Quantifying Education a Fail

“In times of change learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to work in a world that no longer exists.” — Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983

Phoebe Gartside, Managing Editor

Einstein is inarguably an incredible, brilliant man, and to be able to think as he did should be an aspiration for the masses, right? Yet our current school system is hurtling in the opposite direction from the building blocks- imagination and creativity- of Einstein’s great brilliance. New innovative ideas are not born from questions that have answers in the back of a textbook, or that can be memorized and understood in their entirety. Imagination is the mother to all frighteningly new concepts, and uncertainty is what instills curiosity and a genuine desire to seek out an understanding in each and every human being willing to explore. When taking a standardized test, answering a multiple choice question, or completing any one of the mundane tasks meticulously crafted for measurement and the sole purpose of being graded, there is no place for uncertainty or imagination, there is right and there is wrong and that is all.  

    The human mind is driven by curiosity and an instinctive will to understand. Humans have always strived to define not only the world around them, but the mechanics behind the wonders they discover. Where is this desire in the students of today’s strict, structured school system? Why waste time pondering concepts in literature, or wondering how one can apply mathematical theorems to the physical world when there are tests to study for, right answers to be concerned with, and the constant need to save ourselves in this cognitive hunger games we find ourselves in? While school systems have introduced modern terminology and are introducing  programs that give rise to creativity and original thinking, weight is still only placed upon that which can be meticulously measured and graphed, with over a dozen days per academic year dedicated to cookie-cutter assessments. The theory appearing to be that if it is not quantifiable, it is of no true value, therefore standardized test rein supreme in matters of what class time and free time are to be spent on.   

At this moment there are human beings who are looking for the one right answer that will propel American students to the top of the academic charts. South Korea has center stage at the moment with their school days running to 11:00 p.m. (including after school cram sessions),  their year round school sessions, and their iconic students that outperform the rest of the world on standardized tests. In the shadows, however, they hide one of the highest teenage and young adult suicide rates. Are these beloved scores worth the pleasure and enjoyment of human life? Does a high score change the world or is it simply the result of how many precious right answers one student is capable of remembering?

There is a distinct issue in the system we have created for ourselves and that is the absolutes that we have fabricated in our tiny world. The “Top Ten” of a graduating class are smart, the last hundred just are not as bright, the more extracurricular one can pile on the better, the higher the SAT score the more potential. “Everybody is a genious. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid (Einstein).” There is no one way to determine an individual’s potential or level of brilliance. That concept is simply wishful thinking that has been crafted into a makeshift reality. The education system should provide students with the proper foundation needed to imagine, reason, and think the options for which may exceed, “a,” “b,” “c,” or “d.”  Students should be inspired to paint their own unique and meaningful canvases, not taught the right and wrong way a canvas should look.