Field trips, Education, Learning, and Responsibility

I just got word that more and more schools across the country are eliminating field trips. At first I thought, well maybe the budget isn't there? Nope, after talking with various people on the subject there’s just simply not enough time in the day to study for the standardized testing that is being implemented more and more. Therefore, the field trips to theaters, museums, and zoos are being cancelled.

When I was a kid the thing I looked forward to and made sure to study harder for, as to not be left out, were the field trips. The simple truth is that more learning, if nothing else, more inspiration came from going on field trips. No one likes being stuck in a class room with their head buried in a book all day long for months on end; even the most seasoned book nerd needs a breather from time to time. I remember watching students and even the toughest teachers light up at theater performances because we are all children inside and strive to find that sense of wonder in the world. That, to me, was the point of field trips, to inspire and educate from an alternative perspective. Sometimes it just reinforced what we were learning in class, affirming to us students that our teacher was not just feeding us a line of malarkey.

How are students ever going to learn what variety of options are available to them in the world? Besides food service, what they see on television (which isn't great) or whatever their parents already do, where are the next generation of students going to learn that they can be a dancer, singer, musician, artist, zoologist or really ANYTHING they want? I, personally, would not have become a musician had I not been exposed to lots of varying performances through field trips.

The problem is that the people making these changes, the administrators of the world, can’t see past their pocket book enough to know that a world with a strong arts foundation will be stronger in all other areas.

At this point we've put all of the responsibility of teaching our kids into the hands of the government. Let’s be honest, do you really want the government controlling what is being taught to your kids? Do you trust them to teach the truth in history? I know the history that was taught to me did not include all of the truth or at least did not offer up varying perspectives. So it was a bit of a shock to learn the many truths that are skewed in lieu of trying to control the flow of information. 

Math and science are integral to music, but the converse is the true as well. Without music and creative thinking many of our science breakthroughs may not have happened as they did. They work hand in hand. Why not embrace all forms of creative thought? Who knows, this might inspire people to think outside of the narrow minded box that society has built and maybe create some happiness?

Imagine that, a world where creative thought is embraced and awarded more than standardized testing. Wouldn't it be nice to live a happy life not being told you’re not good enough or not as good as someone else based off of a test score? Our society is completely obsessed with numbers and labels. If you don’t fit into a specific number or label of some kind, you’re weird or outcast from the group. But this is where teachers are outnumbered; it is not the teacher’s job to teach students the basics of accepting and understanding everyone, at least it hasn't been. Teachers have always taught math, science, music, art, and history, what have you and the good ones teach us how to love and understand each other as well. Parents have always been expected to love and care for their children and it’s always been assumed that they are teaching them what they need to know to survive in the “real world.” But the truth of the matter is most children have no understanding of these concepts before they enter the school system, leaving the teachers to try and cram in the basics along with all of the specialized areas.

But what if the roles were reversed? What if parents were required to teach their kids math, science, and history to be accepted into the school system each year leaving teachers free to help kids become more creative and expand their skills? Who better to cater to the individual needs and varying learning habits of each student than their own parents, just a thought? The saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it! Well I'm pretty sure our education system is broke and we desperately need to fix it. Hope this inspires some creative thought or conversation about the topic; let’s find a way to help our kids because they don't know any better.