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Those
Magical School Years:
The Pluses And Minuses Of The Education System
From Poleznaya Gazeta (The Useful Newspaper)
August 30, 2002
By Zina Greenschuk
Education in [American] high schools is built on a model familiar
to us from the final years of the [Russian] college system. Each
student must take and pass a number of specific required disciplines.
Most often its math (algebra and geometry), physics and chemistry,
biology, history. The students themselves choose all other disciplines.
Hence there is no such thing as a class, [of students] per se. Different
students will appear in the roster of a math class than that of
a photo design class. So what do we get? On the one hand, complete
freedom for creativity: if its computers that Im into
I go to computer classes, if not perhaps its
photography or the journalistic craft. In other words, the adolescent
himself is able to choose an area of specialization. On the other
hand, at this age not all are ready to make such a choice. Children,
of course, are only too glad. Why not? they get off from
having to struggle in their least favorite classes.
Its the parents who are complaining. They see that the so-called
required "main subjects" do not provide a level of knowledge
for even a basic understanding of subjects. For instance, chemistry
is taught for one year, and begins from zero at that, without an
explanation of the laws of physics on which it is built. How an
upper classman can understand what a valence is without first learning
the structure of atoms is a mystery to me! Organic chemistry is
taught in high schools in the curriculum of biology, significantly
earlier than the course on non-organic chemistry. How to explain
the relationships between elements in organic chemistry without
the knowledge of basic non-organic reactions is also hard to imagine.
Ultimately, the child fails to see the point of it all without the
proper knowledge base. The task of the above approach is to give
an elementary sketch of a discipline without a further and deeper
study. The philosophy is: those who are interested will study the
subject later, in a college or university. It reminds me of a pencil
sketch made just in case I will feel like finishing a painting later.
Parents complain over and over about the same thing: the absence
of systematic approach. There is no continuous transition from the
simple to the more difficult the material that has been covered
is done with forever there is no occasional repetition to
solidify the material. What we get is a kind of explanation-less
jumping around. Take Newtons laws of physics, which are taught
as fact within the curriculum which nonetheless does not clarify
the context of their discovery. Tenth graders physics exams
demand knowledge of three difficult topics optics, electricity
and thermodynamics to be learned in one sitting, over one
weekend.
Education is built upon the idea of freedom of creativity from
both sides. The teachers have no more of a unified system (of teachers
manuals, and other aides) than the students. Often, theres
also no single textbook. It is up to the teacher to select the material
from which to teach the class. And heres where the problem
arises. If a teacher is ill, the substitute can teach the material
using a different text book. The teachers are not in touch with
each other. Of course, you can just forget the occasional repetition
to solidify anything! There are no guides, no instructions, so one
must, as they say, feel ones way in the dark when preparing
material to be taught. Moreover, since each teacher prepares the
curriculum from his or her own material, the level of competence
in one class may differ from another class taught by a different
teacher.
The students themselves must prepare an endless amount of projects
and speeches in different subjects. The upper class students learn
to analyze information that they must also find and systematize
themselves. In addition to this, they must sometimes come up with
original ideas for homework and demonstrate them as such, a task
which undoubtedly allows children not only to learn to handle materials,
but also to work creatively.
One cannot ignore the relationship between teachers and children.
That teachers and students should go on a trip that might last even
several days is unheard of. Im not saying that teachers who
love their students dont exist, but so far I havent
encountered any.
And all of this is only the tip of the iceberg of the many problems
which make up the pluses and minuses of high school education. But
you have to agree, this is something to think about.
Translated from Russian by Katya Kumkova-Wolpert
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