MovieChat Forums > Waiting for 'Superman' (2010) Discussion > Bad teachers aren't the problem

Bad teachers aren't the problem


Bad teachers aren't the problem. It's the system that produces them that is the problem. Tenure might be compounding the issue but the real problem is the fundamental misconceptions of our education systems. I think it's illustrated perfectly in some of the graphics in the documentary - I'm talking about the ones that shows knowledge as something being poured into the kids brains from a teacher. I knew as a kid that the stuff they wanted to pour into my head was misaligned and out of touch with reality. I knew what I liked, what I wanted to do, what was true in my heart, but what I was taught didn't resonate with any of it and I was told to ignore my own wisdom.

Learning is fun when you feel it's relevant to you. And teaching is fun when you feel relevant to the kids as a teacher. Schools should facilitate learning by providing the knowledge, the tools, the facilities - but the actual learning is a creative process. It's CREATIVE. It means you derive new knowledge not just from the past - but from the present - through a process of discovery. If you give the kid a problem to solve and provide tools to solve it - then that process of discovery will be enjoyable. And teachers may even come to learn a few things from the kids - and that will make their work even more rewarding.

As a kid around the age of 10 there was no longer any creative activities in school. None. It was all facts, solutions, etc. to be memorized. I was intelligent but I had poor memory. I was only given solutions to memorize, other people's stories to read, other people's discoveries to read about. I was bored out of my mind. It was torture. And what did I really learn? I learned to ignore my own wisdom - not to trust it. That my self-worth depends on other people's judgments/grades and the amount of other people's knowledge I can memorize. That success flows from external factors such as diplomas, awards, grades, rather from actual inner qualities such as courage, wisdom, compassion, etc. These are inner qualities that need to be encouraged, and that will naturally arise in a kid if you give room for it.

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