High Quality Education: What is it and How to Teach it
High Quality Education: What is it and How to Teach it
What makes education high quality can be a topic of debate because it varies on the school, state, and even country. However, what a high -quality education means to me is one which doesn’t solely focus on the state standards; it focuses on the students. Now, it may not make sense for me to differentiate between focusing on state standards and focusing on the students, but the reason I did this is because too often are schools’ curriculum only goal is to get students to have good scores on tests instead of really making sure students understand the material and not just know it/ memorize it for tests. Education needs to cater to every need of the child- emotionally, socially, physically, and of course intellectually. A high -quality education is one which incorporates the students’ interests, cultures, and backgrounds into the curriculum. When this is done, the material and lessons become more meaningful to students and as a result, they become more memorable. Relating the material to the students’ personal lives isn’t the only thing that makes education high quality, it also is when the knowledge the students gain from the classroom can be applied to the outside world, and society in general. Children need to be taught how to be active members in society, and education should be designed “to help children reach their full potential and enter society as full and productive citizens.” This is one of the key points in Sean Slades’ article, “What do we Mean by a Quality Education?.” He emphasizes the need for students to be able to take classroom knowledge and apply it to situations in the real world. Children should be able to relate the knowledge they gain in the classroom to situations outside of it. This could include how to respect others’ differences, how to discuss topics with others, how to be open-minded, etc. In Merry M. Merryfield’s article, “Four Strategies for Teaching Open-Mindedness,” she even states that before students respect differences, they have to be taught how to be open-minded (18). Also, these are life skills that everyone should have, but not everyone actually has. To change this, these life skills need to be taught in schools, so students can be a part of society in a positive way.
Another important factor that makes education high quality is when the teacher recognizes his/her students’ differences and needs, and uses differentiated learning to make sure each students’ needs are met. With this comes the availability of a variety of resources, which unfortunately, not every school has. However, if a teacher really cares about his/her students, she/he will make the best out of situation because the students come first. The article “Teaching Tolerance” states, “Differentiated instruction is teaching with the child in mind rather than adopting a standardized approach to teaching and learning that seems to presume that all students of a given age are at the exact same place academically.” This supports my claim that the needs of a student should be placed before a score on a test.
A final part of what makes education high quality has to do with the teacher-student relationship. In high quality education, the teacher and students work together to figure out answers and discuss topics. Teachers should make it clear that both the teacher and the students are of equal importance to learn and teach information. This is what Paulo Freire emphasizes. He makes the claim that students can learn from the teacher, but also teach the teacher, and the teacher can not only teach the students, but also learn from them. This is important for students to realize because then they aren’t just taking in information the teacher tells them without contributing their own opinions and knowledge. This collaboration idea is a major part of high quality education.
I may have an idea of what high quality education is, but I also want to talk about how I could teach fourth grade students about what makes up high quality education. To teach this, I would make the lesson more discussion- based. I would first ask students what they think high quality education means, and I would write a list on the board. While they are brainstorming ideas, I would be adding my own claims as well, so my students and I would be working in collaboration. Once the class and I have finalized the list, I would ask them if they think their school has high quality education. Once this is discussed, and a determination has been made, I would then give them different examples of schools/ classrooms around, and they would have to decide as a class if what the image or video is showing is depicting high quality education. I first would show them various photos of classrooms around the world from the Washington Post article, “How Classrooms Look Around the World- in 15 Amazing Photographs.”
These photos are relevant to my lesson because it gives students a chance to use the standards for high quality education that they came up with to determine if what they see reflects those standards. By showing these photos of classrooms from around the world, the students also will be exposed to diversity, differences, and culture. The second multimedia source I would use is a video of CNN reporting on the education in North Korea.
This video talks about the importance North Korean schools place on their Supreme Leader, and how the schooling puts a lot of emphasis on him. It also talks about points that are similar to the points I made in my definition of high quality education, so my students would not only be able to determine if education in North Korea is high quality, they also would be able to find similarities between the education there and the education in the U.S. Lastly, I would show the students pictures of segregated schools in the 1930s.
The students would be able to form opinions on if the all-white classroom depicts high quality education and if the all-black classroom depicts high-quality education. They then would be able to compare and contrast the two photos. By using this source, students are also learning about history.
The definition of high quality education is a topic of debate, but it is something that all schools should have, but unfortunately don’t. It is important for students to have a high quality education because it makes sure that students are not only prepared for assessments and tests, but it also ensures that the students grow intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically in ways that allow them to be active members in the world they live in.
