Education Reform: Retro-fitting & Revisiting

There are many ways to progress, and yet it can be summed with one word: change.  Putting that change in context to education, then it’s Education Reform you get.

This reform was ill-conceived to be a concept for stripping bare the old with its ineffective ways.  Yet, with inaccurate calculations, any observer could grasp the idea wrong.  For one, those targeted by the reform is not always ineffective; instead, it used to be effective, until it reached its exhaustion and failed to serve the current needs of the education sector.

This correction then leads an observer to a more impartial view:  that the change is in the sector’s needs, not just the Education Reform’s subject – be it a book, a teaching practice or requirement, or facilities.  Hence, reform is not for stripping; it’s more for retro-fitting – giving the old an upgrade.

This analogy evidently makes the reform work like recycling.  But if it fits the reform’s function, so be it.  However, students, teachers, parents, school administrators, and all other sectors cannot close their eyes from all other functions inherent with reforms.

For one, any Education Reform requires a visit on the past, an assessment of the future, an inventory of whatever’s left.  It is not just a standard reflex, but a means to learn where the reform targets are.  It makes sense as you cannot change what you don’t see as needing of any change.

Hence, every reform has to start with some hunting, a search for evidence that could validly carry with it a suggestion of which road to take.  This hunting activity practically brings with it the rationale behind the reform.  This is in contrast to the usual appeal of reforms: that certain stakeholders are crying for change.  In truth, the needs resound louder, louder than vigilant stakeholders.     

Education Reform: Why the Cry?

People look for change, others for difference.  Students want access to quality education, teachers want access to quality training.  What exactly is the matter with the education sector?

In another famous battle cry, how did the word, Education Reform, manage to subsist before everyone’s eyes?  And yet, more disturbing is the fact that education stakeholders stare at it with glazed eyes, like it’s the holy grail, an end in a very complex means.

One factor is that these stakeholders, with the addition of student-supporting parents, and direct employment–buffer communities, are getting wary of schools.  In fact, they might even be wary of education systems as a whole.  And that wariness could only be attributed to the unsatisfactory results of each of these stakeholders’ investments.

Students don’t necessarily get the job or career of their dreams; perhaps, dreams have gone a long distance to separate itself from reality – and this gap of which is supposedly ‘bridged’ by education.  This bridge function may instead become too dysfunctional that students cry for reforms, for education reform.

Teachers, instructors, tutors, and all educators carrying their nations’ name for them, these people are increasingly having difficulty retrofitting, adapting to the changing needs of the students, and of the society.  There are supports made to address this plea, but the channel in between these supports, they’re as scarce and sometimes, inefficient as the students ‘bridge between reality and dreams.’

And how do teachers meet these issues?  -- They remain to teach.  Hence, in their ever-bearing and diligent way, they too, call for education reform.  And where do these calls go?  More importantly, are these calls heard? 

Everyone wants to think it is; that while some do the talking, there is a listener and a doer, packaged in one.  Government or education field-authorities, perhaps it’s them.

Education Reform: An Equation of Variable & Purpose

Reformation is quite an essential exhaustion in finding ways to make anything good into better, better into best, and so on. This is the actual manifestation of making huge strides in education possible. And in every way, one can’t fault the persistence to practice constant Education reform as each, new integration introduces greater challenges.

Evidently, this manages to put every spectator back to the roots of reform, in particular, its fruits. These consequents range from positive to negative, desired to the unexpected externality. Parting these elements into an intelligible format, the equation would have several differing variable and one pursuit; these two major cores wound up to become the acting mechanism of a reform.

To make practical sense to this analogy, it is recommended to dissect one reform, say computer integration in education. While this Education reform is smoothly commenced in developed countries, the case is different for developing countries. Why? -- Because the requisite variables for making this technological integration possible is in difficult and complex shape. 

First, the technological facilities of developing countries are in a lower level state, which entails a lot of problem. For one, while computer equipment can be made available in particular schools, an energy source (for electricity) is not quite secure for most provinces. Moreover, there is also a lower number of hardware specialists to which could readily address computer equipment problems. 

 

And while the list of issues for computer integration’s variables is piling, actual conduct of reformation appears to be futile. In other words, to make an Education reform wheeling for action, at least, a good number of its variables have to be secured. This doesn’t just point spectators to the land of internal education system-participators; instead, the scope of reformation reaches several other sectors (in the example’s case, the energy sector).

Education Reform: The Scoop behind the Failure

Rallies or public demonstrations – what do these suggest? Be it in the labourers, ordinary citizens, group of minorities, or sectors – their cry is for difference and this only comes in the shape of reform.

