The Failing Education System and How to Fix It

Today's educational system is failing, as for every bright student churned out, there are five that drop out. In school, kids and teenagers learn not only from teachers and the curricula, but also from their peers. In some ways what students learn from their friends is more important than what is taught. After all, the mantra of many kids today is that they will never use what they learn in school.

If you think about it, everything in life is the past. The line before this one was read in the past, despite that past being so short ago. For teaching to work, people have to remember the past, whether that past is yesterday or years before. The past influences the present, although it may seem that this is not true to many people. Four hundred years ago is no different than four hundred seconds ago; human nature has not changed in the thousands of years we have existed, only our culture has. The government frequently changes the reading and writing systems every year to "improve them", but any system developed today will only be just as effective as the ones created decades ago. It is not the system that needs to be updated, but the method and manner of teaching.

What school does not teach is insight, the spontaneous discovery (similar to epiphanies) about life and the world. A good example would be a student learning about the isolationism of China. With insight, a student might realize that China is isolationist because the people that make up the government feel they are superior to everyone else, and this feeling could stem from simple insecurities. From that, the student could discover that human emotions play a large part in how the world and governments work, even though it does not appear that way. This type of insight Schools do not seem to teach this anymore, they just teach facts in a linear and boring fashion. How do the students respond? By dropping out, disobedience, and crime.

The reason students drop out of school is because they either think it is too hard, too useless, or too boring. However, if students were somehow made passionate about school, the dropout rate would decrease and more people would be successful. If more insight was applied in the classroom, "passion" would increase, and therefore more people would want to stay in school. This change starts with the teachers, and the realization that they have to change their ways to make a difference in the world. While doing this would force them to leave their bubble of safety and comfort, the promise of a better world should be enough to spark change.

While the solution to our education problem is so obvious, nobody wants to do it because it is too difficult, or too risky. Also, nobody has a stake in change. If people keep dropping out and not succeeding, it does not affect the big shots in Washington or any professionals at all. It will only until the problem starts affecting us (like if our world became A Clockwork Orange) will drastic measures be taken, but by the time that occurs it will already be too late.