Why does our educational system discourage new ideas, free thinking, and acedemic excellence?

Question

Kids that are considered smart are continually bullied in school and are not defended by the teachers. Free thinking is considered trouble making and new ideas and thinking out of the box is considered coloring out of the lines. Does our system really stunt the intellectual growth in our society?

Answer 1

The system, yes. Teachers....some. Teachers have to follow the guidelines. Some follow them and then color around them. As a second year teacher, that is what I hope to achieve. I try my best to do activities children will enjoy, learn from and challenge my more advance students while catering to those who need a bit of extra help. This is an ideal that is hard to achieve because it takes a lot of planing and is even sometimes not supported by other teachers, or administration.

I feel I am very lucky to be under an administration that is very supportive and allows teachers to explore possibilities of lessons and learning. However as a newer teacher I also sometimes feel more traditional...often more experienced teachers, are unsupported of new ideas. I have learned who will be supportive of me, and who wont. It has greatly benefited my self efficacy as a teacher and as a result what my students learn.

But education has always been focused on the teaching...not the learning. Learning is a result of what happened when you taught. Teachers have to reflect and think about how they can create a learning environment that will benefit different types and levels of learners. It is not an easy profession. I am thankful I have the support of my husband, family, friends and many coworkers in my early years of teaching.

There are some wonderful teachers out there that I really look up to, sadly many are pushed behind others that are not willing to take risks and try something new, or change...unless of course the district forces them to.

No one can do it alone.


EDIT- some female...please do not even begin to think you teach. You may be a degree and a job, but your attitude shows you are in no way a teacher.

Answer 2

Yes. Americans (pretend to) believe that "all people are created equal" Therefore if your kid happens to be a little more advanced, there is this feeling of entitlement: well my kid should be advanced too!
Sports is suppose to level the field because we all know practice makes an athlete. Dad's can get out and throw the ball, there are teams to join to get the advantage but that same kind of parent involvement isn't seen when you talk about homework or after school tutoring the way it is in other countries.
My principal just told my fellow teacher that the "special ed" kids had more rights than the gifted! More rights? Well, there you are! So much for equality.
Gifted kids in my district get one hour a week of gifted ed. rest of the time fritter away their time in regular ed. Dumbing down.

Answer 3

As a high school student, I personally think our entire education system is total sh*t.

For one, the way we teach hasnt changed over 200 years. We're still using books, we still learn from teachers using methods that dont work as well as newer ones.

The material we're presented with to learn may be irrevelant to what we may need to know.

To answer your question, yes. In many ways we have an out-dated teaching system. Most schools refuse to spend money on better teachers and learning equipment. We're still using pencils. Our education system is unorganized and totally redundent. Instead of taking in fresh material, we're continually brainwashed with the same old material with the exceptions of math and science.

Theres a saying that goes something like..

If Rip Van Winkle were to be taken out of his time period and placed in our present day world, he would be astonished at everything he sees. Things like cars, flashing lights and towers that do nothing less than touch the sky. But he walks into a particular building and instantly recognizes it as a school.

Some things take time to change I guess.

Answer 4

High school is not about learning as much as it is conforming socially and baby sitting to keep teens out of trouble. The dumb students and the smart students are all given the same basic classes, expected to preform at the same level and same speed. You are right and a focus on making sure the idiots are not left behind only makes things worse. I say, every world needs it's manual labourers and gas station attendants and if Tommy can't read, too bad for him, his parents should have thought twice about breeding.

Answer 5

You ave pained a one sided picture. Not all or moist smart kids are bullied. Teachers do take action.

We do however, to a certain extent discourage new ideas. it is done because schools like to encourage conformity.