In the sector of public education, reform is simply called education reform. Browsing at its history, this reform has quite a colourful story of success and failure. Unsurprisingly, the most effective form of reforms are still existing and being employed at several public schools.

However, if there is something worth delving in its history, it would be the nature of failure, specifically, those that question its sustainability. Consequently, provided below are issues behind the reforms:

* Reform-focus instead of Reformist-focus is an important and transitional perspective to take for all reform participators. Contrary to general perception, perspective affects the manner of doing reformation. Such transitional focus allows participators to ask: “to whom am I loyal – to the reform, or the reformist?”

*  Elements of duration and feedback/results affect the reform. There is considerable duration for the impacts of the education reform to take actual effect on its intended recipients (i.e., students, teachers). Though this is a fact, people and reformers get too eager to see results and aim for a lesser duration. On the other hand, the method of gathering results and feedback is another crucial area in the reform process.

*  Prioritising issues and conflict of judgement on which education issue to first address. In another term, participators in an education reform may argue on which reform to put their heads on.

Interestingly, these issues are not avoidable. In fact, they seem to creep up as soon as the reform planning and process begins. Thus, it is important that they be immediately recognised and addressed to weed out potential or escalated problems in the reformation.

Factors that Could Help Improve Education

        During the thousands of years that man has been immersed in education, it is not only half a century ago that the provision of education has reformed a lot. Although the traditional way of imparting education, that is through books and intellectual lectures and dialogues between the teacher and students, one could observe the transition to a another new level or era. But there is still much more that needs to be done to improve the way knowledge is imparted. There are at least three factors that have caused improvements in education and could bring further reform to the way knowledge is imparted.

        The first factor is adopting innovative ideas regarding the spread of education. As of today, not all people in the world have access to quality education offered by universities and colleges. In fact, most of the top 100 universities and colleges in the world could be found in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. There is a very uneven distribution of quality education in the world. By allowing innovative ideas in education reform the distribution of quality schools, almost everyone would an opportunity to acquire knowledge.

        In the recent years, technology advanced as far as computing machines are concerned. Technology can be used to improve the way knowledge is imparted. Technology could prove to be very essential in providing education not only to a few people but also to the masses. By allowing technological advances in education reform its reach, more people could acquire knowledge.

        Alternative methods in education reform the way knowledge is imparted by introducing new techniques and out-of-the-box learning ideas that would allow teachers to be more effective in imparting knowledge to their students. The classroom is not the only place where students could acquire knowledge; there are also other viable learning venues.

Future necessity for education reform

          A reform is always done to correct a particular widespread fault in a certain system. It may also mean adopting new means and methods in order to accelerate the improvement of the current system. With the current pace of things, new technologies and formed habits are expected to radically change in a matter of years.

         Talks about education reform are not new to the academe. Some members still prefer maintaining the traditional method of education, but other cry for changes. The present setup of education in many countries calls for students to go to universities and colleges and attend classes where professors impart their wisdom. Currently, there is nothing wrong with the setup, as this still fit the current system of things. One event, however, will happen for sure in the near or far future – a worldwide reform of the education system.

        The call for reform is not without basis. There are significant issues that are being address to determine whether an education reform is needed. One of these issues is the use of the computer and the Internet as tools for learning. It is being debated whether the advent of this technology and it rapid improvement would render physical schools useless. In the future, students may not need to go to school, that is physically. Although, some institutions offer home education though the Internet, the academe has yet to see what a full implementation of an improved system could do.

       The lack of funding, infrastructure and teaching materials are also pushing for the reform of the educational system. If an education reform is initiated and implement is first world country, others may follow, depending on its degree of success. The world just hopes that any reform would be for the benefit the educational system.

Thank you and God bless.

Why The U.S. Public School Education System Needs Education Reform

        Education reform or educational reform is the process of improving and enhancing the public education system in a particular country including the United States. There is no denying the hard fact that the American public education system should be reformed and improved because of the numerous challenges and problems that it is facing. If you are a public school teacher or a student in a public school, you should be aware of the various reasons for the importance and urgency of carrying out educational reform in the public schools of the U.S.

        An extensive and comprehensive education reform programme should be carried out in the public school system for both the primary and secondary school levels because reform is needed to enable the U.S., to compete in a global economy that focuses on disciplines such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Today, various research studies have been published in stating that a significant majority of American students from various public primary and secondary school districts are lagging behind in examination scores for science and mathematics compared to public school students from other developed countries. Many educators and other experts have said that an American secondary school graduate should have completed a comprehensive basic education that emphasizes academic, intellectual and practical skills that would make him economically competitive if he enters the labour force, or well-prepared when he continues his education to a university or college.

