Glorious Education

I achieved absolutely awful grades this year in school, which is fortunate only because the program into which I am entering requires only good grades in grade 11 and grade 12 just helps. Here’s the curious part: 

Both Earth Sciences (11, but I never took it before) and Geography 12 were my highest grades. Those classes were based off of visual learning, presentation-based and project-based marking, and I got 95.6% in the two classes, respectively.

On the other hand, my chemistry exam came rolling it at 56%, dropping my mark from a high B to a high C+. Interestingly, my average lab score in chemistry was 89.1%, and my average worksheet mark was 87%. My average test mark was 68%.

Finally, in physics, which I had to practically teach myself due to the differences between the way my teacher taught and the way that I learn, I may actually fail - the first time ever. However, once again, I achieved an average of 84% on lab work, with an average of 60% on the tests. What is wrong with the education system?

Essentially, I think I’ve figured it out: They believe that it is more important for us to be capable of memorization than it is for us to compute information. How many doctors offices have you been into where there aren’t so many binders of information that you could spend a year trying to read them? None. That is because in real life, you have to know the basics, but be able to understand and use the higher level information.

The best example of this is History 12, which requires you to memorize dates, names, places and events, when truly, history should be a class focused around being able to decide what caused these things to happen and how they affect us. The strongest argument to this statement is, obviously, that I achieved top mark and probably second top mark in the two classes that require little logic and primarily memorization.

I will rebut that argument before it is declared by saying that the marks in those classes were drawn from our capability to present the information we had learned, find new information ourselves (I will touch on this in a moment) and use it to our benefit. For instance, in geography, I managed to create a presentation rather than a final exam that got me 100%. Why? I had the usually-bored and sleeping class asking questions, saying “whoa, I never knew that!” The same happened in Earth Sciences, where I achieved 97% for the fact that I had done a considerable amount of research and had put thought into it.

If I were a history teacher, and I am a history tutor currently, I would probably fail everyone. This is because students are bent on memorizing information out of a textbook. I couldn’t care less what date the Pearl Harbour Attack occurred on (although it wouldn’t hurt), but understanding how a sneak attack that was poorly planned eventually lead to the absolute defeat of the Japanese empire would be crucial, and I don’t see that in a single one of the four students that I know in history.

Essentially, as we leave high school and attempt to flail our way out into the big old world, the only rank we have is that of our capacity to memorize information. No one cares that I can write research essays or do killer presentations that actually keep stoned teenagers interested. I’m sure they do, but they assume that is related to the percentage on the piece of paper from the ministry of education. I’d say that that number is about 40% accurate, showing only accurate numbers from the teachers and courses who mark and are marked correctly.

In the end, I really don’t think anyone cares if I can remember when exactly the Soviet détente occured, but would probably care what it was and why it affected the world.

And for those of you who bothered reading this, comment “Pie.”