In the U.S Virgin Islands we have been plagued with leasing opportunities and a stagnant economy which has in turn caused many of us to ignore topics of great importance for immediate needs that supersede these topics of great importance due to dire need. Well our practices have left us,our children, and our futures in a dark place; the blind eye that we have taken to the deviants of society have left us arrogant and ignorant to a more progressive means of evolving as a society. If we do not take care of such problems now then our ideologies and norms will be lead astray in the future; now is the time to put our futures at the forefront and begin shaping a better future, and what a better place to begin than our educational institutions and educators. Many of our founding fathers ( and mothers) of education spend their entire careers assessing and philosophizing the best practices to utilize for the progression of different children with different needs, and we have only two programs in place within our public education institutions that offer such programs typically to English language learners. Years ago our local government adapted to the common core standards, but our schools have yet to implement them. We need to ‘mobilize the educational movement’ to meet the needs of our students and educational institutions as we do our electoral and violence campaigns for it is just as important if not more so.
The emphasis we have put on standardized testing doesn't help the students,but it makes them timid to know that this test is/can be used to rate their IQ’s. Jean Piaget used standardized testing of reasoning for use with children. His research became the foundation for his method of interviewing; used to study the development of children intellectualism. A method of such sort should be in place within our educational institutions, but they are not, instead we have children being promoted year after year without learning their essentials, as well as children not being promoted at all for ignorance on the part of the educator for not providing engaging/progressive work that would meet that child’s needs. I recognize that within the public school systems it may be hard for educators to this with all students, but with the tenacity and dedication that I've seen educational professionals refer students to alternative programs (just to get them out of their classroom), their should be a program in place that children can be referred to for child centered learning to improve their intellectual standing and eventually prepare them for integration with the rest of the school population once more (as is done within the alternative programs for troubled students). Piaget stated “thus i engaged my subjects in a conversations patterned after psychiatric questioning, with the aim of discovering something about the reasoning process underlying their right but especially wrong answers” (Morrison, 2009). We too need to develop a curriculum which encourages our teachers to utilize such questioning techniques to improve/promote thinking within all areas of education; early learners to intermediate and high school. Many of the actions carried out by adolescents today are the products of false beliefs and norms taught to the young by the ignorant to promote their own norms and beliefs. If we can teach them within the classroom and at home about the different philosophies of life and get them to ask some of the hard questions and answer such questions, many of the outlooks that they've received through ‘distorted lenses’ on the streets can and will change.
Piaget’s theory of learning was based off of cognitive development; it explains how individuals think, perceive, understand, and learn (Morrison, 2009).He viewed intelligence as the process by which children acquired knowledge, not where knowledge is measured by intelligence. Piaget's cognitive theory states through direct experiences with the physical world, children develop intelligence;
- Active learning- children develop knowledge through engaging learning activities (physically and mentally)
- Adaptation- the process of building units of knowledge through interactions with the environment consisting of two processes; assimilation and accommodation
- Assimilation- process of fitting new information into existing knowledge units
- Accommodation - changing/ altering old units of knowledge to update with new information
- Equilibrium - a balance between new and old knowledge, developed through assimilation and accommodation.
While these studies were intended for early childhood learners I don’t see why we can’t implement it throughout our public school systems, Pre-K through 12 grade. Many early childhood programs follow published and recognized curriculum's, in the USVI though we haven’t ,made any such determinations. Most early childhood care takers teach at minimal levels providing children with little opportunity for learning. The program curriculum's that early childhood educators adhere by are out of date and by far not meeting age appropriate standards. A curriculum is a set of objectives that define the knowledge or information that children will be taught; if the curriculum is continued at it’s pace children are the only ones losing. Our curriculum's need to include age appropriate, progressive activities that children can learn from such as health classes, fruits & vegetable awareness, physical fitness, and every classroom or facility should have at least two learning centers for a variety and to keep children engaged within their learning activities. Teaching our children the basics just isn't going to cut it anymore, the world is changing and if we don’t catch up we all will be left behind.
While locally I haven’t heard many ill talking about new common core implementations, I have read quite a bit of controversy via online resources and chat rooms. To the best of my understanding, since I've never taught at elementary or secondary schools,the standards and curriculum provide a process that includes a shared vision of expectations with multiple pathways for attaining them (Strickland, 2012). I don’t understand why so many educators feel that they are being told how to teach now, if in any case they are being told ‘what’ to teach, not ‘how’ and it is for the benefit of the children. While many will not be able to go to Ivy league schools with such standards all children, regardless of class and background, can have the same education levels and opportunities to expand their horizons. Its not about the teachers, but the students.
With the use of underlying factors within Piaget’s stages of development we could adapt his techniques and research to fit our culture and it’s needs.While our government has promised us the use of Common Core Standards it has still yet to be implemented, although it’s being claimed to be ‘progressing’ since it was announced September 30, 2010. Other than Piaget there are many other theories to be considered that fit a wide array of our shortfalls; Vygotsky, Erikson, and Gardner are all influential educators whose lives work were dedicated to many of the problems that we face now; when will we dedicate our lives to the education of the future? We rally and protest for everything except education, but we wonder why our children aren't doing well in schools; we blame teachers, the institutions and even politicians, all of which do have a hand in educational structure, but so do we as the parents and taxpayers. Virgin Islanders we've rallied against eight percent cuts for government workers, drugs, crime, and violence, all topics that are rampant within our society. But it is also time we take a stand for those who cannot stand for themselves due to lack of knowledge; they are unaware that they are behind and will be until we do something to change that. The next time we rally, it should be for our children.
Strickland, D. S. (2012). Planning curriculum to meet the common core state standards. Reading Today, 29(4), 25-26. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/926994517?accountid=32521
Morrison, G.S. (2009). Early Childhood Education Today. Pearson Education, Inc.,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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