Paper 3 Final: My Addition to the K-12 School Curriculum

Amanda Rogers
Dr. Begert
English 101
12/6/13

    Paper 3: My Addition to the K-12 School Curriculum  

        From the early adolescent years, children are taught that they must fulfill the requirement of gaining an education in order to succeed in life. Innocently, from kindergarten through 12^th grade children coast through the repetitive and uninteresting routine that comes along with attending public school; assuming the foundation of knowledge being laid for them will provide them with the skills and intelligence needed to become a productive member of society. While contents taught in school today can be meaningful and important, they way in which it is taught can be damaging. Our K-12 school system has come to discourage the individual creativity of students minds, and instead, promote the idea that teachers are always correct.   Educators fill their pupils with carefully chosen knowledge and subjective opinions, rarely, if ever, allowing the student to form a logical and valid viewpoint of their own. Depriving our youth of the ability to express and argue their own opinions is a harmful misdeed.  In order for a person to truly become powerful, they must first learn how to think independently. Critical thinking is a concept that will grant students the capability to view questions, issues, and ideas from many angels, by working cooperatively with their teachers and peers. Considering the diversity and openness of this approach, adding the element of critical thinking in the classroom will help our youth become better, and more informed observers of life.

        It is no secret that classrooms today have become a place of dullness, and boredom. John Taylor Gatto, a school teacher of thirty years and author of Against School: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids and Why says, “Boredom was everywhere in my world, and if you asked the kids, as I often did, why they felt so bored, they always gave the same answers: They said the work was stupid, that it made no sense, that they already knew it.” There is an incredible lack of ambition among students who are being taught material that is of absolutely no significance to them. Gatto continues, “They said they wanted to be doing something real, not just sitting around.” Critical thinking aims to ease children away from the insignificant material of the current curriculum, and focus more on realistic and meaningful conversation. Some might argue that this method would take away from the importance of core subjects (such as math, history, etc.). However, students would learn the valuable skill of forming valid, purposeful opinions by engaging themselves in group discussions. They would no longer be forced to agree with only one opinion, but instead, actively ask questions and work with others to discover their own beliefs and views.

        By nature, Children have an admirable passion for curiosity. In fact, a recent survey by online retailer Littlewoods.com found that young children ask their parents an average of 300 questions per day.  Unfortunately, this passion is often short lived.  With the monotonous lesson plans and one-sided opinions that our educational system provides, children are being taught to conform to a certain standard. They are robbed of their natural desire to be inquisitive and instead, forced to obey a curriculum geared only to deposit information for the sake of memorization. In her book Teaching Critical Thinking, bell hooks states “Sadly, children’s passion for thinking often ends when they encounter a world that seeks to educate them for conformity and obedience only.”(8) The tragic reality is student’s today fear to think for themselves. Adding the concept of critical thinking in classrooms will not only encourage, but drastically restore a child’s eagerness to think. With enough practice of critical thinking, they will re-learn how to question the world around them. This will aid in the ability for our youth to logically devise strategies, and solve problems, whether they are school, work, or life related.

       Paolo Freire states in his article The Banking Concept of Education, “The educated man is the adapted man, because he is better ‘fit’ for the world.”  The K-12 Schooling system is structured in such a way that the students must adapt to the knowledge being fed to them. Educators and school administrators are entirely in control of what is to be taught, and how it is rendered to the students. This method of teaching is not in the best interest of the children. It does not allow for them to think creatively and originally. Freire adds, “Everything in this ready-to-wear approach serves to obviate thinking.”  Inclusion of critical thinking in classrooms would provide students the opportunity to open their minds, and expand on different topics in ways that are meaningful to them as an individual. Critical thinking allows students to freely express their beliefs and thoughts, without being told they have given a “wrong answer”. One particular scene in the “mockumentary”, Chalk, strongly conveyed this issue. Mr. Stroope, an overly-confident, go-with-the-flow teacher, confronts an intelligent student who corrected him during class. Mr. Stroope becomes upset and in so many words, tells the student to stop being so smart. Some might agree that there is a sense of disrespect when a student corrects, or confronts a teacher. However, if we discourage our youth from expressing their thoughts and intelligence, they will never be able to thrive. Praising a student for accomplishing the simple task of thinking would embed confidence among them for life. The once feared task of having your own voice would diminish, thus introducing them to a wide range of opportunity in the future.

        One of the key components involved with critical thinking is allowing students to work in a community-like environment in the classroom. In his article A Real Education, Barry Boyce says “Kindness, caring, empathy, being able to de-center from your own point of view and listen deeply to others- these are values that should be cultivated in our classrooms.” For a child to indeed become a thoughtful and tactful individual, it is greatly important they understand how to consider and explore many different points-of-views with an open mind. Authors of From Critical Thinking to Argument Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau say, “Critical thinking requires us to use our imagination, seeing things from prospectives other than our own and envisioning the likely consequences of our position.” (hooks).    Allowing students to work interactively with their peers would enable them to listen to, and digest the opinions and reasoning’s of others. In addition to student participation, educators would become a part of the classroom community as well. This would mean voiding the implied rule that the teacher must always be right. bell hooks, author of Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom suggests that teachers must be open at all times. “[For teachers], a radical commitment to openness maintains the integrity of the critical thinking process and its central role in education.”(10) She says. Authority figures today would aruge that educators should teach only the material given in the current curriculum. They wish to withhold young minds from too much knowledge, fearing they might in fact become powerful beyond what society is ready to bare. The truth is, it is simply not right to deprive students of their right to be smart. By creating this classroom-wide interaction, teachers and students would be able to embrace the learning process by freely contributing their own unique and important thoughts, while openly considering the thoughts of others. 

        Being able to think independently is a crucial skill needed to become a successful person. The ability to have your own voice in the world should not be something to fear, but to embrace. Learning to work with others, and open your mind to the diversity of others opinions is a critical part of life, and therefore, should be taught on a regular basis. By practicing the art of thinking critically, children would discover the true value of their own identity.  Incorporating this approach in our everyday K-12 school curriculum will aid children to become adequate, logical, and sensible people.  As W.E.B. Du Bois wisely stated, “The effect of all true education is not only a gaining of some practical means of helping present life, but the making of present life mean more than it meant before.”(Gilyard)

Works Cited

hooks, bell. “Critical Thinking”. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. 8. New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. 2009. Print

Freire, Paolo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Chapter 2. 1970. Print

Gilyard, Keith. "Children, Arts, and Du Bois."  National Council of Teachers and English. September 2012. Print. 

Chalk. Dir. Mike Akel. Perf. Chris Mass. SomeDaySoon Production, 2006. DVD

Gatto, John. “Against School: How public education cripples our kids, and why” Harper’s                     Magazine. September, 2003. Web.

Telegraph.co.uk. “Mothers asked nearly 300 questions a day, study finds”. The Telegraph. March 28, 2013. Web.