Author: Hasani (Page 4 of 6)

Something i was interested in when i was younger was astrology and criminal justice. Although i grew out of my astrology phase for the most part i still had and have a connection to criminal justice. I think my attraction to it arose in elementary school first, because i saw that there were people out there helping to put “bad people” away. However really I’ve been interested in it mainly since i was in middle school, initially i wanted to be a cop. Then i realized that the less physical and hands on aspect suited me more such as being a lawyer, paralegal assistant, or judge. So that’s initially where my fascination began. I started getting more of an understanding in history, although not many questions were answered. Although in school we learn about things that have some sort of connection to law, we never really learn about anything that’s really in and of itself law. Like we never learned about the different type of courts, but we were taught things like the amendments which i guess are just as useful. My curiosity hasn’t really changed, but it definitely has grown. I have a deep adoration for law and people in law, because not only are they making a change but they help keep the peace. I guess the education system did a good job of teaching the basics i needed to know, such as my amendments. However there is a lot more to law that i hadn’t learned or been aware of.  I think the more i learn about law in college the more i really want to be involved and provide some type of help. Especially as a black, LGBT+ member i feel as though it is imperative that i add more representation in that field and it makes me more eager to start working.

In James Baldwin’s speech “A talk to teachers” he compares the extensive and vast history of the work for how large the world in and of itself is. In doing so he is trying to inform us that the world is larger. The world has so many different opportunities and possibilities, it is vast and i he also brings up a point that we should explore it. He states “we shouldn’t be bound by the experiences of any given administration”. Meaning that we shouldn’t be closed off to one type of experience given to us, and that it’s up to us to make and experience our own things. This is a reoccurring theme throughout the entire speech i’ve noticed. I believe this is also the beauty of how vast the world is, there’s always room to learn and grow. In school i wish we had been taught other things that would’ve been more useful in life. For example, i would’ve loved to have a unit on credit or taxes opposed to the pythagorean theorem. I feel like not only would it have broadened my experience with what is soon to be my new world, but it also would have made me more eager to learn. I also would’ve liked to learn about things like tax return. I just personally feel like these were things that could’ve been taught to us, opposed to unnecessary math problems that we wouldn’t remember the year after. Or i would’ve benefited by learning more about politics in history opposed to the civil rights movement ever year of high school and middle school, over and over again. This would’ve broadened my mind exponentially, and lead me to have more meaningful experiences. I guess you could say in that scenario i was bound by an experience given by an administrator, when i could’ve been experiencing more in general.

I had always assumed that the education system was perfect, i mean it’s used to help mold the brains of billions of kids around the globe. As a kid, school holds a sort of authority over your life, it’s not really something you question. You assume everything is put into place to perfectly educate you and you peers, it’s a system you are taught to trust. However the older i got, the more i noticed instances that refute the previous mindset that had been put in my head for years.

An incident in specific that changed my view on education would have to be in the 11th grade. The summer before school started, I had been emailed my schedule for the school year. I remember reviewing my schedule, deeply focused on what classes i would have for the year. Wondering which of my friends would be in which period, and how many periods i had before lunch. I was pleased to see that i was accepted into my first AP class, computer science. Of course i was prepared for it to be difficult, not only because it was an AP course but because computer science involves a lot of math (which isn’t a strength of mine). Fast forward about 2-3 months into the school year, something unexpected yet great happened to me. I was understanding and doing the work easily, even the math. This is because i work better with hands on work, opposed to other forms of learning. A lot of the material had been hands on up to that point, and it really made me more confident in my work and in my self. However i also realized that other kids were struggling either because 1. thats not how they were use to working or 2. because that’s not how they worked best. This led me to the conclusion that even tho this may work well for me and others, that doesn’t mean that it’s what works best for everyone.

At the end of every unit our teacher would do a survey just to get an understanding of where her class was at. I remember sitting at my desk typing on those cold MacBooks. Feeling like these surveys were unnecessary and a waste of time as i assumed the teacher wouldn’t even consider anyone’s ideas (none the less read all of them). The aforementioned survey would ask various questions such as “What was your favorite topic this unit”, “what do you want to see next unit”, and “Are there any lingering questions”. Another question being “what do you want to see changed next unit?”. Of course i put the usual such as “less homework” or “more extra credit” as i was doing fairly well with how she was teaching up till that point. However i’m guessing multiple of my classmates asked for less hands on experiences, because as soon as the new unit took place that’s exactly what happened. My teacher opted for less hands on work and for more written assignments and lecture type class periods. I then found myself struggling and frustrated that i couldn’t work, i found myself exactly where i feared i’d be the summer before school started. This took a toll on not only my grades, but also my confidence in that course. Needless to say, some kids thrived in this new work environment and did a complete 360 in terms of grades.

That’s when i realized that the way we’re educated isn’t perfect, you can’t cater to every kids way of learning and you definitely can’t please every student. However as an educator and you have to find out what works for the majority, as the education system isn’t an exact science. In saying that education isn’t perfect, i’m saying that it wasn’t made to perfectly resonate with every single kids way of learning. Some might have to work harder to grasp a concept than others, and although it isn’t fair it’s OKAY. There are alternatives you can take on situations such as the one i was in. There’s lunch lessons, one on one talks, office hours, etc. Which is exactly what i did, i stayed after school a lot that year and even asked my teacher at the time for alternative ways of learning. My after school would include doing the same problem over and over until i understood, coming home drained from the work, and even more practice after that. Although at the time i looked at it as unfair that i had to work harder than others in order to grasp a concept, i quickly realized that just a few months ago other students were in my place. My teacher of course would not change how she taught the course to spite me, but she needed to do what was best for the majority.

Although we assume the best in the school system and other authorities in our lives, it is important to take a notice to this flow of value type trust. I made the observation that the education system wasn’t perfect, and it changed my mind about education from there on out. I learned to rely on myself to understand things, because some educators ways of learning may not help me.