.



It's the Education System That Must Change

Today in the news, U.S. President Obama is under criticism for supporting the Charter School in Education movement. For varying reasons, communities are rallying parents, teachers and school in education administrators to start charter schools in their area. They see the current public school system as inadequate and inflexible, leaving them with no choice other than to break away.

Paradoxically, this wasn't the intention at all for Dr. Ray Budde, credited with coining the term, 'Charter School'. His vision was to implement change in the current school of education system. His many disciples agreed but simply were unwilling to wait through all the bureaucracy and red tape necessary to implement change.

Arguments abound that without certain standards and structures of well-established institutions, we will surely produce a generation of illiterates incapable of functioning in society. Yes, today's writing style employs a seemingly different language, with chat room and text-speak abbreviations and emoticons becoming more pervasive.



Note to Schools - Resistance is Futile

These however should be seen as options - tools, if you will - no more different than the choices available to artists to use pointillism, cubism or expressionism. Schools must let go of the idea that their way is the better way, or as they more often think, the only way.

The internet has indeed opened many doors for the next generation to express themselves. More and more, young people are gaining notoriety and even outright fame for their blogs and social media participation.

Educators take note - the next generation is already communicating through writing more than ever before. And they are advancing rapidly in spite of all the attempts to push and drag them through traditional methods.

I applaud President Obama for bringing the need for sweeping, radical changes throughout the school systems to public awareness. I admire the courage of the charter school parents, teachers and administrators for re-shaping the education landscape.

However, with or without the debate and ensuing struggle, dramatic change is taking place and will continue to do so as it always has for millennia. Indeed, resistance is futile.

The world can seem like a crazy place sometimes...

OK, a LOT of the time!

However, no matter what is going on in your life, magic happens when you learn how to choose better feelings now! [http://lovethatfeeling.com/blog/give-us-more-choice-for-schools-in-education/]You're Gonna Love That Feeling

All the best from Toronto

Russ Hamel

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