Page 2, April 22, 1979 - Sunday News

If the. education system, as. we - know it, ‘fails: =

and many ‘are saying it is failing, then our. society.

is going to be in very deep trouble i in the not too

| distant future.

There are many factors at

work in the world today

' which are changing and

‘affecting the minds and
values of ‘our young people.
It is not an easy time in which

_ to be growing up.

The rapid technological

advances, coupled with the

changing social patterns,
create an exceedingly heavy
demand on today’s educa-
tors. They do not have an
easy task under the present
structure.

Jim McDowell a former
‘teacher who has written for
us on education matters in
the recent - past, has a
radical suggestion: for’ the
education ‘system.

Read what he says, think
about it, then let us know
what you think.

STOP COMPULSORY
SCHOOLING

By JIM McDOWELL

We face a crisis in North
America far more dangerous

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Entice contents® 1879 North Shore
Free Prees Ltd. tights reneryed.

_learned by parents

. than whe _ energy: “crisis. Two

trends, running in opposite...

directions, threaten to -sap.
the energy of our - most

valuable ~ resource—our,
children. Ss

The feed - for thinkers
grows, but the. education that
sparks thinking rots.

Spending more and more
on a dying school system
hasn’t helped.. The Hudson
Institute, a well known
research foundation in the
U.S., reports: that last year
Americans ‘ “spent far more
on all levels of education
than they-spent on defense.’’
For primary and secondary
-schooling alone the bill. was
$75 billion—more than four
times the 1960 amount.

Frank E. . Armbrister,
director of the. study said,
“the more parents have
spent on schools, the less
children have learned.”’ His
study shows that each year
the -same students drop
further and further behind
the old achievement norms.

Why is. the quality of
public school teachin g getting
worse? Why are minimum,
standards: of learning going
down?

.

I think the reason is that
public school classrooms
from kindergarten through
high school are full of
students who don’t want to
be there. And the lesson of
the ‘70’s that hasn’t been
and
teachers is’; it isn’t just the
‘*poor’’ students who are fed
up.

In fact the ‘‘slow’’
students were just the first to
become disturbed because
their learning needs weren't
met. So they became disturb-
ing to legions of inflexible
teachers. Their pleas-to be
seen as students with special
needs are still being silenced
with drugs like Ritalin and
behavior modification tricks
by many teachers.

The rightful disturbances
of the slow students soon
spread to some of the so
called ‘‘normal’’ students
who had the courage to rebel
in small ways. More and
more of them are challenging
the arbitrary authority of

teachers, questioning the
value of what they are
expected to Jearn, and
demanding that they be

respected as individuals.

There are a few students in
each classroom who aren't
slow, disturbed, or excep-
tional; but they are seething
with rage against social
injustices that never seem to
end. Divorce, alcohol, drugs,

physical abuse, poverty
racism, etc. make much of
their lives almost unbear-

able. To them school is both
a refuge and a cruel
reminder of their powerless-
ness. Often the only way they

find tg express their anger is .

through violence.

These faur ‘groups make
up about one-half .of. the
students... who are by ‘law -

“imprisoned in the’ public
‘schools day-after day” \for 10

to 15 of their most enérgetic

years.

No wonder so - many

‘teachers aren’t teaching and_
- SO many students aren’t.

learning. The. complexities of
the real world have invaded
the artificial. world of the
classroom—an illusion. many’

‘teachers and parents have

_ taken for granted for too
long. .

. The education industry “ is ~
like a huge, helpless monster,

stumbling along by its own
weight and momentum, but
it’s already dead on the
inside because it can’t
change itself.

A radical solution is
needed to change these out
of date, unresponsibe, failing
day-care centres for young
out-patients into a wide
variety of schools for serious
learning.

in the “Year ofthe Child”
we have imposed .on our -

children the right to ‘receive

education which is free and |

compulsory.”” That.so called

“‘right”’ has: been: around for -
a long time. 1 think it’s .time
to abolish it. -

Every child could still be

free to go to school as long as,

he showed he wanted to
learn and was willing to try.
But none would be forced by
law to do so.

. This would help in three
important ways: teachers
could work with students
who were willing to learn;
parents would have to be
more responsible for their
children; the role of the
teachers would be more
clear. But it won’t let any of
us off the hook. In fact the
hook will sink in deeper and
force parents, teachers and
the government to look at
challenges we've avoided.

Teachers will still be faced
with two of the problems that
led to the current rebellion:
knowing how to be respon-
sive to the energy of
students, instead of being
frightened; knowing how to
teach students as individuals
with a variety of talents and
difficulties, instead of
expecting evetyone to work
in the same way.

Parents will be given the
tough problem of deciding
what to do with young people
who choose not to go to
school or are sent home.

Government will have’ to
support a much wider variety
of alternate schools and other
agencies that are needed to
serve the diverse interests of
these young people. This will
give youngsters other routes
to the learning they need to
survive and usc their talents.

The school system is
dying. Our choice in the 80's
is to stand by and watch our
children desert the obsolcte

beast, or to stop compulsory:

schooling and start a diver-
sity of schools of learning.

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