Major Challenges of Education System - Essay Example

Education Affiliation Education refers to a form of learning where knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits of individuals are transmitted from one generation to the next using different methods such as storytelling, discussion, teaching, and research. Education involves the study of human enterprise over time and space. For effective learning to take place the curriculum that is used should cater for all the needs of the learners from the time they start schooling up to the time they are ready to join the job market. This essay will examine the education system, the curriculum and the challenges facing the education system. The curriculum is the educational processes that occur from the time one starts school up to the time of completion. It consists of planned sequence of instructions in terms of the school’s instructional goals. A good curriculum should not only affect day-to-day school practice but also ensure that whatever children and youth study would relate directly to their ability to function in their future adult roles. The curriculum embodies what is to be taught, and teaching refers to those actions that a teacher takes in order to implement the curriculum. The curriculum is based on the basic building blocks that are called subjects. For most of the nineteenth century, the curriculum as the object of professional concern in the United States consisted largely of discussion of the benefits presumably derived from the subjects, including, here and there, some disagreement as to the respective value of the subjects to be taught (kliebard, 2002). A curriculum is a useful device for creating and maintaining bureaucratic control. In 1950s, many countries were influenced by Anglo-American curriculum and educational theory; they accepted the assumptions of behaviorism. These assumptions included the analysis of subjects into concrete objectives for teaching purposes (Spring, 2012). A number of curriculum projects, in particular in science and mathematics, were developed by subject specialists most of which focused on subject content rather than pedagogy. In 1980s, the curriculum became more child-centered, and constructivism began to replace behaviorism as the underpinning learning theory. Active learning provides the most appropriate vehicle for the attainment of the types of objectives relevant to civic, social and political education, and for the consequent development of active citizens. The current situation in United States allows the state and national governments distribute power over public education amongst themselves, with states exercising most of the control. Although education is not mentioned in the Constitution of the United States, the federal government exercises its control through the U.S Department of Education. In most of the States there is already a system of gradation in the schools from the lowest primary schools into the colleges, constituting a ladder upon the rungs of which the city boy may mount from the gutter of degradation to the pinnacles of usefulness and honor (Kliebard, 2002). In the United States, the educational governance structure embraces political units ranging from the U.S Congress and U.S. Department of Education to state governments to local school districts. In addition, there are several professional, business, political, special interest, and other organizations trying to influence what is taught in schools, how it is taught, and how much it will cost (Spring, 2013). The curriculum can aim to reproduce society and educate children to fit in as good citizens, or it could take a more important outlook and aim to prepare children to make changes as citizens and thus transform the society. In the twenty-first century, an American education is characterized by the virtual isolation of the design of the formal curriculum from its execution in the classroom. In America, private schools have freedom to determine their curriculum and staffing policies. The curricula offered vary considerably from district to district. The politicians argue that there is a need for standardization of the curricula that will facilitate standardized testing of all learners. The educational system in America has undergone various changes. The changes include the age stratification that requires children to be grouped according to like achievements and expectations; ensemble teaching is supported, with a corresponding decline in teaching as monitoring of individual recitations from textbooks. Teachers are also given longer-term contracts so that continuity in the curriculum can be fostered from one term to the next. Teachers are also obligated to keep records of student progress in the event of a change of teachers (Kliebard, 2002). The objective of the structure of the curriculum has only been strengthened by the removal of bureaucratic power and control aided by traditional intellectual curriculum traditions closer to the professional and private identity of the teacher. The internet give students a chance for learning, constructive entertainment, and general personal growth. On the other hand there are several risks that students face while using the internet. These challenges include cyber bullying; some blogs also give comments that offend others. The administration defines cyberbullying to consist of constitutionally protected speech that includes harsh criticism of an individual. The U.S senate has put in place restrictions on speech aimed at cyber bullying and harassment of people. There are several reasons for teacher dissatisfaction some of them include, lack of planning time, tedious paper and clerical work, out of touch and autocratic administration, disruptive and unmotivated students, several non teaching activities such as faculty meetings and time wasting workshops, un-cooperative parents, lack of autonomy to prescribe curriculum, feelings of failure, and low occupational prestige ( Spring, 2011). A better understanding of these dissatisfactions is important since it will enable the administration to reduce them hence enhancing teacher satisfaction. Teacher’s job satisfaction is important to the education system because it relates to school effectiveness, student learning and teacher retention, and a quality school environment. The level of teacher’s job satisfaction understandably affects the quality of their work and raising teacher morale not only raises job satisfaction but also creates a positive atmosphere for students. There are various organizations which have been formed to address the challenges that face teachers while they perform their duties. These include National Education Association and the American Federation of teachers; these organizations seek to improve their members’ salaries and working conditions through collective bargaining process and political action at the national, state, and local levels. In 1970s, teacher organizations succeeded to make impressive steps in the attainment of non-compensation items. In 1980, most of the bargaining units had included in their contracts provisions regulating the length of the school day, allowing teachers to respond formally to administrators’ evaluations, permitting teachers to exclude disruptive students from their classrooms (Spring, 2011). Collective bargaining that is led by teacher organizations is typically associated with the attainment of concrete welfare benefits such as higher salaries enough fringe benefits and the working conditions to be better. On the other hand teacher unions normally argue that a strong contract is also a route to greater professionalism for their members. The organizations emphasizes that economic security and protection of teacher rights not only improve teachers’ status, but also ensure that teachers exert greater control over the way schools are organized and the kind of instruction delivered to students. Global education is the world worldwide discussions, processes, and institutions affecting local education practices and policies. There is a constant dynamic of interaction: global ideas about school practices interact with local school systems while, through mutual exchanges, both the local and the global are changed (Spring, 2014). This means that Nations continue to control their school systems independently while being influenced by this structure of global education. There are multinational education corporations and schools. Different governments and professionals engage in global discussions about school policies. Globalization of education is considered as an intertwined set of global processes affecting education, such as worldwide discourses on human capital, economic development, and multiculturalism; intergovernmental organizations; and multinational corporations. Formal education the most commonly found institution and most commonly shared experience of all in the contemporary world. However, globalization of education does not mean that all schools are the same as indicated by studies of differences between the local and the global (Spring, 2014). There is development of shadow education whereby students with difficulties in individual subjects are put under additional tuition that is offered outside the mainstream education system. Education business has influenced school politics in a quest for profits that are in part depended on government outlays for textbooks, software, equipment, tutoring services, and charter schools. Education has become a big business, there is politics of publishing and political influences on textbooks; for-profit and franchised educational services; and educational management companies. The education system has undergone a number of changes, and the curriculum is changing to meet the needs of humanity. References Kliebard, H. M. (2002). Changing course: American curriculum reform in the 20th century (Vol. 8). Teachers College Press. Spring, J. (2014). Globalization of Education: An Introduction: An Introduction. Routledge. Spring, J. H. (2012). American education. New York: McGraw-Hill Read More