By Cynthia Ulrich Tobias, M.Ed. 

I still remember my enthusiasm during my first week as a new teacher so many years ago. As a fresh young college graduate, I was excited at the prospect of educating eager young minds for the future. Before I taught my first class, one of the "seasoned veterans" in the faculty lounge pulled me aside to share a bit of advice.

"You know," he said confidently, "most of the kids you’re going to be teaching aren’t even school material." I must have looked puzzled as he continued. "Take my advice," he offered. "Just teach the kids who’ll listen and let the rest fall through the cracks in the system. You’re gonna waste your time trying to talk to kids who don’t want to listen anyway. Just drop ‘em through, teach the rest, and you’ll survive just fine."

My dismay at his suggestion only increased as the first year passed. I found most of the students that were considered not to be "school material" were my favorite kids. They were bright, creative, intuitive and—well, a little obnoxious. I liked that. They seemed to think school was boring. Actually, so did I—and I was the teacher! I kept thinking there must be a better way to reach students than we were using. Did we really want to let so many of these great kids just drop through the cracks?

Every summer I went back to work in the corporate world, both to earn a little extra money and to find out what my students were really going to need when they graduated. From the very first summer I was amazed to find out that, for the most part, people were getting hired for most of the traits that got them in trouble at school! Those who had talked too much were now successful sales people and public relations executives; those who always seemed to have a great comeback and a smart aleck response were now sought-after consultants and troubleshooters; those who had insisted on trying new things and taking a non-traditional direction were now entrepreneurs and CEOs. So many of the strengths necessary for success in life were almost completely discouraged during the school years.

I have been a part of this educational system in some way for over twenty years, first as a public high school teacher, and then as an educator, author and trainer for teachers, parents, corporations and government agencies.. My journey in search of more effective teaching methods led me to the research about learning styles—natural, inborn strengths and preferences born in each of us. As I waded through dry and dusty intellectual studies, I discovered some incredible treasure that validated everything I had believed from my most ideal days as a new teacher. There were lots of ways to reach the same goal; no two students were exactly alike. Although teachers liked the classroom to be quiet, there were some students who simply had to be able to talk in order to remember or process information. Teachers wanted everyone to sit still, but so many children couldn’t really concentrate without moving around and taking frequent breaks.

I know there are literally hundreds of ideas currently being proposed in legislative bodies across the country. I know there will never be one right answer or one magic approach that will provide a panacea for education as we know it. I am certainly not an expert when it comes to systems and paradigms and government beaurocracies. But I do know about teaching and learning, and I have loved both for all of my adult life. I’ve seen lives transformed when children and adults alike discover they are smart and valuable, even though school itself was an agonizing place to be. I’ve witnessed the fact that we do not have to lower academic standards or compromise on behavior in order to achieve success and lifelong learning. But education is in deeper trouble in our nation than ever before. More and more students view their time in our educational system as a prison sentence that must be served, punishment that somehow must be endured. If school is such an unpleasant experience for so many students, why would they ever want to learn again when they finally get released? One thing virtually all of corporate America can agree upon is the need for everyone within an organization to keep on learning. I’ve talked with hundreds of unhappy people in "dead-end" jobs who admit they are scared to death to go back to school or take additional training that could advance them on the corporate ladder. They barely survived the tests and boring classroom drills. Now that they have escaped, they have no idea how to keep on learning. They don’t have a handle on what they’ll need in order to make future training effective, and often lack the motivation for achieving success in the first place.

I am thoroughly convinced that one of the primary goals of K-12 education should be to teach students to be lifelong learners. The content of the curriculum itself will change dramatically and quickly, but if a person understands how to process and make sense of information, there won’t be much he or she can’t conquer. By all means, we should provide quality curriculum and highly trained teachers. We should definitely hold students accountable for performance. It seems, however, that in our constant quest to improve our educational system, we continue to miss the most important point: teaching them to learn. Indeed, most of our efforts aimed toward measuring or improving our educational system are so far off the mark we can’t even see the target.

For example, there is a large percentage of both children and adults who do not perform well on standardized tests. Many of us need to walk and talk in order to tell you what we know, and I have never seen a standardized test that allows for either. Like millions of other parents, I have a child who can tell you everything he knows as long as he can keep moving. When we insist he sit still and recite his answers, it appears he has not remembered anything. Now I’m not saying that the results of the standardized tests should be completely discounted, but isn’t it possible that we are not getting an accurate measure of what our students have learned if the only way we ask them to demonstrate it is by sitting completely still and following a strict and silent procedure?

It is often publicized that our gifted students fare poorly when compared with high achievers from other countries, pointing out that they score even worse than in standard courses of study. But how do we measure giftedness? The examples usually given are test scores in Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Physics. Is this the only definition of exceptional talents and gifts? There is no doubt in my mind that basic math skills are fundamental to every child’s education. But not every child is bent toward a career using math and physics. My personal scores in those areas have always been dismal, but my gifts lie in writing and speaking. My twin sons, so identical in looks, are gifted in completely different areas. My highly analytic son will always fare better on rigorous standardized tests of facts and logic. My highly intuitive, creative son will never quite measure up if the only standard of competence is the current standardized achievement test.

