Becoming an Expert in my Field
If an expert were to tell you that a particular product would greatly improve your life and/ or increase your capacity for knowledge, would you purchase that product with a blank check? Or would you use it on a family member without first making inquiries about its proven success rates and/or side effects? In many instances, the customer or end-user becomes extremely knowledgeable about a particular subject, product or service because of their experience with said item; the expert on the other hand, often moves onto a new business interest soon after this item been introduced.
Now suppose the product being introduced is enrollment into a particular college, university or technical school. Would you enroll (and pay an exorbitantly priced tuition) simply because you liked a commercial? Or would you perhaps conduct a little research about the institution before submitting payment for application fees? How about looking into student success rates before deciding to apply for a student loan or federal financial aid? Exactly how much would you risk on the word of an expert or television ad?
Every year, millions of children enter into the educational system. Parents subject their children to this life altering institution of knowledge because they want their children to be educated, to become professional working adults, and maybe even take care of mom and dad someday. However, many parents fail to conduct research about the educational system and what will be expected of both themselves and their children. And even more important, parents are unaware of the impact a particular learning approach could have on their child.
The majority of those whom we perceive to be experts in the educational system are school administrators, members of the Board of Education, principals, and teachers. But how often are these experts products of the educational system they represent? How often do you find that they come the same communities they now work in. Are they former students of the school in which they now teach? Did they even attend public school? How many would boast about the success rates of the educational system currently in place? The truth of the matter is that the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) consists of a hodgepodge mixture of individuals who focus primarily on the end result rather than the educational process. The “educational process” means the student’s experience; their takeaways, the identification of individual learning styles and personal development.
Instead, the primary focus of the current educational system is to improve test scores, reduce dropout rates, and uniformly prepare children for the future. However, the process that was so expertly designed to accomplish these goals is terribly flawed. With so many experts running around to improve numbers, they have forgotten to improve the educational experience for the learner. I believe that is a perfect example of not being able to see the forest for the trees?
I believe the many educational experts dictating the guidelines governing public education and DOE standards are so close to the problem that they have become unable to see the answer. But many parents today are beginning to identify solutions for the enigma that has become known as institutionalized education. Parents are becoming the experts in the field of education by conducting research, comparing results, and implementing changes to how they approach their child’s educational needs.
Parents are learning about Montessori style learning, multiple learning theories, and how to avoid learning barriers. Some parents are deciding to opt for private schools that follow an altered approach to educational standards. Many other parents have taken over the role as educator with their decision to homeschool their children. In either case, parents have identified that there are problems within the system currently in place and have began to devise plans to avoid that system’s negative impact of their children. As defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, parents are “displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience”. Experience is the key here, isn’t it?
In my experience as a student in New York City Public Schools, I can remember the rigidly scheduled day. I was disciplined enough to know that I had to wait my turn, raise my hand, and do as I was told when I was told to do it. But I felt so worried that I would do something wrong. What if I couldn’t finish my coloring page in the 15 minutes I was given to complete it? In kindergarten, a child has no since of time; what 5-year old wears a watch anyway? And I was so afraid that I would have enough time to fill in all of the bubbles on those darn Scantron sheets. I excelled in school, not because I was the smartest child; I was just so afraid of failing to live up to expectations. I was afraid of mistakes and failure because there was zero tolerance for such things in school.
In so many instances, school can be a traumatic experience for a child. And as a parent, I began to see those same experiences with my children. As a mother of four boys, I knew that my husband and I were in for quite the battle when it came to school; but I wasn’t prepared for the emotional baggage that would come with that. And just like any other subject matter expert, I decided to research the problems my boys were having in school. My husband and I implemented changes that would improve our boys’ chances for success. And in the process, we learned that the problem was not always what our children were doing. In many cases, the system just failed to meet the expectations of our boys.
Children expect school to be interesting; no one wants to spend 7 hours a day listening to adults tell them to read the instructions, complete the exercise and hand in your assignment when you’re done. Boys especially, don’t want to sit on a hard chair for 45 minutes at a time while being told that “You know have 30 minutes to be creative!”, “Color a nice picture but stay in the lines!, “Write a story, but don’t talk to your neighbor!”, or “Listen to this music, but don’t get out of your seat!”. Children expect to experience a world of learning, not instruction. In my expert opinion, learning in accomplished through participation and involvement rather than direction, textbooks and workbooks.
In my studies and research as a graduate student in Education Media Design and Technology, I learned of several learning styles, theories and new concepts. As I identified new problems involving my boys and their educational experience, I immediately sought to apply solutions I’d learned about in school. Once again, I was able to see that the problems that arose in school did not always result from poor performance, but instead from a lack of options for the student to chose from. Not all students are able to learn at the same rate using a single method, but due to class sizes and limited resources teachers often approach lessons with one method and one solution. This approach often leaves children ill prepared to build on previously gained knowledge and skills.
Children are subjected to a system that is compartmentalized, regimented and linear in approach. But as a parent, I can tell you that most children are ill equipped to handle such a system. And as a former student (and child) I can attest to the damage a system like this can have on an individual’s creativity, ability to solve multi-dimensional problems, and one’s desire to continue their education beyond the twelfth grade. (I was, however, fortunate enough to spend much of my free time with freethinkers).
As I continued with my experience of becoming an expert in the field of my family’s education, I began to notice changes in how I felt about classrooms, books and desks. I began to realize that these simple tools had become restraints and were now impeding the educational process for many children. The classroom itself had become a temporary means to confine students so that they did not cause trouble elsewhere. Textbooks and workbooks (limited by the words they contain) were beginning to replace the teacher’s required knowledge. And desks were becoming the designated area for learning itself, as if learning were impossible if one were in any other position but seated behind it. When did education become an institution of confinement?
If we reflect on our past experiences from within the educational system, we will most certainly be able to identify the slow change from “School is fun!” to “School is punishment!” It began to happen when grades became more important that understanding the subject and “finding” the answer began to override “knowing the answer”. The change process picked up speed when standardized testing became the widely accepted means for measuring a student’s intellect and even more so when those test scores began to dictate pay raises. The conversion became eminent when computers and technology came in to replace dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias, newspapers and whole libraries. Today our children rely on auto-correct, Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook as infallible resources of knowledge. But the transformation was completed when the majority of parents decided that a board of professionals and their carefully appointed panel of specialists, knew enough about the needs of our children to declare themselves the experts in the field.
As parents, we offer a blank check to the Department of Education every year in the form of our children. At the beginning of each school year, we send our children to a place managed by so-called experts who will determine how much or how little they will learn. They will also determine if your child has a wonderful learning experience or if they will be reprimanded to freethinking, unconventional methods, or creatively expressing their thoughts. A child is much more precious than any blank check; but the principle is the same by comparison. If an expert promised you wealth in return, would you be willing to risk all of the money in your bank account? If an expert promised to educate your child for the next 12 years, would you hand them over; no questions asked? Would you expect great returns on your unforetold investment? Would you expect your child to have a great educational experience and to become an enlightened individual? As a parent, you will have to become an expert on their needs and ensure that they receive the best return on any educational investment. An investment, not necessarily in the monetary sense, but in time, energy, and commitment.
LaToya
Becoming an Expert in my Field 