Here is an excerpt from Kerry Beck's "Leadership Education - Raising Leaders, Not Followers":
I was shocked to discover that most American children receive an Education Designed for the Poor...whether public school, private school or even homeschoolers!
That's right, most homeschool families and private schools provide an education historically designed for the poor. This type of education has also been called Conveyor Belt Education or Education from a Factory School...
What Do I Mean By Conveyor Belt Education?
Conveyor Belt Education is provided by the government. Public education prepares everyone for a job, any job, by teaching them what to think. Public education historically existed to teach the poor so they could land a job. The poor had no other option but public education.
The rich hired a tutor for their children and provided them an education to lead their communities into the future. The middle class sent their children sent to private academies that used the strategies of the tutors with a small group of children. The poor had to settle for an education provided by the government.
Today, American children receive only a public education, set up for poor people to get a job. Their education is set up like a factory: everyone in the class gets the same education at the same age from the same textbooks, and they are tested the same and graded based upon the same scale regardless of their individual talents, goals, interests, personal mission. Conformity is the name of the game in public education.
I hope you'll take time to read the entire article. It is very enlightening! ~~ Celeste ~~
That was very interesting. I'm grateful for special teachers who go beyond and teach more than the normal public education, looking at each individual student (if the school allows them to!). I am also glad there are charter schools available here. Ya know, if kids are NOT conforming to their teacher's or school's way of thinking, they receive a label and some even get put on medication to try and conform.... Then as parents if we try and fight it we are just a menace and need "to try to get along" with the teacher/principal.... yea, don't get me started....
ReplyDeleteI agree - the special teachers that are out there are rare and the school districts seem to hinder their efforts rather than reward them. We can still raise children who are leaders (children who think for themselves rather than follow the crowd) and examples to their peers regardless of the school they attend, but we do seem to be fighting an uphill battle. I feel an obligation to "stir the pot", as some have called it, in order to bring about change. Nothing will change if we stand back and don't fight it.
ReplyDeleteMy thinking is that the current public school system is broken, especially here in Arizona.
I look forward to more comments on this subject. I plan on posting 2 more parts on the subject of 'Leadership Education'.
okay seriously, i've kinda noticed this. the whole thinking for yourself thing goes right along... public schools do a lot of fundraising. my girl will come home with this idea stuck in her head that we HAVE to sell the item. I'll ask her why and she doesn't know. she just knows she has to sell it. I don't do the whole selling junk game - i'd rather just give money to the school straigh up. anyway though, it bugs me that they are so clever with these things that my little one is 'brainwashed' so to say into thinking she has to sell stuff. CRAZY!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Heidi - I hated fundraising. They have a big pep rally to get the kids all geared up to sell, sell, sell. They introduce them to the "prizes" they can win and the class parties that will happen for the class that sells the most. It is complete brainwashing of children that are too young to logically understand what is happening to them.
ReplyDeleteI will say this - public schools, which includes charter schools, are all about MONEY. When I worked at Simonton, all I heard about was money. Nothing was said about what was best for the students. It was always about testing to get the money. "How can we get higher AIMS scores so we get ALL of our funding?" I sat in meetings that were supposed to be about students and turned into discussions about getting more money.
This is one of the major reasons I feel that the public school system is broken.
One time the kids came home from a fundraising assembly. I'd have to sell "Only xx amount and I'd get a jumprope or waterbottle or whatever!" I took them down to the store and let them pick a jump rope or whatever they wanted. For less than $5 the kids got what they just "couldn't live without" and I didn't have two weeks of pressure to sell things that were overpriced. In TN, the school had one big fundraiser at the end of the year and they made enough money for the entire year. That was WONDERFUL!! They also had "Chuck E Cheese" nights, where we got free tokens for goign to the school, but the school made a lot of money from those who bought pizzas... they seem to know what they are doing over there. AZ schools are sooo much different........
ReplyDeleteI think if AZ schools still had corporal punishment (Like the school we went to in TN had) the kids would learn more and teachers would have more control in the classes. There was so much respect in those classrooms with "Yes Ma'am" and "No sir" expected (required!). I think that is one major reason the kids struggled so much at the public school. There was no control in the classrooms, bullying allowed (despite what the handbook claimed) and there was not a learning atmosphere like they were used to. The charter school they go to reflects more of the TN school's values.
ReplyDeleteIf the principals and other higher up respected the kids more... than maybe things would be a lot different, too.
ReplyDeleteGreat - now you've got me started...
I'm glad I "got you started" and you are sharing your comments! I wish more parents would be like you lottakidsinc. I agree that schools in AZ are probably the worst in the US. I know there are many choices for charters here, some great and some OK and some not so good at all. I personally chose an online charter school for Marly, public high school for Sam, and homeschool for Chris. Each child has different needs and personal goals, so they each have different education needs. Yet even though some of my children are taught or graded by others, I still feel that all of my children are taught by ME first and foremost. I want my children to think for themselves and be of leadership quality and not following the crowd. The "crowd" is just too scary.
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