Nations should not require that all students study the same national curriculum. If every child
were presented with the same material, it would assume that all children learn the same and tha
teachers are capable of teaching the same material in the same way. In addition to neglecting
differences in learning and teaching styles,
it would also stifle creativity and create a generation of
drones. The uniformity would also lend itself to governmental meddling in curriculum that could
result in the destruction of democracy. If every teacher is forced to teach a certain text, the
government need only change that text to misinform an entire generation. Lastly, a standardized
curriculum would also adversely affect students who come from lower income families or families
who have little education as they might not have as many resources for learning outside of school.
Children all learn in very different ways. If the curriculum is standardized completely, it leaves
little room for exploratory learning. One child may learn how to spell from reading, another may
learn from phonics. If the curriculum is standardized, suppose one aspect is dropped, that may
exclude certain children from learning adequately.
This is not to say of course that there shouldn't be
requirements, but they should be general requirements, not something so specific as a curriculum.
Especially at the high school level this would be detrimental to the variety of subjects that a
student can learn.
Standards and the--No Child Left Behind--act in America are already forcing the reduction
in programs such as art and music that have a less defineable curriculum. Additionally, education
systems are rarely funded well enough to achieve the general goal of educating children.
If a national curriculum were implemented, would it come with a significant increase in
financial support? History suggests that it would not.
Teachers also have different methods of teaching's- if say, the English curriculum of all high
schools were standardized, then a book that one teacher teaches excellently and therefore inspires
students to read more and learn on their own might be eliminated,
and although that teacher ought to
be capable enough to teach the curriculum books, his or her students will still be
missing out on what might have been a great learning experience.
It also limits how much of the teacher's unique knowledge he or she can bring to the classroom.
It is these inspirational books or experiences that allow teachers to reach students's--if they
are put in a mold, the quality of teaching and learning will go down.
Learning should be enjoyable and children and adolescents should be taught not only the
curriculum in school, but that the body of knowledge that exists in the world today is enormous and
that you can learn your whole life. Having a national curriculum implies that there is a set
group of things worth learning for every person.
Maybe this is true, but for students, it sets up a world where
there is a finite amount of knowledge to be acquired for the purpose of regurgitating it on a test.
Teaching a standard curriculum doesn't encourage inquiries's-it doesn't make students ask questions
like, "Why?" and "How?" School's real purpose is teaching people to learn, not just teaching them
a set group of facts.
By teaching them to learn, students can continue doing so, they can extend skills
from one area of knowledge to another.
This type of learning fosters creativity that can be used not
only in math or science or English, but in art or music or creative writing. Teaching a brain to go
beyond being a file cabinet for facts is the best way to teach creativity. Creativity is too often
assumed to be something only for the arts. It is creativity that results in innovation and it is
innovation that has resulted in the greatest achievements of humanity in the sciences and
humanities alike.
Finally, the education system of a country is designed to put all children on a level playing
Though this is only an ideal, it is a noble ideal. If the school curriculum becomes standardized,
children who have highly educated parents, or more money to buy books outside of school, or more
resources for tutors or private schools will immediately gain a foothold. Poorer students from
uneducated families in the current American school system are already at a disadvantage,
but at least now there is hope through variety that something can reach out to them and inspire
them. There is hope that they can find a class that interests them.
If the curriculum becomes rigid and standardized,
it is these disadvantaged students who fall through the cracks.
There are many reasons not to standardize the curriculum. The uniqueness of students and
teachers is the most obvious, but students from less educated backgrounds will suffer the most. The
creativity of a nation as a whole would fall with a standardized curriculum.
Most importantly though is the question of who and what?
Who chooses the curriculum? What is important enough that it
must be taught? These questions assume that there is some infallible committee that can foresee all
and know what knowledge will be important in everyone's lives. There is no person, no group, no
committee capable of deciding what knowledge is necessary. Curriculum should have standards, not be
standardized and education should be as much about knowledge as it about learning to learn.