A child is a knowledge sponge. They take in the world around
them and then process it, which then constitutes their abilities and also
determines their future. The issue today is that schools (usually
government run ones) cannot allow the child to move through their education at
their own pace. As such, they are held back by their peers who may need
extra time. So what can we do about this so that children can push
themselves to learning excellence without being held back?
Material based, not grade levels: One method is that children are not
advanced using a grade level based system. Instead they advance as they
acquire knowledge and the proficiency in that knowledge. So you go from
basic addition and subtraction to algebra, to geometry and finally to calculus,
but this is not learned as you move up each grade level. You simply just
move onto the next level of math and its complexity instead. As such, grade
levels are irrelevant as the child will move from subject to subject based on
their own personal performance. So they can go from studying the American
Revolution to world history in as short as a year if the child is capable of
doing so, even if they are still struggling to understand algebra in their math
class. You could say this idea works on a system similar to the United
States high school curriculum with each subject taught by a different teacher,
but in this case geared toward fostering the child's ability to advance based
on their own innate capabilities.
Cycle system: This system goes by a few other
names, but here the same teacher you had in first grade would be the same
teacher you had all the way to fifth grade. In addition all your
classmates would be the same too. This allows for a relationship between
teacher and student where the teacher can act as an adviser to the student as
the teacher will hence know all the students weaknesses when it comes to
learning. This can allow the teacher to adapt other teaching techniques
to prevent that student from ever falling behind. Basically, why bother
getting a new teacher each and every year when you can get to know one who
knows you and knows what it takes for you to catch onto the material and
succeed.
Self-taught: Here the teacher hands out dittos
to students who are deemed capable of teaching themselves a problem simply by
following a few examples on a page. These students once done with the
ditto simply need to ask for the next ditto so that they can either reinforce
what they learned or move on to more complex problems like in math or science.
This is basically how the computer based learning works, save with the
advantage that lectures can be given to each student via computer at the same
time, before quizzing them on their knowledge. The only other advantage
with computer based learning here is that a student may be able to skip a
subject and move onto another one if they so choose due to how hard it may be
for them. Both have good advantages and teachers can then look at their
work and determine areas of weakness in which dittos or computer programs can
be used to help the student get a more hands on approach to learning that
subject matter so that they get it. The teacher in this scenario really
focuses mainly at monitoring the progress of the students and providing extra
help and advice when required.
Class A, B, C, D, and F: This approach is very classical,
but may be combined with any of the aforementioned. Here they identify
the students who have the most learning difficulty and the least difficulty. Those
with the least learning difficulty are in class A with each of the students who
have progressively worse learning difficulty placed in to class B, C, D and so
on with the slowest students who have the hardest time absorbing information
and knowledge in class F. The purpose here is in part to keep the fast
learners from being slowed down by their counterparts and for the slower
learners to get that extra time and attention they need to succeed in the first
place. Of course, students can test out of a slower class and move into a
higher one based on how well they perform as well. Similar to the Honors
classes and the A.P. accredited classes (where you can get college credit) in
my old high school. And no, this is not saying any of the students are dumb
by any means (or super smart for that matter). It just means some need
more time to get a better handle of the material.
Conclusion: These are all ideas that can be
applied to current school systems to help students advance at the pace they
need. We need to cultivate a student body that can learn and advance on
its own because if the course moves too slow, or is uninteresting, then the
students will become uninterested and thus end up failing or missing
opportunities. This is why computer based learning is so good for the
students who can take advantage of it, they no longer need to wait for the
teachers or their peers to catch up.
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