        An important aspect of carrying out an education reform programme in the public school system would be addressing the issues affecting the quality of the teaching staff in various public school districts. A comprehensive educational reform programme should address and solve the issues affecting the quality of the public school teachers such as upgrading and training of their skills, and setting standards for the academic and professional credentials and other qualifications of the teachers.

Career Options for Education Reform in The United States

        It is a well-known fact that education reform or educational reform in the public school system in the United States today is badly needed to reverse the current trend of students from public primary and secondary schools in the U.S., lagging behind with their counterparts in other developed countries. A major factor that would affect or influence the government and private sectors in carrying out educational reforms would be the availability of educators and other professionals who would be employed in carrying out the activities and programmes for educational reform.

        A job position involved in education reform today holds many opportunities for job growth and career advancement. That is because of the cooperation between government agencies, the private sector, and non-government organisations in making policies and carrying out the activities and programmes that would make educational reform a reality in American public schools. So whether you are a recent university graduate, a teacher, or an administrator involved in education, there are several approaches you could take to pursue in pursuing a career in educational reform.

        Working for non-government or non-profit organisations involved in education reform for public schools are a great way to start and gain teaching experience and make a difference at the same time especially if you are a recent university graduate. An example is Teach for America – a non-profit organisation that recruits recent college graduates and professionals in teaching jobs for two or more years in urban and rural low-income communities throughout the U.S.

       Working in job positions involved in education research and policy are another career approach in educational reform. Among the primary roles of an education researcher is conducting research studies that produce findings or results on how to formulate and carry out policies for educational reform in public schools. As an educational researcher, you could work in government agencies, non-government organisations, and in educational institutions.

Pedagogical Tools and Teaching Strategies in Education Reform Issue

         Education reform has been a recurring issue in recent years. There are points which people from inside and outside the academe raise from time to time which relate reforming the education or academic system. Some people argue that the measuring tools used by some schools in rating student academic performance produce results which are not conclusive or representative of the true knowledge and learning the students indeed have. Others assert that some teaching strategies used by specific schools or the education sector in general are not effective.

• Measuring Tools – In the issue of education reform, the tools used by teachers or professors in schools can be one of the most important factor to consider. To be able to make a decision whether there is a problem with the education system and reforming it is truly called for, one should measure the product or output of education or the schools. These products or outputs are the students and measuring them means measuring their academic performance. In doing so, we use measuring tools which are called pedagogical tools or assessment, evaluation, rating or grading tools. Further, we should examine whether these tools truly yield results representative of the what is indeed achieved by the students. 

• Teaching Strategies – Aside from the pedagogical tools, teaching strategies are also essential elements when we debate about education reform. Discussing teaching strategies require the account of the different aspects of teaching, training and instruction. Teaching strategies are tackled in the aspects of efficiency, effectiveness and overall benefits to the learners or students. We should research what studies have been done about teaching strategies and what are their findings and recommendations. Then, we should also check what are the studies which contradict or oppose one another in one or more aspects. Doing this, we can make our own educated opinion whether to agree or disagree to reform the present education system.

Problems to be Addressed by Education Reform

        Reforming education or education reform is a plan, process, or movement that has a primary purpose of starting and carrying out positive changes in the education system within a specific location such as a country, state, province, or community. We had a research paper about the issues or concerns facing the state supported or public funded education system in the United States and one of the issues or concerns that I selected as the topic for my research paper is on the topic of reforming the public education system in the U.S.

        Since I only had a week to finish and complete my research paper, I decided that the theme of my topic should be the specific problems of the public school education system in the U.S., and the solutions that could be provided by an education reform plan. I also performed extensive research on my topic. As a senior student in a public funded secondary school, I am exposed to the problems facing our school that has also become typical for many public secondary schools in the country. Our school suffers from problems in some of the facilities, lack of qualified and good teachers, a curriculum that promotes poor academic performance, and other problems that affect the teachers, students and parents.

        I read and studied several websites of organisations that are dedicated for starting, planning and pursuing programmes in reforming the education of the public school system, and in lobbying government agencies that are involved in policies for public schools. I found out that the major public school problems that should be addressed by education reform involves curricula emphasizing academic skills while leaving out non-academic practical skills, heavy federal and state regulation that restricts local school boards and administrators in carrying out needed reform, and staunch opposition from teachers' unions and other groups with special interests in the education sector.