We may not like it, but the truth is that our educational system has not changed much since the time of Maria Theresa. Sure, children today are taught somewhat different content, but the basic principles have not changed. This is despite the great strides that have been made in the last few decades in the field of child psychology and in understanding how humans learn and retain information. It is no wonder then that many are calling for educational reform. But the question is whether it is really necessary.
First of all, we need to look at how education is actually done today. It focuses primarily on memorizing facts rather than on children discovering new things for themselves. It also takes little account of the individuality of the child. Everyone learns the same things, and children who cannot handle this pace have to find a tutor. And whether and how they remember everything is regularly tested by tests.
One could argue here that this is not the case, for example, in mathematics where logic is required. Really? Or do children have to have procedures and patterns down pat and follow them? What grade would they get if they arrived at a good result by a different method than the one shown by the teacher? Like it or not, here, too, is memorization.
However, we can all confirm that what we learn in this way does not stay in our minds very long. We usually forget it right after we pass our last exam. This is even more so because we don\’t need most of what we have learned.
Indeed, that was fine when the goal of education was primarily to teach children their duties and a set schedule, which they had to follow without rebelling. It was necessary to educate future factory workers and laborers that way. But times are different now. What is required is primarily creativity, independent thinking, and the ability to solve problems independently. But such things are not taught in schools. Here, only following learned procedures is taught. And that is simply not enough today.