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The question of which method yields the most possible learning is one that has
been debated extensively throughout the history of education. The most practiced method
is often referred to as the ‘traditional’ system, which is the model for most schools in the
United States. This system is not the most effective in terms of resulting in actual
learning and has many disadvantages that are actually counterproductive to real learning.
experiential learning, teaches students how to succeed on standardized tests and not much
more, has an authoritarian nature, and leads students to only extrinsically value education
learning is when a child first touches a hot stove and learns that it is hot. The individual
experience greatly increases the meaning of the concept to the child. Carl Rogers, a
humanist psychologist, asks “why is it that left to his own devices the child learns
rapidly, in ways he will not soon forget, and in a manner which has highly practical
meaning for him, when all of this can be spoiled if he is ‘taught’ in a way which involves
Development concluded that “The process of human learning always has two parts: (a)
confrontation with new information or experience, and (b) the learner’s personal
actual learning that is done in schools. Teachers are forced to teach students only the
importance of those tests in determining school funding and student aptitude. Sylvia
Bruni, a public school teacher, wrote of her experience with the effect of standardized
testing: “The hands-on learning activities that I had the time to lead them into helped
them make the relevant connections that are essential for creating a lifetime of
learning…Today’s rigid emphasis on a state test makes this hands-on type of learning
practically impossible”(Glickman 153). Students have also noticed the ill effects of
standardized testing. Vance Rawles, a recent public school student, wrote that “a lot of
teachers feel pressure to teach us what is going to be on the city and state tests, not what
will really connect with us and help us learn”(Glickman 16). A large amount of research
has shown that not only do standardized tests harm the learning environment for students,
but they also are not very effective in truly measuring learning. Some of the negative
characteristics of these tests is that they “are disconnected from the learners environment,
are designed by a bureaucrat removed from the learner’s environment, are designed by
someone who may not be knowledgeable about the field in which the questions are
asked, [and] are simplified for ease in scoring”(Janesick 1). Standardized testing is one of
the leading factors that cause the traditional educational system to be ineffective.
Students are allowed little or no democratic involvement in their own education. Carl
Rogers highlights a number of the authoritarian qualities of the system. He describes the
teacher as the possessor of knowledge and the student the recipient, the teacher as the
possessor of power and the student as subject, in turn the administration has power over
the teachers, trust is at a minimum with teachers distrusting students and assuming they
do not want to learn(Rogers Ch.4). The most critical aspect is that students do not
Humanistic psychologists have shown that these authoritarian qualities diminish the
actual quality of learning and is not advantageous for the personal growth of students.
Abraham Maslow, another psychologist, argues that “the present school system is an
extremely effective instrument for crushing peak experiences and forbidding their
possibility”(Maslow 181). These qualities hinder the effectiveness of schools under the
traditional system.
The traditional system creates students that do not intrinsically value learning on
its own but are only concerned with extrinsic motivators. Most students in school are not
there to learn but to complete it and get a degree. This is not the fault of the student but
the result of the value-system and structure of the system. David Labaree makes a
convincing claim in his aptly titled How to Succeed in School Without Really Learning
Anything: The Credentials Race in American Education, that students are “thinking of
education primarily as a way to get ahead” and therefore “the point of seeking an
been steeped in attitudes of extrinsic learning and respond to grades and examinations as
the chimps responded to poker chips”(Maslow 174). The traditional educational system
promotes this value set that is damaging to the actual education of students. The learning
itself is not what is important, nor is the self-improvement that comes as a result. Only
the social and financial benefits of receiving a degree motivate those students that have
had their views dominated by the system. The lack of instilling personal value into
education for its own sake is another reason the traditional system is not good.
Many people will argue that the traditional educational system is the best choice
for American schools today. They argue that standardized tests are necessary for
measurement of both student and school performance. Many studies show, however, that
the tests are not very effective and that they come at the expense of learning. Some argue
that it is not the role of schools to provide experiential learning, yet a number of teachers
have experimented with hands-on learning and were amazed by the productive results.
Opponents will argue that the authoritarian structure of the system is necessary because
students are unable to make educational decisions on their own. Case studies have shown
this to be false, with students succeeding greatly in those environments where they had a
say in the curriculum and/or methods of instruction, including those students that were
labeled as ‘trouble’ or ‘slow.’ Some believe that subjects such as mathematics would be
difficult to teach outside of the traditional system, however students would be able to
master the important concepts on their own schedule, preventing them from becoming
lost when the rest of the class moves on. Also, some students are quick to master one
concept and require more time for others. The traditional system does not allow the
flexibility in time management to make this the most efficient method. Critics claim that
the costs of a humanistic system will be much more than the traditional system, but the
expense of standardized testing would be decreased and the education itself would not
testing, which is not as valuable as they claim and is actually harmful to the actual
education. It is authoritarian in nature, which ignores the student’s input in deciding how
and what they are to be taught. Finally, it leads to a purely extrinsic value of education,
which dissuades students from becoming interested in learning for learning’s sake. This
system is clearly not the best option for the schools in America.
Works Cited
Glickman, Carl, Ed. Letters to the Next President: What We Can Do About the Real
Crisis in Public Education.
Labaree, David F. How to Succeed in School Without Really Learning: The Credentials
Race in American Education.