Definition Essay
Brynlee Faulkner
English 101
How We Learn
November 13, 2017
Individualization of Learning
Author James S. Miller says, “We are much more likely today to think of educational environment as diverse” (230). Miller, the author of “Scenes and Un-Scenes: Looking at Learning,” believes American education no longer exclusively adheres to the traditional education system. He also states that the innate reason for school is to teach students to be “truly educated”; all schools strive to have perfectly educated children but have failed to perfect the school system itself (328-332). Education, with few exceptions, remains steadfast in traditional learning. Since the Industrial Age, schools have taught the three Rs: reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic; however, 21st-century learning has evolved beyond these three subjects. 21st-century earning comprises students’ ability to comprehend, understand beyond common rationale, and show progress in maturity.
Progressive schools allow students to comprehend materials beyond a traditional regurgitation of information. District 7 Representative Rusty Black eloquently states that “You don’t learn much crap in high school you need.” Black, referring to the traditional American system of education, believes high school teaches students nothing valuable; for example, few Americans will use calculus in their future careers and yet calculus remains in many high-school curriculums. However, several school districts incorporated personalized focuses into high school educational systems; for instance, Kansas City’s Park Hill School District added the LEAD Innovation Studio to its district as an alternative to the traditional high school experience. LEAD works as a project-based school by creating real-world applications to the high-school curriculum to prepare students for their future careers. Dr. Ryan Stanley, LEAD’s principal, believes students learn the most from project-based learning (PBL) because pbl individualizes school for each student. Project-based learning forces students to comprehend the curriculum and apply their knowledge to real-life situations. Pbl allows students to comprehend material rather than the traditional memorizing and forgetting of material; therefore, students at LEAD learn. To give numerical values to learning, both LEAD and traditional schools use grading systems, although the two systems vary. LEAD’s teachers grade based on mastery of content rather than the traditional method of memorizing, testing, and forgetting information covered in class. Dr. Stanley says, “ [LEAD does not] believe in failure. It’s a matter of ‘[Has the student] mastered that material and content yet?’”; as a result, LEAD uses an A, B, C, and incomplete grading rubric as opposed to the traditional A, B, C, D, and F (Stanley). LEAD’s rubric forces students to show the comprehension and mastery of a skill to continue with other projects. LEAD Innovation Studio’s project-based learning causes students to learn via comprehension of materials; however, students also learn by their cognitive ingenuity.
Modern systems of education allow students to hone their creativity in the classroom setting, starting in the early stages of academic development. Dr. Debra Slaughter, the principal of Liberty Oaks Elementary School in Liberty, Missouri, explains that the 4Cs prepare students for the future: “I think anytime you give students the 4Cs [communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity], then we are preparing them for the future…” Particularly, Dr. Slaughter believes creativity in the classroom allows students learn enjoyably; as a result, students understand the curriculum because they independently comprehend materials (Slaughter). I first used creativity academically in the school-sponsored program WINGS. WINGS teaches gifted students from second to seventh grade to think critically and creatively. I learned in WINGS because I was allowed academic liberties in the third grade that most students do not experience until high school. WINGS students solved “Stories with Holes.” These stories lacked an essential clue to a riddle. For example, “Stories with Holes" states, “The man was afraid to go home because the man with the mask was there. [The] answer: The man with the mask was a catcher in a baseball team. The other man was a base runner” (“Stories with Holes”) WINGs students’ brains adapted to difficult challenges like “Stories with Holes” that made us think critically and creatively. WING’s creative and critical process allowed me to explore my creativity at a young age, which I, in turn, learned and comprehended; As well as creative thinking learned in WINGS, maturity also defines learning.
Untraditional schools promote maturity by requiring students to be accountable for their own success. Academic self-accountability requires a “why”; Dr. Brian Van Batavia, the principal of Maple Park Middle School in the North Kansas City School District, explains this concept. He believes the reasoning behind a student wanting to make good grades is more important than the grade itself. Students must find their own reasoning for good grades (Van Batavia). Representative Black explains this concept by stating, “I see student achievement as internal.” A student’s maturity shows his ability to find internal motivation for good grades, whether the motivation be self-disappointment or not receiving a scholarship due to inferior grades. Students must be mature in order to effectively decide where to focus their motivation in order to learn.
James S. Miller alludes in his essay “Scenes and Un-Scenes: Looking at Learning” that education has evolved from its primitive state that reigned from Industrial Age until the late 20th century (328-332). This traditional style of school devalues education because students do not learn. Learning is imperative for students to succeed both in school and in their future careers. Schools still want students to be “truly educated,” but less universally-sanctioned schools have altered the meaning of learning (Miller 328). Modern systems of education teach students valuable information applicable to the real world. Modern learning revolves around cognizance, creativity, and cultivation.
Works Cited
Black, Rusty. Personal Interview. 3 Nov. 2017
Miller, James S. “Scenes and Un-Scenes.” Acting out Culture, 3rd ed., Bedford/St. Martins, 2015, pp. 328–333.
Slaughter, Debra. Google Hangouts Interview. 2 Nov. 2017.
Stanley, Ryan. Google Hangouts Interview. 30 Oct, 2017.
“Stories with Holes.” Stories with Holes, Girl Scout Troop 631, www.angelfire.com/amiga/gstroop631/holes.html.