Problems of the Modern Education System - Essay Example

? Introduction The benefits of educating a child cannot be overemphasised. Good education empowers children with skills and knowledge that enables them to undertake adult roles when they mature. According to Ward and Eden (2009), well educated persons have better opportunities for succeeding in life because they are well equipped and prepared in school to face different challenges. Currently, the dynamics of labour markets and fluctuating economies have jolted education policy makers to rethink about the curriculum with an objective of enhancing adaptability of the graduates in the labour market, which is characterised by increasing levels of unemployment. Currently, measures of ensuring that all children acquire appropriate education relevant to the prevailing conditions has become of more importance than ever before. Consequently, numerous issues have emerged in the education sector. Some of the major issues include provision of universal education to all children through polices such as Every Child Matters and educating students on global citizenship in order to improve their ability to function in a globalised world. The modern education is faced with several challenges that undermine provision of the appropriate skills and knowledge to the learners. Boyer and Hamil (2008) indentified three main challenges affecting the education sector in developed and developing world. These problems include lack of well motivated teachers, which contribute to high attrition rate, lack of adequate parental involvement in learning of their children and poor reading habits among the students in education institutions (Boyer and Hamil, 2008). These shortcomings have elicited various reactions from educational policy makers, resulting to formulation of policies aimed at addressing the problem. Teaching as a profession is demanding and characterised by immense responsibilities which the society places upon the teachers. In spite of the heavy responsibilities, Altshuler, (2003) notes that teachers are not adequately motivated to perform under such demanding environment, leading to high rate of attrition and declining interest in the profession. Various research studies have been conducted to investigate the duration of service of teachers in the profession. A study conducted by Boling and Evans (2008) in United States established that forty six percent of teachers in the country quit the profession after less than five years. This trend is more pronounced in urban areas where about half of the entire professional workforce quit the profession for other careers (Boling, C., and Evans, 2008). Another study by Boyer and Hamil (2008) established that over ninety percent of newly recruited teachers are hired to replace those who quit the profession because of other reasons except retirement. High teacher attrition has various adverse effects on education. Some of the effects include straining the available resources allocated for the education sector. Boyer and Hamil (2008) noted that schools spend considerable amounts of financial resources while searching and recruiting new teachers, a situation that drains their budgetary allocations considerably. Uradan, Solek, and Schoenfelder (2007) estimated that schools in United States spend about $ 7 billion annually in the process of recruiting, hiring and retaining teachers in the country. These financial resources could be invested in other important academic ventures, such as investing in modern technology and purchasing of other necessary teaching resources. High teacher turnover rate undermines the quality of education provided to the children. Bransford, et al (2009)argue that the trend denies the profession considerable skills, when well trained and experienced teachers leave the profession for other pursuits. Consequently students receive poor quality education, which ultimately undermines their future progress. Ward and Eden (2009) attributed the high rate of teacher attrition to working in a demoralising but demanding environment characterised by insufficient resources, isolation and role conflicts. Ward and Eden (2009) noted that these challenges are particularly daunting to newly hired teachers. Therefore, providing appropriate support to teachers is a major issue in the contemporary education sector in order to mitigate the high rate of attrition. Lack of adequate parental involvement in education of children is another formidable challenge facing the sector currently. Numerous research studies indicate a positive relationship between achievement of a child and involvement of the parent in the learning process. According to Ayers, Clarke, and Murray (2000), success of a student at all levels of schooling is enhanced by active parental participation which ensures that the guardians are well informed about their children’s progress. Various factors contribute to inadequate parental participation in the child’s learning, including poverty, lack of relevant information from the school administration about the progress of the child among other factors. The benefits of parental participation in their children’s learning has been attributed to attainment of better learning outcomes such as high academic achievement, improvement in child’s behaviour and higher graduation rates. However, it is important for the parents to maintain healthy expectations of their children performance in school because excessive parental involvement could be counterproductive to the child’s performance and character. Boyer and Hamil (2008) notes that no matter how good the parents intentions are about their children, being excessively critical could demoralise the child resulting to poor performance and development of challenging and inappropriate behaviours. According to Bransford, et al (2009), the extent of parental involvement in the child education should be compatible with the development stage of the child. Thus, involvement approach of the parent during the teenage stage while the students are developing their identity should be different from those in the early childhood stage. Uradan, Solek, and Schoenfelder (2007, p72) argues that during teenage stage, the role of the parent should be “mentoring, coaching and supporting the student rather than being a teacher, which is more appropriate during the early childhood age”. Finally, poor literacy or reading skills among the students are a major issue in the contemporary education system especially in the global context. This problem emanates