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Imagine if schools were judged not by how well students achieved while they were in school, but in how well they achieved once they left. If schools saw their worth not in how many kids got accepted to college, but in how many kids went on to live meaningful and engaged lives and who would point back to their school years as the point of relevancy that was the foundation of it all.

These measurements for the most part are just impossible though. First the metrics couldn’t be collected till many years after the person had left the school institution. Next, there’s no level or gauge for a meaningful engaged life. What some people would consider a complete and utter failure others are perfectly content. Are you going to put contentment into a statistical metric? I seriously doubt it.

I think the underlying issue is the flaws with the school system. I also don’t think there’s any easy or quick fix answer. Looking back on my days at school I can only say what I wish would have been handled and done better. I remember growing up learning the same materials in math through 2nd grade all the way to 7th. This turned something I actually enjoyed into something extremely boring. It’s the same with many areas of English, history & science where you “re-learn” the same material year to year. I’m sure many people feel the same way about a wide variety of subjects.

Most individuals will go on to do something in a specialized field. I understand its rather useful to have some core skills in a variety of areas but I think its taken to a ridiculous level sometimes. If someone doesn’t excel at a subject say math…why make them take it over and over again? Does the general majority of the population that reside in this country need to use Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Trigonometry & Calculus? Think about how often you use these skills in the real world day to day. Why not have a core curriculum taught in elementary school then in middle school proceed to a more specialized analysis based upon what you’re good at and what you enjoy. High school serves as mostly a training grounds for achieving the knowledge you need to succeed in the fields you choose.

Moving on to core skills that I wish were included into the curriculum. I don’t understand why public speaking wasn’t some type of required class to graduate in high school. I remember growing up I never placed much emphasis on presentation. How you present something can have drastic effects on the outcome. I remember completely failing at one job interview project we had to do in 10th grade simply because I was too shy to interact with the interviewer properly. I think because of this learning experience I was able to react much better the next time I had to do a major interview to get into college. (Side note: Yes, I didn’t really work in high school mainly because I always found different entrepreneurial ways of making my own money.)

For the most part there’s probably about a one day to a one week period of actual real world experience in school. Maybe you shadow someone you want to be like when you grow up for a day. Maybe you prepare for a job interview which you don’t know if it’s mock or real. Spending more time in a work place which may be similar to what you want to do for the rest of your life seems like it would be a much better use of time than going over the same “core” materials over and over.

Will school stay relevant? How can we improve the public school system? I am interested to hear your thoughts. Unfortunately, this blog cannot be open for comments due to spam. But email us at:

 
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This post by John Hoang an internet marketing specialist created using Dragon speech recognition technology. For more information check out the dragon naturally speaking review.