There are many experts in education. Government that seems to know best, education secretaries that certainly have the solution, districts that mandate, standards to be followed, and teachers that always know best. Yet in many conversations surrounding education we seem to leave someone important out; the students. No one seems to be bothered to ask what they think of the state of the American educational system. No one seems to care how they feel about Race to the Top, college tuition, or even day-to-day curriculum. No one seems to care because we do education to them.
Students are not seen as the experts that they truly are. Students are not included in the debates, in the decision making and yet all of our decisions impact them the greatest. This year, I ran my classroom with one word in mind: ours! This classroom does not belong to me, I am not there to "do" anything, I am there to educate along with my students. And believe me, they want to be heard. When I provided them with the opportunity to speak either through conversation or blogging, it was like a floodgate had been opened. These 4th graders already knew how they learned best, they knew how to be the best students they could possible be, except no one had ever asked them.
We claim to be experts yet forget to ask those we are experts on. How can this failed social experiment continue to function? How can we do education to all of these children without ever asking them how they feel about it. Ask the children! Hear their voice and then change! It changed my life when I let my students speak, don't continue to support the silence.