from failure of the students to comprehend what they read in books and relating to the events in their daily lives and the world at large (Boling and Evans 2008). In the contemporary society, Oxfam (2008) emphasises on the importance of acquiring relevant skills and knowledge to address a wide range of controversial issues common in the present globalised world. All education stakeholders, including parents and teachers have major role of ensuring that children acquire the necessary skills. Some of the important skills that children should acquire in educational institutions to enhance their competence in the world include analytical and information processing skills, creative thinking, inquisitiveness, judgemental skills and the ability to evaluate and analyse facts and come up with a pragmatic explanation or conclusion (Young, 2002). Tuomi, et al (2008) define education for global citizenship as learning activities intended to promote individual and communal responsibility in the world through instilling appropriate ethics established on respect and fairness for human rights and other issues. Education for global citizenship involves building the capacity of a learners to interact within the national and international boundaries, promoting multicultural understanding and the ability to act as a media critical citizens. In the contemporary education system, education for global citizenship enables learners across the world to comprehend and appreciate the disparities of diverse cultures and make conscious efforts of promoting global understanding and development (Tuomi, et al 2008). Education for global citizenship has elicited intense political debates in the developed world. The issue is informed by various psychological and educational theories that utilise diverse participatory teaching and learning methodologies. According to Oxfam (2008), education for global citizenship provides the learners with opportunities for absorbing new information and judging the validity of the information through critical analysis. In addition, the education for global citizenship provides the learners with an ideal process through which they can synthesise the information by comparing and reflecting it with their own understanding. This process empowers the learners with the ability to make their own conclusions and make sound judgment (Oxfam 2008). In a contemporary world replete with numerous controversial issues, education for global citizenship empowers the learners with the capacity to take proactive measures about the contentious matters in the world. Education for global citizenship is informed by various theories, including Piaget cognitive development theory. This theory is founded on the principles that students consistently reconstruct their individual understanding of a given event or object by engaging actively with the prevailing environment until they acquire their own mature understanding (Dowling, 2010). According to Geake and Cooper (2003), learners have an inherent desire to explore their values and develop their own individual skills. Thus, exposing them to global issues provides them with an opportunity to develop their knowledge about various contentious issues around the world. Consequently, the learners develop their individual approaches of addressing and solving the problems. Young (2002) emphasises on the importance of introducing controversial issues in education curriculum as an effective technique of promoting acquisition of knowledge to enable the learner become a globalised citizen. According to Young (2002), controversial issues are characterised by high sensitivity and have profound influence on an individual’s moral, political and social standing. Therefore, they generate intense feelings that challenge or provoke a person’s beliefs and values. Contemporary education system is characterised by various contentious issues, including indiscipline in schools, challenging behaviour, religious intolerance, political interference, and diverse values among others. Similarly, the society, outside the confines of the education institutions is plagued by various environmental, social and economic challenges, which directly or indirectly affect its wellbeing. Providing the learners with opportunities of discussing these issues contributes to development of their own understanding about the issues, which enhances their capacity to solve and apply diverse approaches in addressing them. Proponents of education for global citizenship contend that providing the students with opportunities of debating and discussing challenging global issues promote development of various skills including critical thinking, and the ability to question various aspects. Other skills acquired in the process include information processing, reasoning and creative thinking abilities. Moreover, presenting challenging issues encourage the learners to develop evaluation skills. According to Tuomi et al (2008), information processing skills empowers the learners with the ability to collect, categorise, sequence and establish various similarities and differences on a given issue. Eventually, the students are able to establish important relationships between various aspects of the presented problem in the controversial issue. Reasoning skills empowers the learners with the ability to validate their different ideas and position on a presented issue. The ability to reason is acquired in the process of drawing evidence from various sources to support an opinion and through the application of suitable language to elaborate and demonstrate ideas. Ward and Eden (2009) argue that inquiry skills are enhanced in the process when learners ask questions relevant to the issue. Consequently students are able to device a plan and design an appropriate research study that investigates the presented issue with an objective of establishing the facts. Therefore, the major elements of education on global citizenship is to promote development of appropriate knowledge, skills, values and attitudes of the learners in order to enhance their capacity of dealing with the diverse contentious issues in the local and international levels (Oxfam 2008). Provision of universal education to all children in the world is one of the fundamental components of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Ward and Eden, 2009). This initiative is informed by the recognition of the critical role that an academically empowered society plays in poverty eradication and promotion of social economic development and social