What's happening to our schools?

I'm worried about our schools.  I know from years of experience both in the classroom as the teacher and as the student of some of the most brilliant minds in the world that we humans learn best in inspiring, supportive, somewhat entertaining environments.  Why?  Because it meets so many of our human needs.  Major seminar presenters know this because they are out of business if their audience members don't enjoy the presentations AND retain what learned.  Our schools?  Not so much.

I've spoken to many educators lately on a variety of levels in several states and the picture of what's happening in our classrooms is not positive.  And it's getting worse by the day.  Here are some recent comments heard:

• If you have an idea for a creative, out of the box program for schools that really works, we can't take it on.  We no longer have any authority to adopt anything for our schools.  It's completely out of our hands.  The only thing the districts are going to allow are programs that improve test scores.
• There's no time to teach becasue all we're doing is testing, recording the results, re-evaluating and testing again.
• There's no time for fun in schools - no parties, no assemblies, no movies, and little or no recess
• All teachers should be on the same page of the text book at the same time
• In a short time, math education will be scripted

Each of these comments is worthy of a full dissertation.  Together they represent the antithesis of how humans learn best. 

Life Coach and author Martha Beck most widely known for her monthly column in O Magazine says in her book, "Finding Your Way in a Wild New World" that according to profesional futurists, the upcoming trends show, "Knowledge is no longer power because knowledge is no longer scarce. What is scarce is human attention."

Our way of educating students right now is doing exactly the opposite.  It is taking the focus, the attention away from the student, the person and placing it on the knowledge.  We need to be developing kind, critical thinkers who love to learn and know how to get the information they need.  No business wants to hire someone who is just a good test taker.

Beck also states that "the qualites that capture positive attention are...authenticity, inventiveness, humor, beauty, uniqueness, playfulness, empathy and meaning."  I believe our schools need to do the same. 

It's time we took a stand and asked more for our students than just good test scores.  It's time we created schools that help students fall in love with learning because when you come right down to it, learning is the only thing that can't be taken from them.  Guiding students to love what they're doing helps they prepare for the lives they most want for themselves and that we want for them.