…Recent trends in education are changing the way classrooms look and core subjects are taught
Consider this. An architect draws plans for a remodel of a commercial shopping center. On paper, everything looks great. But what looks great on paper, doesn’t always equal success when the plans are brought to life. The same is true in the field of education. Recent trends such as flexible seating and going paperless, may LOOK great on paper, but what happens when students abuse privileges they are afforded or technology malfunctions?
Today, teachers spend more time trying to FIX the education system than they do saving the lost art of teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic using lined paper, number two pencils, wooden desks, and chairs with four legs. Between teaching phonics through sight words and core subjects through computer programs like iReady which are intended to engage students in reading and math, it seems as though teachers have lost touch with the reality of teaching, living in the fantasy of such educational trends as flexible seating (students choose where they wish to work) and using fancy technology to replace human interaction in the classroom.
Consider spending less time being trendy and more time teaching old-fashioned values like kindness and respect in the classroom. An abundance of brightly colored seating options – among them large balls that bounce, swivel stools, bean bags, lounge chairs, and four-seater couches – have become an acceptable norm for showing students that their classroom is safe. However, students who abuse the privilege afforded as a result of a fun classroom environment are the ones who destroy the intended purpose of flexible seating and use of technology, creating a classroom that is now more chaotic and harder to manage.
These days, classrooms have become a popularity contest – which one is the prettiest, the fanciest, or the most colorful, in the SAME manner that students judge who they wish to HAVE as their teacher based on which teacher is rumored to be the prettiest or the funniest. More and more, classrooms are looking like the inside of a living room – so cozy and spacious that less emphasis is placed on the REALITY of education and the fact that students are not in school to lounge on sofas like they’re binge-watching cartoons on a Saturday morning…they’re at school to learn! Safety is taught more through verbal kindness than it is providing a child with fancy decorations or diverse seating options in a classroom. And when students need to learn a challenging concept in math, is it really the super comfy sofa helping them learn how to divide?
It seems that yet another trend in education is that a greater number of classrooms are going paperless. Math apps and spelling games on iPads and laptops, while fine when students EARN time enjoying them, seem to be a prime method for teaching students vital concepts. Teachers are unable to monitor student scores on such interactive games and are afforded little ways in which to engage in a student’s PROCESS in math or writing – HOW they arrived at an answer. Students are at a loss for how to react when technology malfunctions because there is no healthy balance – the pendulum has swung so far to the other side that standard chairs, number two pencils, and college-rule lined paper are becoming less acceptable methods for teaching students.
It seems as if no one thought about the practicality behind flexible seating, going paperless, and failing to place a stronger emphasis on teaching kindness and respect ahead of which classroom has the latest gadgets or the best ‘toys’ to help students cope with anxiety and stress. These days, teachers are failing at exposing students to the world outside, one that is not always filled with bright colors or lounge chairs that resemble sunning in paradise on a Hawaiian Island.
That’s not to say that classrooms can’t look visually appealing or that technology, if used to SUPPORT traditional teaching through longer time blocks of student and teacher interaction in the classroom won’t create a well-balanced individual who is excited to learn. However, when MORE emphasis is placed on trying to ‘paint a pretty picture’ than it is preparing students for the reality of the world outside, I have to wonder if teachers have their STUDENTS’ best interest at heart, or their own.