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Rebecca Bramall
Ms. Parrish
English 1010
March 18, 2014
Ideal Education
Over the past 40 years, despite endless debates about curricula, testing, teacher training,
teachers salaries, and performance standards, and despite billions of dollars invested in school
reform, there has been no improvement. (Steinberg). Going through high school, I realized how
much of the stuff I have learned in previous years they are re-teaching us. The only way to get
out of the groove of learning the same things over and over is to take advanced classes.
Throughout the years, teachers have gone through rigorous training to figure out the best ways to
teach students. Years pass, and we still find students drooling on their desks and doing other
things during class, anything but paying attention. Teachers now are required to teach using the
Common Core Standards. Common Core Standards are used in 48 states across America. It is
used as a middle ground so that all students everywhere, no matter what grade, can learn the
same things as students in other states. Some teachers really dislike the new standards, while
others dont really mind them, because they arent free to teach how they always have. The ideal
educational system would have support from everybody and there would be respect for the
teachers and their different ways of teaching.
The last survey taken to see the satisfaction of teachers showed that only about 39 percent
of teachers were truly satisfied with what they do. Thats a 23-percentage point plummet since
2008 (Richmond). This is a very significant drop in satisfaction, and it might all have to do with
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the fact that in 2008, they started trying out the new Common Core. It hasnt been easy for
teachers, especially the teachers that have been teaching for a long time and are just used to
teaching based on what they are required that students learn by the end of the year. It can cause
the teachers to also become stressed if they have to change all their ways of teaching. In the
move Mona Lisa Smile, the teacher, Ms. Watson, was fired for going off of what the curriculum
was and she taught her students more than what was in the books. It is scary to be a teacher and
have to teach what you are told, and if you go off of the requirements by just a little, they could
be fired. Only 17 to 24 percent of educators believe the new standards actually will improve
learning. If students arent going to be able to learn with the new Common Cores and teachers
cant go off of the required teaching, how are students supposed to be able to learn or to prepare
for the college life; like the new standards say they do?
Classes are hard because of how the teachers teach (Gneiting). When students arent
able to understand how the teachers are teaching with the new standards that students will learn
less content, but more in-depth (Resmovits). It is a hard concept for students that have been in
school for 10+ years to understand the new teachings. Students in high school are also just trying
to find a place to belong, where they fit into the world. OECD data that compares the worlds
15-year-olds on two measures of student engagement: participation and belongingness
(Steinberg). More and more students are feeling like they dont belong, so they try their hardest
to fit in, they dont care about school work; they would rather be noticed. In the movie Mean
Girls, it shows what someone in high school will do just so they can say they fit in with one
social group, so that someone will notice them.
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Parents need to be able to understand that times are changing and that the ways of
teaching might also change. Parents and politicians have started to object to the Core on a
number of counts (Resmovits). Just because there is a new core doesnt mean that the teachers
are going to follow it word by word. There is adjustment time that needs to be accounted. In the
movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, it showed that his mother didnt really care about what he did
because she thought that he could do no wrong. While in the movie Dead Poets Society, the
father was really into his sons life and he was dictating what he did while in school. Parents
need to be there for their kids, but there are lines of caring too much, keeping kids under their
wings too long, and not caring enough about what their kids do. Finding that middle ground and
trusting that the student will find the best education and will really help them to grow as people.

In the ideal educational system teachers would be able to teach however they wanted as
long as the students understood what was being taught. No matter what, I think there will be
teachers teaching how they feel is best and not letting a book tell them what that best way is.
Students dont necessarily have it easy in high school; there is a lot of pressure to find out who
they are and how to fit in. Teachers arent at fault for everything that is happening with the
educational system, there are bigger things going on besides what the teacher is teaching. There
are a lot of ways to teach, one way of teaching could be fine for one teacher, but that doesnt
mean that it is the right way for all the teachers or all the students even. Learning materials dont
always come easy for everyone, whether it is because the school cant provide them for their
students or the students arent able to get them. I think that if people werent so judgmental of
the teachers, there could actually be a good educational system. Sure, there needs to be an outline
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of what needs to be taught that year, but everyone teaches/learns differently. Teachers are
supposed to be able to find how their students learn best. There needs to be a change in what is
happening right now with the educational system. Not every teacher is going to teach the same
and they are going to put their own spin on things no matter what. In Dead Poets Society and
Mona Lisa Smile the students were able to learn so much, because the teachers went off topic and
were able to explore with their students, beyond the book. Continually changing education wont
make students learn any better. There needs to be common ground, but it doesnt have to all be
the same everywhere.