Sometimes I see a video or a blog post and think to myself…”yeah!” This is one of those times. This is a short speech from Tennessee student Ethan Young. He talks about education and issues such as common core and evaluations. Go ahead and watch the whole thing (only 5 minutes long).
Let me just point out a few of his points:
In regards to Common Core, Ethan says that “rigorous” standards are just a buzz word.
Common Core standards represent a mistrust of teachers.
Ethan claims that part of the problem with the administrative side of education (evaluation, standards, testing) is that we (the people) try to apply the same management model to education that we use for nuclear reactors.
Great quote: “Why don’t we just manufacture robots instead of students? They last longer and always do what they’re told.”
Another great quote regarding the measurement of teaching: “If everything I learned in high school was a measurable objective, I haven’t learned anything.”
What is the point of education? It is to free minds and to inspire. We do not teach to train for careers, those will come naturally.
All great points. When I think about the educational process, there are two other important pieces that present interesting ideas.
Lockhart’s Lament (pdf). This is an excellent essay from Paul Lockhart where he looks at the state of mathematics education. He creates an excellent analogy between the way we learn art and math. It’s a great essay.
Sir Ken Robinson’s Changing Education Paradigms (youtube). In this video, Robinson gives a great historical perspective as a reason for some of the way education works today.