In the public school system teachers are required to educate to a variety of studends whose learning ability ranges from students with special needs to honors graduates. The best way for a student to reach his or her full potential woud be a one on one learning system between the student and teachers. This would require the teacher to focus more on the individual needs of the student instead of the average level of the students educational level.
In today's quick paced time period teachers must also compete with technology and media forces. The constant waves of technology brought into the school district has forced teachers to continually update their teaching criteria and means of instruction. Educators are now more reliable on the given technology and turned more in the direction of being a facilitator instead of a lecturer. Students are lead to discovery new ideas and research knowledge on their own.
Another major issue in today's public schooling is the lack of enthusiasm towards learning among the student body. Entertainment has become a huge factor in the way many educators are forced to teach simply due to the fact that the students become easily bored and unwilling to learn. In my opinion, the best way to handle this situation is not to try and make school a place for more entertainment than learning, but instead make school optional. The students that truly want the satisfaction of a genuine education would attend and those that could care less and are holding back the more advanced students could find other means of success. Don't get me wrong, school doesn't have to be dreadful, but maybe we should rethink the "No Child Left Behind" laws.
In Emerson's essay he discusses the school systems "[lowering their flag]". I fully believe that this should be a primary concern of Batesville. Instead of building student up and forcing them to put in the extra effort, many teachers lower even their standards of achievement for the students because they are aware of the kids lack of interest. When working in the large class setting such as the Batesville district Emerson also discusses the issue of "reefing your sails to wait for the dull sailors." Again, the higher level students are forced to hold back, or be at a standstill, while waiting for other lower level students to fully understand the lesson. This also gives the higher level students no extra push to move forward onto a range of more difficult concepts that should be learned due to the fact that they are above average for their class.
Instead of being a forced routine that each student must endure, the school system must become that of a relaxed environment with complete student in-put for each child to gain the remarkable education they deserve.
