Response to Matt's post

I absolutely had to repost this video Matt put up and a summation of my feelings. There's too much possibility for debate to not post it. You can click his name to view the original post, or click here.

"Oh gosh, I have so much to say about this; where to start and do I include it all...?

Well, first, perhaps standardized testing is a bit limited, however, without it how can universities then judge who to admit, or how can jobs determine the hard workers from the lazy ones from the ones who just get it or the ones who try hard but struggle harder. The thing is, we all want to be judged as individuals outside the limits of standardized testing, yet is is impossible for university admissions or hiring managers to know the entire history of an individual before they are accepted; there isn't enough time, money, or resources to immerse oneself into the full cultural, emotional, mental, and educational background of each applicant. There does need to be some kind of "standard" to determine qualifications. I think the question may be what should that standard be, and who gets to determine it? Perhaps some find the common core standards limiting, but at the very least they set some kind of guideline as to where a child should be in developing. Perhaps it is unfair and unjust to apply those same standards to every single individual, but I think it is also unrealistic to have a free for all in the classroom when we as teachers are going to be managing ~200 kids each week. 

I understand what the boy is saying in this video, and the message he is trying to address, but as a younger kid, I'm sure he also isn't thinking that some of those kids learning the pythagorean theorem are actually going to go on to be engineers who WILL use it to build a steady bridge one day. Or that some of the silly information he learns one day and "forgets" the next is actually a subcontext theory that he has to understand before he can understand something else. Maybe I won't have to ever use the water cycle in application ever again, however, learning about the water cycle helped me understand the world around me in a better way so that I know when I recycle I'm helping to prevent acid rain. 

I really just don't think anyone can value the simplicity of the lessons we sit through in school until we're developed enough to understand the simple connections they have to each other and how they in turn connect to how we understand the world. Best example, this kid's poetic words were made possible through his ability to learn and comprehend language. 

I think I'll cut off here, and I hope I didn't start a huge debate on your blog :/ but what I think this kid is suggesting is an apprenticeship type education where people are carted off to study the subjects they're most passionate about. Coming from someone who changed their major from math to english/math to english to journalism in my first 2 years of college, having core requirements are the best way for kids to explore every subject in an attempt to find what they're truly passionate about. How can you choose a passion when you haven't experienced everything there is the world has to offer."