I am certainly not in favor of replacing academic achievements with a sense of self-esteem. I agree that the "touchy-feely-I’m-OK-You’re-OK" approach does not help our children. But I do believe in equipping children with a sense of confidence in their abilities and talents. In education, we seem to spend so much time pointing out the weaknesses and flaws, there is little energy or attention given to assessing strengths and successes. When we start with weakness, there is no place upon which to build. We can only build on strength. I believe we need to focus more on helping our students discover what their natural strengths are, and then help them use those strengths to conquer what is hard for them. For example, a good student athlete is often asked to take off his or her strengths at the door of a math classroom. The athlete is naturally good with movement and energy, and yet in the classroom, all movement must cease, and all energy be subverted. Why not use the energy to learn math? Why not help the student focus all this strength into learning new and difficult concepts?

There is no doubt there are some outrageous expenditures of funds for schools that do not adequately meet the needs of children. For decades, we have thrown money at education, hoping that if we just spend enough, things would improve. But in business, we don’t take a product that is inferior and seek to improve it by opening more factories, increasing employees, and instituting longer working hours without first finding out why the product is inferior in the first place. We have missed the point. I believe that "Outcome Based Education" turned out to be a convoluted concept that simply can’t be salvaged. But education needs to be about outcomes. Perhaps we could call it What’s the Point Education. Instead of arguing endlessly about the merits of phonics versus whole language, why not focus on the point—our children need to know how to read. Instead of using excuses, we could actually find what works and achieve the goal. I have one son who quickly learned to read thanks to phonics. His twin brother, just two minutes younger, struggled with reading until he realized he could learn sight words instead of just pieces and sounds. The point is, both boys can read.

There is an ongoing controversy over whether or not "political correctness" has replaced fundamental facts and concepts in history. But I think that What’s the Point education can help here, too. What’s the point of learning history? Instead of simply writing a curriculum and stating learning objectives that can be extremely biased, why not decide what truly needs to be learned? When there is a clash between traditional and "radical" subject matter, hammer out the point. If there is loud disagreement between liberal and conservative educators, seek to agree on what the point of learning about history needs to be. It will almost certainly be more difficult to agree on the outcomes than on the methods. But if we know what we’re trying to accomplish, we may be amazed at how many ways there are to get the job done.

We do not need to let our differences provide excuses for not learning. Whether we disagree ideologically, philosophically or religiously, we can still create and maintain an educational system that provides and prepares students with fundamental skills and basic goals and direction. For example, in the What’s the Point English classroom, whether you want to write about the rain forest or the stock market, the point should be that you know how to articulate your views. The basic five paragraph essay can be your cornerstone for learning to express your opinions and persuade someone to listen to you. Whether you want to learn about the origins of evolution or the tenants of creationism, the point is that you learn how to research a topic, put together a dissertation, and document your sources accurately. Although we cannot completely separate education and politics, we can have control over what our focus will be. The point is, we need to teach kids to think, not just feed them stuff to think about. We need to stay vigilant and keep our eyes on the goal—and we need to make sure we know what the goal is, not just dictate methods for getting students to do what we want.

Parents must become actively involved in the struggle for control of education. As overwhelming and discouraging as the situation may look, we must roll up our sleeves and dig in, letting our schools know we care about what happens. But I believe we must also guard against getting too simplistic in our answers to the problem. The clarion call of "Back to the Basics" should not simply mean keeping our students sitting in those classrooms for hours of "reading, writing and arithmetic." Teaching reading should not simply mean putting kids in reading groups where we teach phonics slower and louder until they either get it or drop out. The concept of discipline should not simply mean keeping kids quiet and submissive until they are told they can speak. The idea of measuring achievement should not simply be what a list of standardized test scores report about students who themselves are anything but standardized.

We do need educational reform. But most of all we need to remember who we are trying to educate. The students should be our first priority—each child should be considered an important and valuable customer who can potentially change the world for the better. We should keep our standards high, our academic goals clear and our code of ethics strong. But in the end, we need to do what may be the hardest thing of all—ask and answer the question: What’s the Point? .

In my first book, The Way They Learn, I quote Dr. Holland London, a seasoned clergyman and orator when he spoke at a gathering I attended. In his inimitable way, he spoke on a variety of subjects with wit and wisdom. At one point, he paused and leaned closer to the microphone. "People often ask me why I take so many detours when I speak. I just tell them it’s because the ones I’m trying to reach don’t live on the highway." As a parent and educator, I sat there thinking about how much time and effort and money we spend trying to move children to the highway so we can teach and measure and administer their education. But some kids will never even visit the highway. Others, if we dragged them there, would immediately get run over—the highway is not a safe place for them. What would happen if we actually allowed some detours? If the destination is worthwhile, we could find some alternate paths. Instead of insisting that everyone conform only to specific routes, we could encourage the development of new roads and foot paths. Education is in trouble, but I believe that until we clearly define where we are going, no amount of legislation and funding will help us get there.

The Way They Learn: How to Discover and Teach to Your Child’s Learning Style.
Cynthia Ulrich Tobias, Focus on the Family Publishing.

Every Child Can Succeed: Making the Most of Your Child’s Learning Style.
Cynthia Ulrich Tobias, Focus on the Family Publishing.

Do You Know What I Like About You? Jump Starting Virtues and Values in Your Child.
Cynthia Ulrich Tobias, Vine Books.

You Can’t Make Me! (But I Can Be Persuaded).Strategies for Bringing Out the Best in Your Strong-Willed Child.
Cynthia Ulrich Tobias, Waterbrook Press

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