Traditional Schooling – Is there Still a Place for It?
Is traditional schooling necessary for all students?
If one looks at dropout rates and poor attendance, let alone boredom and challenging behavior, why is traditional schooling mandatory? Learning is mandatory! And by the way, the basic skills of math, reading, and writing are mandatory. On a continuum of being functional in society through to contributing to society on phenomenal levels, there has to be more diverse ways to learning than sitting at a desk and complying with what might be considered dull and irrelevant parts of the curriculum.
Let’s not start with students who have no aptitude in academia but have sparkling potential with hands-on learning. And let’s not forget students who know what they’re interested in but have no outlet to exploit that potential in the traditional school setup. Then there are students who are like fish to water in academia and are too self-driven and self-directed to be slaves to traditional learning. In fact, they are often told not to work ahead of the class, as they’d be bored. A paradox indeed.
Different ways to facilitate learning in different contexts need to be explored. The idea of same-age learners being at the same cognitive level is becoming more of a myth in this age of technology. There is so much diversity in young children today from an early age that if they are not stimulated in ways that suit their individual learning aptitudes, abilities and interests, then valuable time is wasted in their potential to learn and thrive.