“Changing Education Paradigms” by Sir Ken Robinson from 2010 talks about how society has changed but education is clinging to the methods of the past to the great detriment of students everywhere. A college education no longer guarantees a good paying job, not to mention a career. Students in public schools are batched together by birth years, nothing else and I agree it is limiting. This led me to think about Maria Montessori and how she designed instruction to be in larger age groups such as first through third graders in one class or sixth through eighth altogether. I like the idea that students don’t need to be boxed into single years. I think a healthy mix of heterogeneous and homogenous classes and groupings is ideal for students to experience as there are strengths to both systems. Currently, age really boxes students into a very small batch, that doesn’t expose them to a wider ability scale. 

He also talks about the increase in ADHD diagnosis and overmedication of our students. I think too many people are jumping straight on to the medication bandwagon without trying other alternatives first. Not to mention, one medication does not cure them all…sorry medication and body chemistry just does not work like that. There is no magic pill that works for everyone. Do some kids need medication? Yes. Does every kid that is medicated currently, need that medication and is it the right medication for them personally? Nope. As someone who has watched several people go through the process of discovering the right medications for them, I have to say, in my not a medical professional opinion, from what I have seen it is a process and I have yet to see anyone get it right on the first try. I am sure it happens, but I think it is more like winning the mega-sized lottery than winning $2 bucks on a scratcher in frequency. So statistically speaking there is someone out there on the wrong medication for them, hopefully, the next method of treatment will work better.

Reference:

Robinson, S. (2010, October 14). Retrieved November 30, 2017, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U