Is the Modern Educational System Beneficial to Learning?

          The current system of formal education, consisting of various public and private schools, does not truly educate students, and may in fact impede intellectual development .The purpose of formalized education is to generally create a more intelligent populace capable of independent thought, while also introducing them to society and its various rules and protocols. However, through an archaic interpretation of knowledge and learning, and a system which relies heavily on a herd mentality, today’s schooling system may be viewed as detrimental to society as a whole.

To begin with, one might question what constitutes intelligence. According to Roger C. Schank, intelligence—in modern public institutions—is generally considered being well-versed in the thoughts of one’s predecessors. One who can recall the thoughts of Nietzsche, Plato, or Rousseau may be considered an expert in the field of philosophy. The ability to recite Latin prose or Greek literature also garners one a certain amount of academic respect. Yet simple recollection and regurgitation is fast becoming useless. In this age of exponential technological advancement computers are becoming more popular and more accessible, the internet abounds with answers, and information never lies more than a click away. Soon, it will be useless to memorize facts when they are so readily available; “anything obtained easily is devalued in society, and it will be the same with knowledge,” (Schank 209). Instead, Schank believes that one’s intelligence will be based upon one’s ability to exceed the bounds of the answers and formulate questions which have yet to be answered. Critical thinking skills are then of utmost importance because they allow one to put the answers within perspective, apply them to reality and the broader scheme of things, and become more intelligent beings as a whole.

One might argue that schools do teach critical thinking to students, and there are indeed attempts—and some success—at teaching such. However, it is excruciatingly difficult to grade students on their ability to think, and with the increased popularity of standardized testing there has become greater emphasis on spitting out facts and memorizing processes than voicing unprecedented opinions or employing logical reasoning. Obviously, it is easier to score true-or-false or multiple choice tests in which there exists a single set answer, than to grade an essay which is subject to far more arbitrary terms. Standardized tests also encourage the preoccupation with achievement and scores, a mindset detrimental to actual learning (Kerry M.D. “Education Reform: The ‘Tough Standards’ Movement”). Memorization and regurgitation may result in the same grade obtained through acute comprehension, though true education obviously stems from only the latter.