Spring Break
Apathetic at best, our nation lacks success
Sara Gregory
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Opinion
As I near the end of my studies in graduate music, I find myself jaded from my initial intentions. Despite my best efforts I somehow ended up on autopilot.
I tried for years to place this gradual numbness that invaded my thoughts, and I almost lost my marbles completely until I found out I was not alone.
I discovered a speaker by the name of Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D., an expert in creativity, innovation and human resources.
At a popular speech in 2006, Robinson explained in detail the problem with school systems, and I couldn't agree more.
We are all born with natural talents and are encouraged to follow what interests us; we have been told that someone enjoying their career is more likely to succeed than one pursuing a tedious mind-numbing task.
Yet when we attempt to follow these dreams, we find ourselves in a world of standardized disciplines that test both the students and teachers.
According to Robinson, education in its current state is stifling our natural talents and "as a result we are fomenting a human and an economic disaster."
When students have trouble fitting into this very narrow frame of learning, we find alarming rates of turnover among faculty and students, dropouts, disaffection, stress and prescription drug use.
The Prozac nation talk is another article entirely, but we do have to acknowledge the tendency of our society to medicate students in order to help them concentrate on the "correct" subjects.
This problem exists due to dominant systems of education being rooted in industrialism: "they are linear, mechanistic and focused on conformity and standardization."
In this regard, we are encouraging creativity but not employing it. I don't know what the solution is, but I know that this problem is a growing factor in our generation's apathy.
I'm exhausted from school, from saying yes to every new teacher and forcing myself into yet another pre-existing box that defines me. I'm tired of getting good grades that don't seem to matter once I achieve the degree.
Most of all I'm tired of lacking direction. I began with fierce direction and passion to create something new that was snuffed out by endless tests and a more "correct" direction.
No matter what we study, at a certain point we all cover the subject's history. At this point we can only imitate or rebel against what we've learned from the past.
This systematic cage we have been trapped in allows for very few people to succeed and those who do become experts in pleasing others before themselves.
Without a complete reform in education it won't be long until we all function as robots. Our quest for learning should not be restricted by rights and wrongs, but freed with true creativity and understanding.
I tried for years to place this gradual numbness that invaded my thoughts, and I almost lost my marbles completely until I found out I was not alone.
I discovered a speaker by the name of Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D., an expert in creativity, innovation and human resources.
At a popular speech in 2006, Robinson explained in detail the problem with school systems, and I couldn't agree more.
We are all born with natural talents and are encouraged to follow what interests us; we have been told that someone enjoying their career is more likely to succeed than one pursuing a tedious mind-numbing task.
Yet when we attempt to follow these dreams, we find ourselves in a world of standardized disciplines that test both the students and teachers.
According to Robinson, education in its current state is stifling our natural talents and "as a result we are fomenting a human and an economic disaster."
When students have trouble fitting into this very narrow frame of learning, we find alarming rates of turnover among faculty and students, dropouts, disaffection, stress and prescription drug use.
The Prozac nation talk is another article entirely, but we do have to acknowledge the tendency of our society to medicate students in order to help them concentrate on the "correct" subjects.
This problem exists due to dominant systems of education being rooted in industrialism: "they are linear, mechanistic and focused on conformity and standardization."
In this regard, we are encouraging creativity but not employing it. I don't know what the solution is, but I know that this problem is a growing factor in our generation's apathy.
I'm exhausted from school, from saying yes to every new teacher and forcing myself into yet another pre-existing box that defines me. I'm tired of getting good grades that don't seem to matter once I achieve the degree.
Most of all I'm tired of lacking direction. I began with fierce direction and passion to create something new that was snuffed out by endless tests and a more "correct" direction.
No matter what we study, at a certain point we all cover the subject's history. At this point we can only imitate or rebel against what we've learned from the past.
This systematic cage we have been trapped in allows for very few people to succeed and those who do become experts in pleasing others before themselves.
Without a complete reform in education it won't be long until we all function as robots. Our quest for learning should not be restricted by rights and wrongs, but freed with true creativity and understanding.
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