Will Richardson explain what is the problem in the current education. Also, he states what students desire through their education.
This topic was really interesting to me. When I was in high school in Japan, I just followed the teachers instructs to enter high level and famous public university. We have two huge exams that measure students’ knowledge. The exams’ days are big event over Japan. All high school students take a same exam at a same time on a same day. Depending on the scores, the students can get “tickets” to take the next exam that each university or each department at college prepares for the applicants. During the last two years at high school, students in Japan need to keep studying hard and put knowledge and answers to do successfully on the exams, so that they can proceed to the next step of education. Educators’ goals are also to enhance students’ skills and knowledge by teaching tips and providing drills. Most of students go to cram schools right after school finish, and keep studying until late night, so that they can get higher scores on the exams. Although students focused on chasing a goal to enter a university, most of students become lazy or lose their goals after entering university. I was one of them. I really agree with Will because of the experiences in my high school. (Actually not only universities but also elementary, middle, and high schools have entrance examinations in Japan) I did not like that my skills and knowledge are calculated by only test. I really agree with Will that “we have to stop trying to make schools better, and we start trying to do them different” (Richardson, 2011).
As noted earlier, students in Japan often lose their goals after finishing their compulsory education. We cannot overlook this issue. Schools must not “take all the imagination, all the creativity, all the initiative, all the engagement right out of them” (Richardson, 2011). Schools need to focus on process-based learning, not procedure-based learning.
This topic was really interesting to me. When I was in high school in Japan, I just followed the teachers instructs to enter high level and famous public university. We have two huge exams that measure students’ knowledge. The exams’ days are big event over Japan. All high school students take a same exam at a same time on a same day. Depending on the scores, the students can get “tickets” to take the next exam that each university or each department at college prepares for the applicants. During the last two years at high school, students in Japan need to keep studying hard and put knowledge and answers to do successfully on the exams, so that they can proceed to the next step of education. Educators’ goals are also to enhance students’ skills and knowledge by teaching tips and providing drills. Most of students go to cram schools right after school finish, and keep studying until late night, so that they can get higher scores on the exams. Although students focused on chasing a goal to enter a university, most of students become lazy or lose their goals after entering university. I was one of them. I really agree with Will because of the experiences in my high school. (Actually not only universities but also elementary, middle, and high schools have entrance examinations in Japan) I did not like that my skills and knowledge are calculated by only test. I really agree with Will that “we have to stop trying to make schools better, and we start trying to do them different” (Richardson, 2011).
As noted earlier, students in Japan often lose their goals after finishing their compulsory education. We cannot overlook this issue. Schools must not “take all the imagination, all the creativity, all the initiative, all the engagement right out of them” (Richardson, 2011). Schools need to focus on process-based learning, not procedure-based learning.
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