justice in the community. However, attainment of universal education is undermined by inherent social, economic and environmental factors, which interfere with the student’s ability to pursue and achieve the established academic goals. Thus, attainment of the universal education depends on the manner in which the effects of these impediments are addressed and mitigated in the society. From a psychological point of view, the environment that a child grows in plays a major role in influencing behaviour and the subsequent achievement in life (Ediger, 2008). Policies to ensure provision of universal education such as Every Child Matters have been formulated to establish an ideal environment that fosters healthy physical and psychological development of children. The environment includes the physical and social surroundings. Behavioural theory expounds on the critical role that the environment plays in influencing the behaviour and subsequent development of the child in the society. From the perspective of behavioural theory, the character or behaviour portrayed by a person is a reaction to the applied stimuli (Ayers, Clarke, and Murray 2000). Therefore, altering the environment plays a major role in influencing and reinforcing the behaviour of children. In relation to education achievement of children, behavioural theory emphasises on the importance of establishing the underlying factors that motivate development of a particular behaviour using positive and negative reinforcement. DfE (2007) established five important elements that children and the youth need to promote achievement and success in education and life. They include health, safety and providing opportunities for developing their skills. The fourth necessity is providing them with opportunities of making positive contributions in the society and finally promoting their economic development (DfE, 2007). According to DfE (2007), children and the youth require provision of necessary requirements that promote physical and mental health. These include good nutrition and availability of quality medical care in addition to a clean environment. Providing safe and secure environment that protects children from harm and neglect is also an important necessity. A study conducted by Dowling (2010) established that children from low income backgrounds are at the highest risks of lacking these fundamental needs. Providing these essentials in order to ensure the success of universal education is one of the major issues facing the education sector today. Various proposals have been developed in different policies to address the issue. DfE (2007) indentified four pragmatic approaches that would ensure the needs of all children are met in the society in order to enhance their success in education. The first approach is providing support to the needy parents and guardians in order to enhance their parenting skills. This could be achieved through various approaches including provision of universal services such as medical care services, public schools, offering specialised support to vulnerable guardians and parents in addition to taking legal actions against carers who violate the fundamental rights of children (DfE, 2007). The second approach is creating mechanisms for early identification of vulnerable children in order to initiate appropriate intervention measures before they succumb. This approach is suitable for children with special medical needs and those living in insecure conditions characterised by lack of family love and security (DfE, 2007). To ensure early identification of such children, it is important to establish mechanisms that promote quick sharing of information in the society especially among stakeholders responsible for child welfare and education. Altshuler (2003) recommends the establishment of common assessment criteria that identifies specific needs of the vulnerable children and recruitment of professionals specialised in children affairs in the society. The third approach entails formulation of child centred policies that promote accountability to the needs of the children in the society. This requires undertaking radical reforms on the existing structures in order to create more proactive and child sensitive environment for children and the youth (DfE, 2007). Finally, social institutions responsible for the welfare of children including schools require reforms, with the objective of improving the working conditions and motivation of the workforce (DfE, 2007). References Altshuler, S.(2003). From barriers to successful collaboration: Public school and child welfare working together. Social Work, 48(1): 52-63. Ayers, H., Clarke, D., and Murray, A.(2000). Perspectives on behaviour: A practical guide to effective interventions for teachers. 2nd ed. London: David Fulton Publishers. Boling, C., and Evans, W.(2008). Reading success in the secondary classroom. Preventing School Failure,52(2):58-65 Boyer, A., and Hamil, B.(2008). Problems facing American education. Focus on Colleges, Universities and Schools, 2(1): pp 1-9 Bransford, J., et al.(2009). The role of research in educational improvement. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. DfE.(2007). Every child matters. Retrieved on 12 May 2012 fromhttp://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/EveryChildMatters.pdf Dowling, M.(2010). Young children personal, social and emotional development. London: Sage Ediger, M.(2008). Psychology of parental involvement in reading. Reading Improvement, 45(1):46-55. Geake, J., and Cooper, P.(2003). Cognitive neuroscience: Implications for education? Westminster Studies in Education, 26: 8-19. Oxfam. (2008). Education for global citizenship: Teaching controversial issues. Retrieved on May 13, 2012 from http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/teachersupport/cpd/controversial/files/teaching_contr oversial_issues.pdf Tuomi, M., et al.(2008). Education for world citizenship: Preparing students to be agents of social change. Retrieved on 14 May 2012 from http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/fms/MRSite/Research/cice/pubs/citizenship/citizenship- 06.pdf Young, M.(2002). Global citizenship: The handbook for primary teaching. London: Chris Kington Publishing. Uradan, T., Solek, M., and Schoenfelder, E.(2007). Students’ perceptions of family influences on their academic motivation: A qualitative analysis. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 22(1):7-23. Ward, S., and Eden, C.(2009). Key issues in education policy. New York: Sage Publishing. Read More