Editorial

The Education System: Still Missing the Mark(s)

By Professor Bernie Gaidosch

If your car's engine isn't working, getting a new paint job really won't help.
If students aren't taught skills crucial to their success, simply throwing money at the system isn't necessarily the answer.

For all the concerns that the education system addresses, it's still missing the mark by not specifically tackling three important areas: Writing skills, study skills and student motivation.

As a college and university professor for the past 30 years, I've seen students increasingly struggle when they make the huge leap from high school to post-secondary. And their adjustment isn't only academic, it also comes out in their frustration and low self-esteem when they emotionally say "it's my fault" or "I must be a dummy."

What are the negatives they face:

• In middle and high school, students aren't taught how to write and there are no courses that teach them the shortcuts to getting top marks on tests and exams

• Poor skills often drive students to cheat by downloading essays from the internet

• Distractions like technology and the media frequently obscure the value of learning the basic skills

• Curriculum emphasis on attaining high scores on literacy tests detracts from teaching writing and study skills

• With a dropout rate between 30-40 per cent many students lack the motivation to succeed in school

• College and university programs are difficult: 5 or 6 courses per semester, an 800-page text per course, and 50 per cent of all marks on essays and the other 50 per cent on tests and exams

• Entrance requirements to post-secondary have climbed. Where a 74 per cent average got you in 10 years ago, it's now a minimum of 84 per cent

• Too many Grade 12 grads score only at the Grade 8-9 level on admission tests

On the numerous radio talk shows I've appeared on across Canada and the U.S., I've spoken with thousands of concerned parents who asked what they could do to help their kids learn how to learn. Many were even home-schooling their children because they'd lost faith in their own education system to provide the answers.

Sadly, all the meetings and reports in the world aren't going to help these students in the here and now reality they face every day in the classroom. But the following tips can help. I've taught them to many struggling students over the years so they could quickly become better writers, learn effective study techniques, and become more motivated and excited about learning:

For essay writing, students need to write the conclusion to an essay first to stay on track. The conclusion is really a destination. It's where the writer tries to take the reader. All of the thinking and reading a student has done on a topic has led to the conclusion. I show them how a TV lawyer argues her case in court: The conclusion guilty or not guilty provides the entire focus and structure of her argument.

They need study strategies and techniques to achieve the highest marks with the most efficient effort possible. I show them how to predict test questions, take notes from their notes, and recycle their effort from small to large assignments.

I guide them in what to do before, during and after an exam, in how to benefit from using study groups, and how to tell the difference in test terms (compare/contrast).

Kids need to get fired up about school and learning. I tell them that skills equal success and that inspiration leads to dedication. We subscribe to learning motivational strategies in all walks of life and business, so I become an "education trainer" for students to teach them similar strategies.

I let them see how motivated students work with their teachers, how to avoid the procrastination blues, and how sales skills can help students. They need to know that their A also comes from attitude and ways to pump themselves up for top marks.

Until these skills are taught in our school system to prepare students adequately for success in college and university, until we teach them how to fix the engine, we'll continue to spin our wheels when it comes to giving them their missing educational needs.

And our kids will continue to miss the marks they deserve.

Professor Bernie Gaidosch (known across North America as Professor Bernie) is the creator of the 'Fast Track Essay Writing System' and the 'Best On The Test Study Plan'. He has also developed the 'Motivate To Be Great Action Plan'.

He teaches at George Brown College.

He can be reached at mbc.gaidosch@sympatico.ca.

From The Mississauga News.

To top of page.

Home | Who Is Professor Bernie? | Media Coverage | Comments | Contact Professor Bernie | The Professor's Secrets Success-In-School Senior Edition For High School, College & University Students | The Professor's Secrets Junior Edition For Grades 1 - 6