It's easy to shake your head at the oft-repeated statistics about how many kids don't know what a verb is, or can't find the United States on a map. But in our fear about what will happen if every child doesn't know the quadratic formula by heart, we've created a far more damning problem: We've taken all the fun out of learning. And when learning isn't fun, it's easy for kids to find things to do that are more appealing than sitting in school.There are countless educators across the country doing hero's work. But if they're going to change the prevailing slide in American education, they need more support. We'd all agree that fear is a lousy guiding principle. Yet we have been so afraid of failure, we've stopped trying to succeed. That isn't working. It's time to go back to school.
It's easy to shake your head at the oft-repeated statistics about how many kids don't know what a verb is, or can't find the United States on a map. But in our fear about what will happen if every child doesn't know the quadratic formula by heart, we've created a far more damning problem: We've taken all the fun out of learning. And when learning isn't fun, it's easy for kids to find things to do that are more appealing than sitting in school.There are countless educators across the country doing hero's work. But if they're going to change the prevailing slide in American education, they need more support. We'd all agree that fear is a lousy guiding principle. Yet we have been so afraid of failure, we've stopped trying to succeed. That isn't working. It's time to go back to school.