The education system within the United States reflects on the grades that are received on exams and assignments. A conflict of interest arises when students are unable to retain the information that was taught to them. In addition, the question of whether the course material has any relevance to an occupation outside of school comes into play. In essence, is the time of a student being wasted? The United States should reconsider their education system to promote interest, experience and productivity.
Although the current education system allows universities to compare student for admission on a competitive level, the expectations to be accepted into college should be altered. Instead of considering grade point averages, value should be placed more on what a student does outside of school, such as acts that benefit the community or having an internship in a specific field of study. Meaning, classrooms should be transformed into a workshop where the students spend their time to only understand the subject while applying what they learn on a project that relates to a specific profession that could even potentially benefit the community. This concept would encourage students to participate and eventually develop the habit of being capable to using critical thinking to problem solve. Now, one could ask how that idea would function in a social studies and mathematic course. To solve this issue, the classes themselves should be modified. Instead of having general courses of study, such as Geometry, Biology, or American History, the classes should be altered to specific fields that reflect actual jobs in the occupation market. Class titles could include Business, Engineering, Medicine & Medical Research, and International Relations. The beauty in this idea is how previously mentioned subjects would be applied within these courses. For instance, in Business, topics of study would include a combination of specific mathematics, economics, statistics, anthropology, and psychology. In the Engineering sector, the subject of physics and a certain degree of mathematics would be applied to the point where it is relevant to use. In order to have each student experience every field, it should be mandatory for every student to cycle through the previously mentioned core subjects so each student can choose which career they found more interesting to purse by the time they graduate high school. As for exams and homework assignments, teacher should continue to provide them to maintain a competitive aspect, but not to the point where a student is overwhelmed with the difficulty of academic responsibilities that prevent them from engaging in extracurricular activities.
The solution of industry sector classes in high school would eliminate the useless information that is currently taught in classes that has no relevant application. Furthermore, this idea would increase the efficient use of a student’s time while the actual connection between class and the outside world is visible. As a result, students would become more productive and successful to maintain a certain occupation.
AP Language & Composition Notebook 