Most Popular Educational Issues and Points to Improve It

Introduction Enrolment to a good school is the best gift a child can receive from his/her parents. Parents spend considerable amount of their time in seeking for the school with the best teaching standards with the hope of having their children enrolled there. A concerned parent would go out of his/her way to ensure that the child settles quickly in school and receives the best of education. Most parents ensure that they try their best to provide everything that their children may require at school.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Most Popular Educational Issues and Points to Improve It specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They even make follow-ups to ensure that the child is progressing well. For the learning process to be successful there has to be cooperation from teachers, students and parents. If one party fails to play his/her part, there will be frustration which will interfere with the learning process. Teachers determine to a great extent the performance of a student and this leads to the question: do teachers like teaching? Do teachers like teaching? This is a question that lingers in the minds of many parents who are concerned about the future life of their children. The value of education cannot be ignored in the present society given that it opens up the mind of the child with the hope of securing a job in future. Sound education plays a major role in molding children into responsible adults who participate in nation building (Gilardi, 2011). Understanding the attitude of teachers towards teaching can be determined by observing a number of factors. Some teachers like teaching while others do not. This may be attributed to the motivational factors and the teaching environment. In a school where there is constant motivation for teachers who excel in their career, a greater percentage of teachers will enjoy their career. Motivation may come in form of rewards for a job well done, and promotions to higher positions with increased responsibility, among others. On the other hand, lack of motivation in school will result in frustration on the side of teachers who feels that their efforts are not appreciated. Teachers will eventually dislike teaching as a profession. The workplace environment also determines whether teachers will like or dislike their profession. A teaching environment needs to be supportive and conducive to work in. Working in an environment that has most of the required facilities will impact positively on the attitude of the teachers towards their profession. On the other hand, teaching in an environment that has no facilities like classrooms and books will contribute to disliking of the teaching profession. Point of concern and improving the issue The issue of teachers liking or disliking teaching is a point of concern since it affects the quality of education. If teachers dislike teaching, they will invest less in their work and this will l ead to low quality of education. The best remedy to this issue is to provide motivation at the workplace and to ensure that proper teaching facilities are put in place so that teachers do not strain so much in their work. This will lead to a positive attitude towards teaching.Advertising Looking for term paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Different ways of learning Learning is a process that teachers need to focus on more seriously as different students have unique learning needs. Each of the learning needs should be addressed differently by paying particular attention to the different ways of learning (Gilardi, 2011). A combination of the different ways of learning will ensure that the learning process is fast and effective. It is imperative for teachers to understand the different ways of learning and try to incorporate them in a classroom scenario. They include the following; Verbal learning is a knowledge- imposing technique by word of mouth by putting everything into a language that can be understood. This involves dictation and note taking where students write notes as the teacher dictates. Students normally listen and try to write as much as possible depending on how they have understood. This is especially done through paraphrasing. Visual learning is normally achieved through the use of visual aids like diagrams, graphs, charts, pictures that try to elaborate a point much more clearly. This kind of learning is associated with good memorization on the part of the students. They are more likely to retain what they have seen during the learning process. Another way of learning is through tactile. This relates to the practical experience acquired in the learning process. Learning becomes effective when the theoretical bit is supported by practical lessons. This will enable students to get full understanding of the learned concepts. Point of concern and improving the issue Different ways of learning has become a point of concern because teachers are not able to identify the unique learning needs of students before selecting the best way of learning to be applied in the classroom. Students in a classroom have unique learning needs due to their different experiences in life. Others will do well in verbal learning while others will perform better in visual learning. Since a class cannot be homogeneous, it is recommended that teachers carry out a learning needs analysis before settling on the best teaching method. If the process is likely to be cumbersome and consume more time while interfering with the learning process, teachers can incorporate all the ways of learning in the classroom to ensure that each student gets to understand what is being taught. Being selective in applying the teaching methods will imply that a certain percentage of students will not be able to grasp the concepts of what is being taught. It is therefore prudent for teachers to use all the different ways of learning in the classroom.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Most Popular Educational Issues and Points to Improve It specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Exceptional and gifted and talented learners Students will always have different learning abilities which define their pace of learning. In a classroom scenario, some students will exhibit talent while others will be slow in the learning process. Exceptionally gifted students will be fast at grasping concepts and even try to challenge the teacher (Metzger, 2010). They will have a tendency of learning ahead of the teacher. They need little explanation and elaboration to understand a certain concept. In contrast, slow learners will require a lot of time to be spent with them before they understand a concept. They need much of examples to support a certain concept before they can fully understand it. A teacher needs to be patient with this group of learners as they will take most of the teaching time. This kind of scenario calls for balancing between fast learners and slow learners. A teacher should not concentrate so much on slow learners while forgetting the exceptionally gifted ones. Similarly, a good teacher should not go with the pace of fast learners as this will leave the rest of the class behind. Teachers need to strike a balance between managing the pace of fast and slow learners. Where a student exhibits talent in a learning environment, the teacher should encourage such a student to perfect on the talent. This can be achieved by providing the necessary environment for nurturing and developing the talent. Point of concern and improving the issue Having a classroom with students who have different learning abilities is the norm in many schools. This issue raises great concern where a teacher decides to focus on one particular group while paying little or no attention to the other group. For instance, if a teacher d ecides to go with the pace of fast learners, slow learners who may be comprising majority of the class will end up learning nothing. Similarly, if the teacher decides to spend so much time on the slow learners, the fast learners will be delayed and this may affect their performance negatively. This is therefore an