How Should We Then Teach?

I am fascinated with education. I don’t mean this in the sense that I am a scholar. No, I am captivated with understanding how people learn and how to better teach people.

Perhaps I was spoiled growing up. My mom knew how to tailor my education to my learning styles because of the individual interaction I had with her during lessons. I learned best whenever my mom drew out diagrams and pictures explaining concepts. On the other hand, my sister learned well from listening. Atticus, my younger brother, learned best by throwing balls and chopping things outside. My youngest brother became frustrated with learning – except when he was able to act it out.

I know it’s not possible for everybody to have such an individualized education, but I have seen a recent surge of parents desiring to take the homeschooling route for their children. When I was a young child, we were the only family at my church that homeschooled. Many of my peers saw me as different, and perhaps a little strange, because I didn’t go to a “real” school. Now, many parents are turning around and asking my mom for advice, because they think she “did a good job” with me and my siblings. It’s rather interesting, in my opinion.

I view the American school system as both a blessing and a curse. Our society is literate and moderately educated, but in making that possible, standards have been lowered for everybody. Since everybody is required to go to school, classrooms are larger, and individualized education is not always possible. Teachers cater to the average learner: anybody who learns faster is bored, and anybody who learns slower is lost. Many energetic children who learn best from throwing balls and chopping things outside have the “ADHD” label stuck on their foreheads and are force-fed pills to make them more calm and standardized. My younger brother, Atticus, who is extremely intelligent in mathematics and science, never needed pills. He just learned about the world through physically experimenting with it.

Even college has made me more skeptical about the education system. There’s a strange phenomenon that I have yet to figure out: grades. People say they’re not important and that it’s really only about what you learn. And yet, everything is centered around what grades you make. People who make A’s are seen as better than people who make C’s. Scholarships are given based on grades. First choices for study abroad are based on grades. As a student, I am torn by this dichotomy.

I have many ideas that I don’t think will ever become a reality. I see a corrupted system that I wish I could make right. But as a Christian, I believe that anything led by people will not be perfect and cannot be without the redemption given through Jesus Christ. I plan to use my love of teaching people to individualize the education of my own children in the future. Learning is fun when you do it the right way.