Where We’re Headed

When looking into the future, there are numerous ways to move forward. Some people’s visions seem to be filled with more disaster than hope, as they focus more on actuality. They’re stuck in today’s problems and believe that current issues such as the budget crisis will continue on to the next generation.

Teachers pay is cut, schools cut classes and extra materials because they receive less funding, and student dreams turn from making a good career for themselves to hoping that one day fortune and recognition will fall upon them as they stroll the streets. With education becoming seemingly less and less important to society as time goes on, the face of education has gone from positive to negative.

I, along with many others, like to think about the brighter side of education and view the future at an optimistic angle, unlike the media. However, in order to focus on that brighter side — the students — we need to first get past our shadowing problems.
 

Schooling should be made a high priority

Currently, education is struggling both economically and socially. Everything is becoming “too cool for school,” even our nation’s money. We are so busy trying to assess the root of all the evil in this world that we are overlooking the root of all the good in it.

The foundation of everything today is knowledge. Man only creates things when he knows how to work his surroundings. To move forward and solve all problems, we must gain expertise and know-how.

You need years of schooling before you can properly manage any career and build intricate techniques on top of your foundation. You are not born with the ability to teach, do surgery, create architectural structures, or run a business.

Ever since the beginning of the world, the evolutions and revolutions of man have been made possible through intellect and training. This is why schooling should be held as one of the highest priorities in every corner of the world.
 

General v. specific knowledge

The purpose of schools is not only to teach children, but also to prepare them for adulthood. 

Schools right now seem to focus on giving their students general knowledge more than anything else. When studies are too broad, students don't always have enough knowledge in one area to build a decent career.

While kindergarten through high school teaching opens doors to understanding, open doors do not have much of an effect if there is nothing inside. Something that schools need to understand is that some students cannot go to college, for whatever reason that may be, and therefore are left without expertise. Although pre-college schools are not as focused as they could be, their teachings do not go without reason.
 

Standards and tests

Statewide, nationwide, and even school-wide tests and course standards are the basis in which all possible studies can be built upon. They are made to ensure an understanding for all aspects of life. Because of how useful they are in preparing people for the many tests and struggles of the real world, they will be continued for as long as there is a reason for them to be taught.

 Not only will standards be kept, but will be raised time and time again. Although this is true for every country, I believe that the one I live in, the United States, will greatly increase the strength and performance of their common studies.
 

Prepare students for careers sooner

In recent years I have seen more students drop out and transfer to online schooling. Also, schools have been created to catch students up to their required credits. I believe this is because high school is the time when people transform into the kind of person they want to be in life, and through overworking on assignments they do not see fit for them, they give up and let life pass them by.

That is why putting a student into training for the field that they wish to serve for life should occur earlier on. Then they would be interested in gaining knowledge instead of gaining levels on some video game. Once affection for one class or study is created, an appreciation for all classes is gained.

In order to get all students to shape themselves through learning, education must conform to the youth’s mind.
 

Specialized education

With the entire world rising in population, there are more job positions to fill, and more students specialize in majors. Specialization allows workers to cover all the functions of society, as well as further inventions and possible maintenance for any sort of needs.

People do not need to be as well rounded and versatile as they use to be decades ago. For this reason, I believe that future education will specialize more on specific traits and the talents of an individual. The kind of training provided in college should be, and will be, more readily available to high school students, and even those in middle school.
 

Education moves forward

Education is of the utmost importance and will outlast the limits of time. Over time, it will run though any obstacle and exceed the expectations of the world. It will only grow and become greater and more versatile than ever, so don’t worry about today’s problems, but instead beat them.

Students will be more capable than ever, and this process begins with the continuation of extraordinary teachings from our schools all around the world. Although where we are with education today is not the best place we could be at, we are clearly on our way to an intellectual era.

About the author: Spencer Taylor is a junior at Empire High School who enjoys the music and fashion of the East.