Ah elementary school…The mere phrase recalls fond memories of story time, apple juice, and recess. When I look back on such an important part of my childhood, I see a different world. Life was simpler. The rules seemed unbreakable, the adults knew everything, and the teachers were always right. There was less homework, less pressure, and less stress. But now it seems that much of what we were taught in elementary school no longer applies in the increasingly complex realm of high school and beyond.
There’s no disputing the importance of the reading, writing, and basic mathematics elementary school children learn. We use these skills both inside and outside the classroom every day. But for each of these, there are plenty of things we’re taught that we rarely use again, like cursive, long division, and factor trees.
There is a difference between such tedious but necessary lessons and those that are a waste of time for both teachers and students. Instead of using valuable class time teaching cursive, today’s elementary school students should learn to type properly or focus on printing both quickly and legibly. And while children should still know their multiplication tables and understand long division, teachers should acknowledge the existence of calculators because students will be using them for the rest of their lives. Many lesson plans that ignore modern conveniences are outdated and time-consuming.
Many of the elementary school arts and crafts used to assess student understanding are inadequate. A child’s ability to assemble a flip book or put together a poster on a particular topic is not equivalent to a thorough understanding of said topic. All too often, these assignments place more emphasis on aesthetics than on the synthesis of information, accomplishing little more than sending parents shopping for poster board and glue sticks. Furthermore, such projects become irrelevant in later years dominated by tests
Elementary school was all about order. From assigned seats on the bus and in the lunchroom to lining up in alphabetical order to traverse the hallways, there was no shortage of organization. This can create an educational experience in which children are treated less like individuals and more like units within a class. Schools issue supply lists and depending on the teacher, a kid might need a folder, notebook, or binder with specific dividers. This kind of "my way or the highway" attitude perpetuated by notebook checks doesn’t leave room for students to use what works for them.
It’s understandable that teachers don’t want kids losing assignments or running amok. But anyone who has set foot inside a high school or even a middle school can see a difference. Days at Libertyville High School are still structured, but students can make many of their own choices. There are core requirements, but we have more freedom when it comes to which electives we take and the level of our classes (regular, honors, AP). The students who became accustomed to the near constant regulation of elementary and middle school can find it difficult to adjust to having more autonomy in high school. These students become organizationally challenged high schoolers who lose papers frequently because they haven’t figured out what method of organization they prefer. Others find it difficult to complete assignments on time without the structured timelines and frequent reminders that they had in grade school.
Also, elementary schools place undue emphasis on memorization. Many students are asked to learn anything from poems to the periodic table by heart. An elementary school’s curriculum should focus on application and critical thinking over memorization. The time and effort required to get children to think critically is greater, but so are the rewards. What’s the use of learning and reciting a literary passage without examining the author’s intentions? Why commit the order of the chemical elements to memory without understanding why they’re arranged that way or what they’re used for? In too many schools, educational philosophies and systems of student assessment suggest that students who can regurgitate a series of memorized facts will remember those facts once the test is complete and will have learned what they are supposed to have learned. Critical thinking skills give students the ability to not only understand what they have read or been shown but also to apply and build upon that knowledge.
Part of the problem is it’s easier to do things the way we’ve always done them. It takes more time and effort to change outdated curriculums. Some adults feel that what worked for their generation should work for this generation. But if we want to keep up in this competitive world, we need to find a way to create future generations of creative thinkers, people who can apply the knowledge they acquire in innovative ways. The first step is to overcome our aversion to change and stop clinging to obsolete practices. And change needs to start with today’s elementary schools, the institutions of learning that produce the leaders of tomorrow.
Photo by Alyssa Curry