Breaking Up With the Education System
The education system. Learning, memorizing, regurgitating, unlearning, a never-ending cycle. For most, 13 years is the bare minimum. What’s the price? Your freedom gets checked at the door.
ISSUE #1: LABELS and SEPARATION
Why fit in when you were born to stand out? Labels are more than just a word, they become an identity. Labels are a way of keeping us small, limitless, and hopeless. Unfortunately, the education system doesn’t stay away from labels.
Your grade level- LABEL
Your academic performance- LABEL
Your teaching aptitude- LABEL
Your behavior-LABEL
Your feelings and emotions- LABEL
Your role in the education system- LABEL
From my perspective, labels are the heaviest thing individuals carry. Rather than being playful and exploring oneself, students are being defined and categorized by words from those with authority. This results in a sense of confusion, a disconnect from themselves and separation. Children go through the education system dependent on the words that keep them playing small. They don’t know what they like, what they don’t like. Labels encourage comparison and division rather than unity.
ISSUE #2: LACK OF RESOURCES/SUPPORT
Staff and students are overworked and under-supported. Overhead funding is at an all time low. Essential services and functions are missing or lacking. This includes but is not limited to: mental health resources, movement breaks, outdoor sun exposure throughout the day, nutrition support, strategic plans for staff.
ISSUE #3- INTUITION SHUTDOWN
What are your beliefs? What is true for you? Not what your family tells you, not what your peers tell you, not what your boss tells you. YOU, your inner knowing. What do you need? What do you want? If everything were to disappear right now, would your life be just as you want it? The “truth” from a textbook is not necessarily your truth. The “truth” from your teacher is not necessarily your truth. Find it, hold onto it, and whatever you do don’t let go.