Why I think education is a social agent of control and restraint

NEEDING TO LEARN ONE WAY

                  As it stands, schools operate on the idea that all students either do, or should, learn in a particular way. Should you learn in a way outside of that, your educational career is essentially doomed.

Growing up, I was a student that learnt by copying down notes and then writing them in my own style. Thankfully, that was an accepted learning style throughout most of my schooling. The issue arose during sixth form, when the pace was picked up and I could not keep up, not for love nor money. I enjoyed the note-taking, however the speed at which we were expected to write AND follow what was being said was, in my opinion, unrealistic and impractical.  

A friend of mine however, unfortunately for him, learns through doing and actionable skills. I shall refer to him as S. Because of his different way of learning, S struggled throughout his school years and did not leave school with a single GCSE. Teachers saw him as a troublemaker and a problem student when the reality was that if someone had taken their time to learn HIS learning style and teach him in that way, he would have succeeded far more than he did.

Now S is just a single example of what happens to far more children that any of us realise. So many people have had their educational opportunities stolen from them, and for what? The crime of learning in a different way to others?

DISCOURAGEMENT OF NON-ACADEMIC SUBJECTS

                  On another note, during recent years, the STEM project has grown and been incorporated into education worldwide. Whilst this is an incredible programme and an immensely positive influence to many, I feel it has encroached too far and to a point where it is now discouraging students to follow subjects outside of the STEM realm.

Throughout my schooling, there was a covert but active stigmatisation of taking non- academic subjects such as sports, design & technology, and music. It was seen as a ‘bonus’ or ‘for fun’ subjects that would never actually get you anywhere education wise. Choosing one of these subjects or similar would result in teachers very clearly having a lack of faith in your educational career and your chance of gaining qualifications in what they saw as ‘useful’ subjects (there is another word for this). The lack of enthusiasm for your education would decrease immensely. Now, if you would, for example, follow sports science, you were succeeding and being sensible in your subject choice. This is a clear division of opinion from the school and teachers themselves when it comes to academic and non-academic subjects.

Although I cannot pinpoint the reasoning behind this or the motive, I did notice the link between non-academic subject choices and the typical ‘problem students’. It seemed as many of the typically problem students were the ones choosing the non academic subjects. I wonder if this is due to a different learning style, or simply coincidence, or another reason I simply haven’t thought of.

I will say that this pessimism towards non academic mostly, or at least partially, decreased when you enter college. The huge increase in subject choice allowed you to venture into the dark side and explore what other options educational life had in store for you. The sad side of this was that by the time you arrive in college, you are 16 years into your education and chances are, your longing for these subjects have been drummed out of you, and the view that subjects such as STEM are your only way to gain qualifications and succeed in life.

MADE TO SERVE THE GOVERNMENT

                  The pushing towards traditional academic subjects also helps explain the idea that schooling isn’t made for children, but is in fact made to serve the government by manipulating young, impressionable children into robots that will work menial jobs and provide money and statistics. The government’s love of high job statistics is well known, especially in the media, and so it would only make sense that if there was a system or agent that could further this, they would take it and run with it.

When children enter the education system at the ripe old age of 5, they are free-spirited and have an imagination bigger than any of ours. However by the time they leave, chances that free and loving spirit has been drummed out of them, and they are now focused on money rather than love for others and life itself.

Similarly, the lack of life skills taught in schools is highly intriguing. I do wonder if the government possibly wants us to focus on serving them, rather than ourselves?

LACK OF LIFE SKILLS TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS

                  I was in education from the age of 5 until 18. Despite this, I still ask questions about taxes, I don’t understand mortgages, nor did I understand about how voting works until this year. I think this alone highlights how awfully schools prepare students for the real world. They claim to, of course, but really what they mean by “we’re preparing your child for the real world” is “we’re teaching your child how to be a good robot and follow rules”.

Even at the age of 13, I was ranting to my mother about how I wished schools taught money skills, politics, and real, actually applicable skills. Yet, only one school taught a subject of that, and it was once a week. I can’t say it was amazing, but it was better than nothing.

How on earth are people meant to know these things without being taught them? They aren’t. That’s the real point of it all. We aren’t meant to know these things because if we don’t, then the government still has power over us all. This isn’t acceptable, and god only knows why we’re all submitting to it without a fuss.

THE ISSUE OF UNIFORM AND LACK OF INDIVIDUALITY

                  Now, we all know about how rigid and strict schools are over their precious uniform. A sock above the knee, sleeves rolled up an inch or two, and the world is over. I’d like to explain my thoughts on it all.

First off, I strongly believe these small changes to uniform are students’ ways of accessorising and attempting to show their individual personality, and that is the exact reason that schools detest it. Children, especially teenagers, want to find who they are and show it off. Your teenage years are the prime time for exploration and discovery of who you are. Schools’ rigidity about this is the reason as to why everyone is in their 20s and still not having a good idea of who they are or who they want to be.

It is fully understandable to have a uniform of course, it keeps a sense of community within a school and is good from a safety standpoint. However, I highly doubt a change to your hair colour will disrupt anybody’s learning, and yet this is what we were told. I personally remember being in year 10, with my hair dyed black and a small twinge of purple was in it, and I was threatened with detention, suspension and expulsion. Now I don’t know about you, but I really don’t think that it’s that deep. Furthermore, I most definitely don’t believe that it requires such extensive punishment.

MENTAL HEALTH AND HOW IT IS HANDLED IN EDUCATION

                  People are now, thankfully, well aware of the mental struggles teenagers face as a result of bullying, puberty, hormones and general struggles. However despite this, schools still refuse to acknowledge let alone provide support regarding this. Yes, they may have school counselors and such, but myself and many others can confirm they are of no support in the slightest. They don’t stop the bullying, they don’t take into account outside factors, and they simply try to make sure you aren’t a problem in classes.

Bullying is, of course, a particularly big problem within schools and yet it is rarely addressed as an issue that needs to be fixed. Simple assemblies instructing against it is not nearly enough to tackle it. I was bullied during my first two years in high school and spent a lot of my time in isolation due to the fact that the teachers “couldn’t punish everyone” and apparently, I needed to “stop provoking them”. Whilst I agree punishing everyone isn’t a realistic option, I am sure that more could have been done for this. A similar approach was taken by teachers in another school with friends of mine, showing that this is not at all an isolated incident and is, in fact, an issue throughout many schools across the UK.

Outside factors, such as family life or home problems, can have a huge impact on a child’s educational performance and attitude towards their learning. Nevertheless, teachers rarely take this into account, and usually take a students ‘bad behaviour’ at face value, without thinking any further into it. Referring back to my time in sixth form, I ended up in hospital for a month early on in the year, and as a result, when I came back I could not catch up. I was not offered any help from the school, despite them being very aware of my situation as I had already struggled through my GCSEs because of the same health issues that later landed me in hospital. This really does emphasise how the system has only one focus: to provide the world with workers that will do as they are told and not cause problems.

LEARNING DISABILITIES

                  As it currently stands, the usual and typically best response to a child struggling in education due to a learning disability is to have them attend a specialised school, highlighting the lack of inclusivity when it comes to disabilities and education. The inclusive way to tackle this is to include children with learning disabilities in a regular public school, and to learn with them. Simply taking extra time to teach them would be an easy solution to this. Again, making the point of how teachers don’t just do the bare minimum, they barely meet that.

I would like to point out that this is not standard across the board and as always, there will be a handful of teachers that make the time and care for their students with sincerity.