Joshua Aspiring Journalist

We live in a forever-changing world, with new discoveries being made every day. Each year you get a new phone with a better camera, better frames per second, better battery and much more. And on average each eight years you get a new car with better navigation, better steering, better radio and much more. And just the same, each year a child moves up, however, the only difference is they learn new subjects.

If we look at a classroom from today and a century ago we see little difference, but if we look at a car or a phone from today and a century ago we see a massive difference. So why are classrooms different? The ‘modern’ school system was made in the 18th century, around the same time as the industrial revolution. You were and still are taught to listen to your teacher, don’t speak unless you put your hand up, don’t help your friends in class, sit in neat rows and you get a short break to eat and rest, just like a factory. The main similarity, that sticks out like a sore thumb, is your production ability is graded by a letter. This letter also defines your whole life and tells a student whether they are ‘smart’ or not.

These rules may have worked in the past but in the present, we need people to work collaboratively, to work in teams and do amazing things. We need people to think innovatively, to come up with something new and revolutionise the world. We need people who can make a difference. 

The so-called father of standardised testing, Frederick J. Kelly stated “These tests are too crude to be used, and should be abandoned.” which just goes to show that just getting a kid to do tests over and over again does no work.

If a doctor gave the same medicine to every person no matter the illness so many people would die. But when a teacher teaches every student the same, this is just seen as one size fits all. But every neurologist will tell you each and every brain is different. each and every person is different, each and every child is different. Every parent will tell you the same, I know my mum will. So how come we get a teacher to teach a class of 30 kids all the same, all of them having different needs, different strengths, and different minds.

I’m not saying it is the teachers fault, the teachers get told what to teach and exactly how to teach it, no different. These teachers could make the difference but they are told not to. They are told to go into the classroom and explain algebra, World War I or a poem and let the children sit silently and get on with it. A surgeon can dissect a child’s brain and figure out how that one brain works and gets paid £57,000 while a teacher can do that exact thing with tens of students without having to dissect the brain and only get £21,000.

Finland is an example of a great education system where learning is the main objective instead of testing, and collaboration is promoted. The well-being of the student is prioritised rather than their grade. The days are short (around 5 hours) giving more time for actual experiences in the outside world, rather than being confined in a classroom with big enough windows that let in enough light so it can be ‘healthy’, but not too big so the student can get distracted.

Albert Einstein once said “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” So just the same you shouldn’t judge little Jimmy on his ability on doing calculus because another kid can do it. Different people have different abilities and if our school system can update just like we can with our phones and our cars we may be able to make a difference.