It’s about learning, not earning
While competition can be healthy, it is sad that childhood learning, dictated by President Bush’s ill-conceived No Child Left Behind, is being viewed as a golden road to monetary success and a way to rank one student, or school, against another.
The story, this week, out of Lake Region High School, in which an English teacher was let go because she has old school teaching methods, shows that teachers who don’t “fit in” with the new teaching methods may soon need to find new jobs. But what is most revealing about this story may be the education world’s disturbing little secret: They truly are “teaching the test.” It is no longer just a myth. It’s happening, and, what’s worse, no one seems to care.
What’s wrong with “teaching the test?” Everything. Primarily, limiting what students learn to what is on a standardized test sends the message to kids that education is a means to an end, not an end in itself. And that philosophy, promoted by national, state and local education leaders alike, may be what is ruining the love of school that most youngsters start out with but quickly lose as they approach high school. Luckily, many reignite their love of education once they move onto college where learning for the love of learning is praised.
We’re not saying teachers shouldn’t teach with tests in mind, just don’t teach with one test, like the MEAs, in mind. It sterilizes the school day and dulls students’ motivation. Tangential subjects should be encouraged; rambling classroom discussion and seemingly off-topic questions viewed as necessary to rounding out one’s education. (“We must stick to what’s on the test. Nothing else matters,” say the test-teachers.)
Students thrive when they have teachers who motivate them. And all a teacher has to do to motivate kids is to treat learning like an end unto itself, not as a means to other ends, such as higher test scores or a high-paying job. Great leaders teach people to live 100 percent now for now’s sake, not for some elusive promise of a better future. And, ironically, inspiring the love of learning leads to higher test scores, and more importantly, smarter kids who will want to continue learning at home when the school day ends.
Developing a love of learning is important. It challenges, broadens, and deepens our understanding of the world. From Calculus to Spanish, learning more about this globe and its people, beliefs, and mechanics is what satisfying living is all about. Learning should not be relegated to a mere tool to get a better job. No, learning is one of the few things in life that is a good in itself.
If this teacher in Naples was “laid off” because she had different teaching techniques, emphasizing the act of learning as an end in itself, that’s a true shame. Sure, Lake Region kids may have higher scores with someone who “teaches the test” to ensure the necessary funding, but will these kids, or any kids in Maine or America for that matter, be better off once they get out of high school? When all they’re left with is another 60 or 70 years with no one leading them with a golden carrot?
Two wrongs
Thank you to Dana Desjardins, the father of the Raymond boy assaulted by a grotesque man named Derrick Coffin who last month confessed to indecent crimes of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy. We applaud you for speaking out and letting readers know how you and your family are coping with this most depraved of human acts. Nothing in this life is worse than the awful crime Coffin committed against your son, you and your whole family, friends and community.
To you and your family and especially to your son, don’t let Mr. Coffin win. While it may seem inconceivable now, with community and family support, you will someday be able to overcome this.
And to the judge who gave this creep a mere eight years behind bars, you are part of the problem. A decent society requires judges who are willing to penalize criminals in accordance with their crime. A sexual assault against a young boy, who will forever be scarred, is inhumane and worthy of a much harsher penalty than eight years watching TV and lifting weights.
No wonder we have so many criminals out there. With penalties like these, it’s no wonder these acts of inhumanity are flourishing. What happened to just and commensurate penalties? We need Jessica’s Law, which makes 25 years in jail a reality for abusing children.
Desjardins family, you were wronged twice here. Derrick Coffin failed you, and this judge failed you. These two wrongs can be made right, however, by not giving up the good fight. Don’t give up hope. Know that you have a community in Raymond that supports you. You also have each other, which right now must feel more precious than anything.
And you have the human spirit, which believes every bad deed can be overcome.
-John Balentine, editor
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