Joanne McEachen discusses her experience as a teacher at Ted Talks in Seattle.
In her presentation she explained how 'unmanageable' and 'uncontrollable' children are more often than not the product of the school system - uses herself as an example in sharing how, when she looks back at herself in school as a student, she sees how such behavior had manifested in her as a result of her being bored in class - bored with the material.
She shares a story about a student named Ben who, in spite of his effective reading and writing skills, had trouble staying engaged in class and was labelled 'unmanageable' and 'uncontrollable'.
When she talked to him for fifteen minutes to try and find out what he was experiencing she discovered that he was in essence bored - unexcited with learning. And, through her one on one attention she managed to assist him to change his perspective on learning providing alternative activities to facilitate an exploration of the topics he showed an interest and aptitude in.
Within this she proposes some ideas about how the system could be changed from the perspective of creating a more project-based / exploratory environment for children where they can learn what they want to learn, in comparison to the more linear structure of the current system that requires all students to move through the same material.
However, something to consider here is that the example she's using with the boy Ben, involves a student who already has effective grade level reading and information processing skills and thus - already has the door open to learning and will be more eager to participate in the learning process than a child who for example is reading at 2 grade levels below where he or she needs to be.
Educational statistics throughout the United States show a massive deficiency in basic skills like vocabulary, reading, and maths and within this it becomes apparent that to try and model a new system based on isolated instances where alternative methods are tested with students who are already proficient in these areas is not a realistic approach as it is not taking into account the more fundamental problem of insufficient foundational skills in the majority of students.
Literacy Stats in the U.S.
What the majority of students need right now is not less structure, but rather a more effective structured support that can be applied immediately in relation to the current educational system.
Research shows that the opportunities a child will have access to in terms of better jobs and higher income, directly correlate with a proficiency in the curriculum of the current education model in America and, as every parent and teacher knows, a child's future livelihood will depend on money. So we need to focus on a solution that will, from as young as possible build the skills to get children to a level of proficiency within the current system.
From my perspective, if a child's ability to make a living was not directly correlated to their achievement level within the current school system, it would be more relevant to explore how we might change the entire education system. But unfortunately the reality is that unless we can support a child to succeed within the current educational paradigm, their ability to support themselves financially as adults will be uncertain.
I recommend the following articles for further reading:
A Wealth of Words by E. D. HIRSCH, JR.
http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_1_vocabulary.html
Study: U.S. students struggle with vocabulary By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/06/vocabulary-student-scores/1746693/
Business leader: Firms can't find educated workers by Associated Press http://www.kvue.com/news/Business-leader-Firms-cant-find-educated-workers-187392931.html
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