T&C Ch.2 Progress or Regress?

In my opinion, the debate over whether schools have progressed or regressed is extremely controversial. Will the school system ever be perfect? Everyone, including politicians, teachers, parents, children, citizens (both poor and rich), all have different opinions as to what makes schooling “good” or not. I don’t think the debate will ever end because everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and everyone will always have opposing opinions.

I don’t have much experience teaching as I am only in my third year, however, when I look back at my own public schooling, I remember it as a positive experience. I felt that I had wonderful teachers who taught me so much. I went to school in Tampa, Florida (for those of you familiar, Gaither High School on Dale Mabry). The school was filled with mostly students of middle to upper class families. It seemed as though students went to school, behaved, and did their school work. Most of the students succeeded.

Now maybe I didn’t see the problems that many schools have because I was a student and I was naïve, but now that I am a teacher I see the issues and problems some students face and why there are high failure rates and dropouts. This probably existed when I was in high school but at the time it didn’t concern me. The thing that bothers me is that even though there are students who fail, there are still a large number of students who achieve so much in high school and value their education. Often these students are recognized. Yes, there may be many students who are spiraling down hill but yet so many students leave high school well educated and prepared for higher education and/or the workforce.

Again, there will always be people who disagree with the public school system and feel that it is failing students, but I am a firm believer in education is a privilege and students must put forth the effort to succeed. I don’t necessarily believe it is the school’s fault that many students fail or dropout, even if statistics show an increasing number in failure or illiterates. Society has definitely changed over the years and many young people do not value education the way we did years ago. One thing that I feel needs to change is the mentality students have toward school and education and as educators and parents we can do our best to help young people achieve this mind set.

Progress or regress will always be an issue at hand and I don't know if there will ever be a way to settle the argument. For now, all we can do is do our jobs the best we can and help educate the children.