Education should adopt naturalism pratices
In the United States, a country where individualism is emphasized, a main objective of public education is to act as an institution that molds young individuals into positive members of American society. Currently, the public education system attempts to accomplish this and other goals through standardized testing.
One could say this is attempt misses the intended mark. If we wish for public schools to create positive members of society, many different personalities must be encouraged; standardized testing does not encourage different personalities.
Therefore, the public education system should look into replacing standardized testing. (Standardized testing has merit in its practicality. The following suggestion is not practical, but while practicality is to be considered to an extent, it should not be what holds public school back.) Also, the public education system should look into dropping many other practices originating from the general concept of standards, however impractical. Finally, what should replace these practices are practices of the opposite end of the spectrum: those based in the education philosophy known as naturalism.
In a hypothetical scenario where naturalism and its practices are the base for the public education system, education would theoretically be an institution that helps every individual discover who he or she is. The role of the teacher is to objectively lead the student to this self-discovery through improvised lessons not based on strict curriculum, but through what educational subjects the individual finds interest in.
The end result might be a better result in the objective of creating positive members of society because individuals are allowed to follow their interests instead of what he or she is told they should follow.
Speaking of such (and moving on the topic of how the change to a naturalist education system would positively change one’s personal life), one might find it unfortunate that the lifestyles which the public education system seems to praise and regard as successful are but few kinds (for example, a life in the fields of medicine or engineering). Why exaggerate any one subject’s importance at the expense of others?
An education system based on naturalism would not impose an attractive lifestyle in the minds of individuals. Instead, it would allow them to discover what could be an attractive lifestyle for them. A good way to start the application of this ideal would be to get rid of standardized testing.
I believe the greatest purpose of education is to provide individuals with the knowledge required to find one’s self. What the vast majority may believe is good, one may intuitively feel is bad. In order to live in accordance with one’s intuitive morals, and therefore one’s self, one needs to be educated on the workings behind his morals. In sum, education allows an individual to liberate him or herself from society’s imposition.
The role of the teacher is to help students discover themselves. In this way, the teacher should hope to have an impact on each student. The impact should strictly be in regards to helping each student better understand what he or she is trying to learn.
Having an impact by way of imposing beliefs of any kind that are not applicable to the above proposition would be to delude the student’s clarity of his or her self.
The role of the student should be directed by one objective: to actively pursue matters he finds of interest. A student who freely pursues his or her own inquiries would, ideally, confidently advance in the direction of his or her dreams and to live the life which he or she has imagined.
In theory, this results in much more effective learning. It would fulfill one of the main goals of education: become an individual who can be productive for today’s society.