Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, May 23, 2016

Today’s School Reforms and the Destruction of Invention

Today’s School Reforms and the Destruction of Invention:

Today’s School Reforms and the Destruction of Invention

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) on antique print from 1899.  American inventor and businessman. After A.Anderson and published in the 19th century in portraits, Germany, 1899.

Currently, school reformers impact schools in such a way that little is done to assist students to be inventors. To teach young people to invent means looking at them as individuals with interests and uniqueness—hopes and dreams.
It means providing experiences that foster those interests–introducing them to new ideas.
Schools need to encourage and trust students to have time to think on their own, and teachers need to have time to assist them to explore how the world works.
There is nothing to encourage invention when students focus mostly on reading and math performance for the high-stakes testing. Students spend much of their time doing classroom drill like they are in the army. Sit still, shape up, and do not break eye contact!
And, of course, obtain a high test score.
Students don’t even learn the beauty of reading and math as subjects!
Where are the other classes to inspire? What happened to learning science, social studies and the arts? Where’s music to make life joyful and worth exploring?
When students are highly controlled, they will act the way they are told, to get what the Today’s School Reforms and the Destruction of Invention: