My thoughts on Education

Well my son is now 2 and a half and has a bit to go before he is school age and it has caused me to look back at my own education and wonder where education might go or need to go in the future. I had a few setbacks here and there in my education some due to my own fault and others by no fault of my own due to changing in circumstances. I have emerged a relatively well educated individual with a bachelors degree and thoughts of going on for a Masters and PhD.

Though as I look back I see a few flaws that exist in the school system, at least in the part of the US I live in, perhaps all of the US. What I find is that teachers are underpaid and though attempts are made they are also not held accountable for the quality of education that they give. This is in no means meant to slight teachers as they have taken upon themselves this great task of teaching the youth of our world and shaping the future but to point out flaws in the current system. Were teachers better paid and education better funded I believe there would be greater accountability and the learning of our nations youth would benefit greatly.

In the past the school year (especially in rural areas) served to educate the children while having them out of classes for the important seasons where farm work needed to be done. This is no longer the case in our society (for the most part) and I believe that the school year should either be lengthened or in order to save funds in climates that get rather cold have their breaks in the winter in order to save on heating bills and the consumption of more fossil fuels to heat the schools.

I also think it would be good to extend the school day so that each school day, like a typical workday is 8 hours long with 2 short breaks and an half-hour to full hour lunch break. I believe that if this happened it would help to ready our children (especially of high school age) for the workforce. I also believe that by splitting days into different subjects as we do we may be doing a disservice. I believe each day should be set aside to teach one subject with breaks giving a more intensive immersion into the subject matter allowing for a deeper understanding and specialization by teachers so that they aren't forced to go all over the place in one given day (especially on the grade school level) and that in each day 2 hours one in the morning and one in the afternoon should be given to physical education instead of making it a "separate class". Each day might serve best being started with physical education to get the blood pumping and mind working, and to help get rid of the wiggly feelings students often feel in school and ended with the same so that they stay focused and go home calmer.

Again these are only my own personal thoughts and ideas on the subject, some may love them, others may hate them but in the end I do think we need to ponder what will best serve our children. This may not be it, or it may I am no expert but I really think its something we should think about.

Though I do Definitely Think that we need to pay our teachers more and fund the education of our children fully as they are the future not only of our nation but of our world.