Education has been a hot issue in our country for decades. If you ask around, most would agree our schools are in bad shape and the whole educational system needs revamped. But if you ask for solutions, the silence is deafening.
As a licensed teacher, I’ve taught in public, private and alternative schools. I’ve witnessed many schedules, procedures and school formats, witnessed ideas in education that didn’t work, and some great ideas that did. The following, I believe, are the three greatest – and most overlooked – ideas in education today:
1. Year-round schooling
Ah, summer vacation. Though most attribute everyone’s favorite part of the school year to early American agricultural communities, there are actually several theories to the origin of summer vacation.
Regardless, this is slowly changing. EducationBug states that in the 2006-2007 school year there were 2,764 public schools using a year-round schedule.
Opponents of year-round schooling will say it robs kids of their childhood, families need to bond through summer vacations, and kids need downtime to refresh their minds. This ideal, however, is not the reality for many. Not every family can afford a vacation, many kids are left home alone each summer while their parents work, and many idle kids either become bored or get into trouble.
A year-round school schedule allows for all the benefits of a vacation through many extended breaks throughout the year (weeks-long breaks each season). However, students remain in school throughout much of the summer months. This keeps students focused while in session, and prepares students for the ” real world” (where it’s rare to have extended breaks).
2. Team-teaching
Teachers often become harried with jam-packed schedules, little planning time, too many students, and heaps of other duties and responsibilities. As a teacher, team-teaching is one of the greatest overlooked ideas I’d love to take part in.
Team-teaching alleviates teacher burnout while benefiting the students. Multiple teachers work together in a classroom, supporting each other, developing curriculum, engaging in a flow of ideas, and taking turns teaching material to students.
Unfortunately, the cost of team-teaching means paying more teachers, which means it will most likely stay one of the greatest, unused ideas in education.
3. Block scheduling
Block scheduling means transitioning into a schedule in which students take three or four longer classes a day (blocks), rather than eight short classes. To earn the same number of credits, students switch classes at semesters or trimesters.
Under this idea, teachers and students delve more deeply into subjects, with more time to use hands-on learning outside of a lecture. According to a resource on block scheduling, students in block schedules become more focused and excited about school, while attendance rates significantly improve.
As a teacher, I get excited about block scheduling because I know how much time is wasted in a classroom. In my art room, by the time I review, demonstrate and distribute materials, students have about twenty minutes to work before they need to clean up.
The transition to block scheduling may be challenging to teachers used to short classes, since they must learn to effectively use a greater amount of classroom time. However, block scheduling is one of the greatest ideas in education today.
Granted, there are disadvantages to each of these three overlooked ideas, and they’re certainly not perfect. I believe, however, that their benefits greatly outweigh the drawbacks.
Perhaps if more school districts were willing to break away from the norm and try some of these great ideas, teachers and students could see significant improvement in the classroom. Until they’re willing to try something different, student achievement (or lack of) is bound to stay the same.
Sources:
– Dave Vawter, Block Scheduling Research
– Year Round School Statistics, EducationBug
– Joe Mathews, A Lesson in the Value of Summer Education, Los Angeles Times