A Shift In Education

                Schools: the primary institutions for educating, learning, and preparing children for their futures, have changed a great deal over the years, both in purpose and the information taught. When school was first instituted, its main goal was to prepare children for work in factories or similar institutions. This intent can still be seen in every school, for example; there is seven to eight hour school day starting at seven or eight depending on schedules, five minute passing times, bells signaling students to move from one place to another, and so on and so forth. As time progressed, people started to complain. Early reformers like Jane Addams wanted to keep the schools with a production base in order to help immigrants and the poor adapt to society’s harsh conditions. People like John Dewey however; thought teaching more than the three R’s (reading, writing, and arithmetic,) would be more beneficial to students in the socially changing economy. He wanted classes to be taught that would help the students learn new skills and actual things they would need when they got out of school.

            Today, there has been yet another shift of the way children are being taught and what they are being prepared for. They are not learning skills that will prepare them to work in factories; rather, they are skills that will prepare them to get into college. This would normally be a good thing because it encourages students to go to college and think that they are eligible to. It is so enforced however that everything that students work for is preparing for tests like the ACT, SAT, PLAN, PSAT, etc. and working to get the best grades so that they can get into their college of choice. The grades don’t always come from hard work either; some students will sometimes take easier classes where it is easy to get a good grade versus harder classes that they won’t get as good of a grade. (326)