Social Injustices in

Schools
The Education System

Problem

School is compulsory from around the age of 5-16. Even though most
people finish school at 17+.

In Primary school, the overall gist is to learn.

However, once you get to Secondary school its not about learning
anymore. Its about passing.

This is not the way it should be. Thats why I think this is an important
injustice in schools.

We're 'taught' things like "the mitochondria is the powerhouse of a cell".

Which for some is a valuable thing to know. But for others its not.

So we learn things like that but not how to pay taxes and other life
skills?

Problem (Standardized Tests)

A standardized test is any exam that's given and scored in a predetermined,
standard manner to every single student.
Basically, if you can't memorise what is needed to be memorised for this exam,
you will fail or get a bad grade.
Even if someone is good at learning off essays off by heart, if the teacher doesn't
teach well or doesnt give good notes, the student will do bad anyways.
This causes severe stress and disappointment when students are met with failure.
Standardized tests measure only a small portion of what makes education
meaningful.
A standardised test can't measure a students knowledge, only their memory. It's
like asking a fish to climb a tree. It can't do it. And most of the times these tests
are like that.

Steps Towards Change

Finnish culture values motivation and the pursuit of personal interest. It

has a short school day but includes school-sponsored extracurricular
activities, because culturally, they believe important learning happens
outside of the classroom.

They learn problem-solving and critical-thinking skills in order to live

easily later on in life.

Finland was first on the international education (PISA) rankings from

2001-2008, but has no standardized tests used to rank students or
schools.

Success has been gained using "assessments that encourage students to

be active learners who can find, analyze, and use information to solve
problems in all situations"

Steps Towards Change

I think schools should follow Finlands footsteps.
We should be learning things that will be useful in our
adult lives not memorising essays and formulas so
that we can pass a test.
We should be doing more active stuff in class instead
of just sitting in a chair for 40 minutes listening to
whatever is needed to be learned for the next exam
that's months away.

Outcome

Mental health would improve drastically if

school wasn't so hard on us students.

Student's would be more likely to attend

school.

Student's would also be more willing to

learn skills that they would need.

School would be seen as a fun environment

as opposed to a prison.