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There is a difference between education and schooling that was brought to my attention by this piece. To go to school and learn is a separate action from receiving an education. Education is a self-initiated action, an endeavor undertaken to better understand the world around you and grow as a person. Trough education t You learn the value of human life and how to think as an individual. Schooling is a task controlled by others, where you are fed others opinions and others ideas and it is for the purpose of others. Gatto argues that the problem with education in America is that we are schooling our children rather than educating them.

This article, written by Eric Sheninger (a high school principle), discusses the wide-spread standardization of our education system and how it is steadily destroying it. It talks about how the system of standardization is based off the century-old model focused on industrialization, which produces students that lack creativity, fear failure, and work to do only as they are told. The focus is on test scores, viewed as the only determinant of success. Students are leaving school unprepared for the world awaiting them. The solution according to Sheninger lies in intrinsical motivation. If students and teachers are motivated not by test scores or pay raises, but by creativity and innovation, students will find relevancy and meaning in their education.

While we are trying so hard to have Chinese test scores and mimic hard core education, highly standardized test curriculum--they are trying to mimic ours.

I read Zhao's book, "Catching Up or Leading the Way", before applying to the IGSS. The book is about how American students are still on top because the US creates more innovative students while China only creates good test takers. In this video, Zhao discusses why testing is a poor way of measuring education. He goes on to talk about how only testing math, science, and reading does not accurately measure education because many students may be proficient in creative writing or art, two very important skills for any citizen who cares to be an active member of society. He adds at the end that schools should not be rewarded for better test scores, but they should be rewarded for using innovative ways of education. This is important because this is what IGSS is doing and although we may not have the perfect solution to all education reform right now, it is critical that we keep shooting the subject from different angles.

While the author, Tom DeWeese, goes a bit overboard in his effort to bash our public education system, he is very thorough. I found this interesting because he rejects the usual view that our schools need smaller class sizes and more money, and he includes the evidence to back up his claims. He offers no real solution, however I think that leaves our minds to think about how we would change education, which is exactly what our paper is about.

I found this article quite helpful in helping me develop my thesis and overall theme of my paper. The article did a great job exploring what the purpose of an american education is, and while i disagree with the author, I found that way he organized his thoughts was clear and effective. The comments to the article however, are what warranted the diigo. There is a rich conversation in the comments, filled with great evidence.

A Montessori school is a type of school that implements the idea of alternative learning. This type of learning is embraced on 6 continents and all over the United States. The ideology behind this system encourages an environment with more freedom and individuality.

Alfie Kohn provides an intriguing perspective on the benefits (and lack thereof) of homework. He reveals that there is no strong correlation between excessive amounts of homework and good grades and questions the need for homework at all. Educators tend to not question the premise of homework, but Kohn provides his opinions- backed with evidence- on why they should. It's definitely something to think about.

On this page, it discusses Howard Gardner, a Harvard graduate, and his philosophy of Multiple Intelligences. All six different intelligences, according to Gardner, are equally important and should all be explored in schools. I find this interesting and thought provoking because in many schools, only mathematical and linguistic intelligences are explored and expanded upon, even though not every student learns best that way.

This is an incredibly thought provoking piece because of it's detailed accuracy in describing our education system as a "factory". It is simple to follow and very captivatingly executed. It had a touch of humor that lightened the mood, which is nice for such a serious subject.

Vargas Made me do this

NSTA:  National Science Teachers Association is a teaching organization that progressively acts to education teachers and allow them to share ideas.