issue that needs to be recognized and addressed in the classroom if there has to be meaningful learning. In order to solve this problem, a teacher needs to strike a balance between the learning pace of the exceptionally gifted learners and the slow learners. Talent also has to be put into consideration. Students may also be possessing exceptional talents in the fields like sports. Such talents have to be identified and nurtured by giving support to the student to fully recognize the talent. In trying to manage the learning pace between the fast and slow learners, a teacher can divide the classroom into groups.Advertising Looking for term paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Each group should be made up of both fast learners and the slow learners who will end up sharing their different experiences. By so doing, students will be able to learn from each other and this has also been rated as the best learning method. As the students interact at a personal level, they will be able to identify weaknesses amongst themselves and try to address them. They are bound to be open with each other than expressly telling it to their teacher. Student diversity Student diversity has also been one of the major concerns that have affected the education sector (Lee, 2010). Achieving student diversity means acknowledging, accepting and celebrating the differences that students bring from different backgrounds. Diversity may be in terms of age, sex, religion, race, physical and mental abilities, cultural background and class. A good learning institution needs to avoid segregation basing on any of the above grounds. Instead, it should aim at being totally inclusive by bringin g in a diverse student population. A learning institution that has achieved student diversity celebrates a pool of talent that cannot be found anywhere else. A school should have students from different races, ages, social class and religion. Doing this ensures that students are given an equal opportunity to learn and interact with each other. The different experiences that students bring with them from diverse backgrounds are essential to the learning process. Point of concern and improving the issue If a learning institution does not achieve diversity, it is more likely that the school engages in segregation. In such kind of a school, students are normally from the same background, race or even religion. Segregation gets worse when it includes the issue of class where those from a lower social class cannot mix with those from the affluent class. This becomes a point of concern where other students are denied the chance to join good learning institutions basing on their sex, race, religion or even class. The baseline for admitting students should be based on their academic performance and if they meet those requirements, they should be admitted to schools of their choice. In addressing the issue of student diversity, it should be a requirement that a learning institution should admit certain percentage of students from different backgrounds to achieve diversity. It should be alike affirmative action that requires the admission procedure to admit students from different backgrounds with regard to race, religion, sex and class so long as they have the necessary academic qualifications required for admission. Social challenges come to school Students are normally faced with social challenges which may in turn affect their education (Puckett, 2010). Issues like hunger, illiteracy and poor health will adversely affect the learning process. In cases where a student comes from a family that does not value education due to high illiteracy levels, there will be little or no support being offered to the student from the family members. Furthermore, poverty is another issue that cannot be given a blind eye. A family that is poverty stricken will not afford the cost of educating students from the family. Cases of hunger also mean that learners will opt to spend their time in search of food rather than attending school. Even if such a student attends school, this will impact negatively on his learning due to lack of concentration. Ill health also poses a challenge to the learners. Cases of ill health will mean that the students spend most of their time seeking medication when they are supposed to be in school. Point of concern and improving the issue Social challenges will lead to negative performance by students in school. Even in a case where the student is bright, such social challenges will interfere with his concentration in school thereby affecting his performance negatively. In trying to overcome social challenges, efforts should be made to e nsure that students get the necessary support like adequate funding to cater for school fees, eating programs being introduced in schools and health facilities should also be available and affordable to the students. Student life in school and at home There is a great difference between life in school and life at home. In school, one interacts with fellow students under the guidance of teachers who see that the student remains disciplined. One therefore develops social skills while in the company of fellow students. At home, the environment can be quite restrictive especially in families which have few members. Discipline both at home and at school can also vary. In school, teachers are responsible for the discipline of students while at home, parents are in charge of it. In cases where parents are not keen with the discipline of their children, they will grow up to be an undisciplined lot. Point of concern and improving the issue The point of concern here is that there should be co nsistency in the discipline and performance of the student both at home and in school. In many instances, parents leave the role of instilling discipline in their children to teachers. This should not be the case but rather it should be a joint effort aimed at ensuring that the child remains to be disciplined. In order to improve the issue, parents should ensure that they pick from where teachers leave. Parents should also provide an environment that is easy to adjust with school life. Today’s classroom Today’s classroom seems to be the most difficult to manage (Cole Ahmadi, 2010). This is due to the incorporation of technology in the learning process. This is also due to the fact that punishment has been considered as a form of torture to students. Dealing with students without serious punishment can be quite challenging given that most of them do no heed to advice given by the guidance and counselling department. Point of concern and improving the issue The integrat ion of technology with learning poses a great challenge to those who do not have access to such kind of technology. The use of computers and projectors to aid in the learning process has been received with mixed reactions: some support it while others are against it. The issue of doing away with punishment has also raised serious concerns among teachers. In order to improve the issue, students should be taught how best to use the technology that has been integrated with the learning process. Students should be familiar with the technology being employed in the learning process. With regard to discipline issues, more guiding and counselling sessions should be introduced so that the students are advised on the need to be disciplined. Reference List Cole, D., Ahmadi, S. (2010). Reconsidering campus diversity: an examination of Muslim student’s experiences. Journal of Higher Education, 81(2), 121-139. Gilardi, S. (2011). University life of non-traditional students. Journal of Hi gher Education,  82(1), 33-53. Lee, J. (2010). Students’ perceptions of and satisfaction with faculty diversity. College student  journal,44(2), 400-412 Metzger, S. (2010). Maximizing the educational power of history movies in the classroom.  Social Studies, 101(3), 127-136. Puckett, C. (2010). Administering social security: challenges yesterday and today. Social  security bulletin, 70(3), 27-78. This term paper on Most Popular Educational Issues and Points to Improve It was written and submitted by user Punisher to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.