My final blog post will be a somewhat revolutionary idea in terms of the American educational system: Maybe our practices are fine now? I know, I know, all of our blogs to this point have been about 90 years of collective angst and frustration with the only educational system that we are intimately familiar. I don’t want you to think that I am reneging on all of the points that I have made so far. This is not a cop-out, it is an alternate theory. All I ask is for you to keep an open mind throughout.
Proficiency in Math and Science
It is true that our country is in the middle of the pack for mathematics and science in the world. That is definitely not a good thing in the grand scheme of things. In the grander scheme of things, however, great scientists and mathematicians will differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack regardless of education. What these test statistics also fail to consider is the amount of international talent that the United States brings in. Between the exceptional students that our country will always produce and the great international students that will always be drawn to America, should our country really be in crisis mode? America is a country of immigrants, after all.
Critical Thinking
Social media is nothing new for the students of today. Facebook was launched in 2004, which means that high school seniors were, at oldest, five years old when the site launched. Our generation does not know a life without social media. Combining this familiarity with social media, a little common sense, and the general propaganda education that students tend to receive, it is not unreasonable to expect students think critically about what they read and reach strong conclusions on their own about what is and is not propaganda.
Creativity
In defense of American creativity, I would like to point out the abundance of American media across the world. Across television, movies, and music, there is no comparison between the United States and any other country. Hollywood makes more money than any other country with movies that reach a greater number of screens than any other country. Foreign countries depend on not only the songs produced in the United States, but also the genres produced by American musicians. American television, and moreover all types of media, have an unparalleled influence on the rest of the world. If our country was not creative enough, the United States would not have such a huge cultural sphere of influence.
Entrepreneurship
America is known for a few things: patriotism, being loud, and being fat, but more importantly for the American Dream. The American Dream states that, with work, talent, and a bit of luck, anyone can make it big. The dream is deeply ingrained in American culture, and that dream is what drives Americans towards business. As long as there is money in people’s pockets, Americans will be finding business opportunities to take it. Schools cannot teach that innate drive that our culture fosters.
Job Placement
One of the chief concerns that I had in my previous post about job placement is the lack of direction towards vocational schools or trade work. On the other hand, this lack of direction towards these opportunities keeps the salaries of these careers up. Not many people would willingly become welders, considering how quickly the career wears down one’s health, but the considerable wealth that comes with the career makes welding a worthwhile profession. This line of thinking follows for most trade professions, they wear down your body but the money makes it worth it, at least for a little while. For these jobs to remain filled and for the tradesmen (and tradeswomen) to keep working, these opportunities should not become overfilled.
I want to make it clear that this post is not a cop-out. I stand by all of the points that I made in my previous blog post, and I do not want to devalue those observations. What I do want, however, is for you, the reader, to use your critical thinking skills to analyze what I have said between these three posts and to form your own opinions. It isn’t a cop-out, it is a fitting conclusion.
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigrants-in-the-united-states
https://www.raconteur.net/culture/american-culture-rules-the-world
http://www.universitytimes.ie/2014/03/how-american-music-took-over-the-world/
http://access-internationalvg2.cappelendamm.no/c951212/artikkel/vis.html?tid=385685
https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Welder/Hourly_Rate