Essay #3: Critical Analysis: The Education System
The Education System has for so long impacted our modern society by providing anenvironment for students to learn. It is often regarded as a necessity for some to gain successand opportunity among many people. However, the underlying issues and limitations of theeducation system are usually disregarded. In the article “System Failures: The EducationSystem and the Proliferation of Reductive Thinking” Leyla Acaroglu establishes an effectiveargument about the problems associated with the Education system by implementing pathosand logos to incorporate numerous sources such as scholarly sources and videos to support herclaims on the system failures of the education system.Schools only focus on the use of memorization and standardizing testing that negativelyaffects learning for students. Leyla Acaroglu points out the way schools have allowed studentsnot to learn “lessons needed for life” but it thrives on the need for students to have knowledgethat relies on memorization for standardizing testing. Leyla Acaroglu referenced a story to showa teacher’s experience with a student’s way of thinking as a result of the education system. Thearticle titled “When Memorization Gets in The Way of Learning” by Ben Orlin, talks about a storyin which he once caught one of his students using a cheat sheet in a maths exam. Afterrecalling other instances, he concluded that memorizing obstructed students’ ability to learnmath because they refer to it as a “call and response game” without thinking of math as a“thorough exploration”. The student was punished for not wanting to memorize math formulaswhen that shouldn’t be the main focus of learning in the first place. This signified the use ofpathos because the audience empathizes with both the student and teacher’s situation. Theteacher can’t be mad at the student for thinking that they have to memorize the formula for themath test rather than figuring out what works best to solve the problem. Leyla’s argument tiesinto the need to create a better environment that provides support for both students andteachers. Adele Diamond, a professor at the University of British Columbia states, “Teachers
told to ensure their students perform well on a high-stakes exam are more controlling in theirinstructional strategies and end up having students who perform worse than teachers given themandate to facilitate student learning (Flink, Boggiano, & Barrett, 1990; Flink et al., 1992.)”. Thisshows that teachers are instructed to monitor students’ academic performance and it makes thestudents less likely to feel motivated to do well because of the stress that’s put on them.Teachers are also often pressured by the school’s curriculum to follow strict guidelines to ensurebetter academic performances by students but it only limits the ability for teachers to provideuseful practices without needing to stress. Leyla Acaroglu makes a good point when discussingthat the education system prioritizes the consumption of information that only allows students toperform better in standardized testing but doesn’t have the students’ interest in mind. LeylaAcaroglu uses a first-person account from a teacher’s perspective making her claim reliablesince it happens even in classroom scenarios. It brings into light a need for a better environmentthat would benefit students by encouraging teachers to teach students relevant informationthat’s needed to problem-solve instead of wanting memorization.Schools encourage conformity instead of helping students produce creativity skills. LeylaAcaroglu makes the argument that students stick by the same rules and learning methods justlike everyone else at the school. Students are punished for not blending in with the crowd ofstudents who stick by those rules. Leyla Acaroglu states, “schools do a massive disservice —rebels drop out, creatives fail, people are bullied for ‘not fitting in’, and all the non-linear learnersstruggle to get through”. The author uses pathos to show that the education system does adisservice to those who thrive creatively rather than academically. This means that schoolswould rather focus on academics like math or science than more creative subjects like art ortheatre. As a result of this system of memorization, students aren’t able to think “outside thebox” or are encouraged to pursue their interests in creativity. According to a TED talk titled“Does School Kill Creativity” by Sir Ken Robin, “Many highly-talented, brilliant, creative peoplethink they’re not – because the thing they were good at school wasn’t valued, or was
stigmatized.” Leyla Acaroglu uses this quote in her article about logos because it appeals to theaudience. After all, she provides an informative and entertaining video which TED talks areknown for. Although she uses this approach she fails to provide additional comments aboutschool disruption in creative thinking and only discusses the enforcement of conformity orreductive thinking specifically. “The creativity crisis: The decrease in creative thinking scores onthe Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking” by Kim, Kyung Hee presents research using theTorrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) to see the development of creative thinking fromsamples collected that include kindergarteners through 12th-grade students and adults. Thestudy concluded that there’s a correlation in IQ scores to lower creative thinking scores and howthe conformity of the school environment also decreases creative thinking. Leyla believes thatthe education system isn’t doing enough for creative thinking and only dictates or accepts oneway of thinking, which she calls the linear system. The system prioritizes the ability of higher IQsand grades but sacrifices the ability for students to think creatively. She also mentions that thelogical way of thinking is established in schools and the research shows that they lose creativityfor a majority of their age when they are present in school. Leyla implies the usage of pathosand logos in this section of her writing that emphasizes the importance of creativity that theeducation system does not provide.Schools use outdated methods and can contribute to the inequalities that still happen in theeducation system. Leyla Acaroglu gives a brief rundown on the history of the education systemand how it’s evolved throughout time/over the years. It differs based on the regularities at thetime. Leyla Acaroglu only briefly mentions this due to the relevance of the topic of education.She doesn’t want to take away from the overall focal point of why the education system isn’tgood but wanted to mention the historical significance to the reader to let them know about theeducation system, evolution, and its reasons for existing. Towards the end of the author adds aseries of questions, “How can schools be designed to prepare young people for a changingworld with increased needs for circular and systems thinking along with skills for a future that will
be very different from the industrial age of the past?” This makes the readers think aboutmodern schooling and if the education system has the right intentions of wanting the best forstudents based on history. Leyla Acaroglu uses pathos to appeal to the audience by recognizingthat the education system has hardly changed from an industrial model. The model of educationis dated and needs revitalization to help advance students for modern society. The educationsystem also has a long history of discrimination and inequalities. It took a while for the educationsystem to be open for women to attend and for African-Americans as well but the inequalitiescontinue.According to “Early Education Gaps by Social Class and Race Start U.S. Children Out onUnequal Footing” by Emma Garcia and Elaine Weiss, “Low social class puts children far behindfrom the start. Race and ethnicity compound that disadvantage, largely due to factors alsorelated to social class.” The study provides insight into the inequalities presented early on in theeducation system. This makes Leyla Acaroglu argument both pathos and logos because shewas able to use this study to reinforce her argument of the disparities students face and wasable to let the audience understand the unfair advantage that is present at an early age basedon several factors like their race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and language. Theeducation system fails to reach children who need it and address the underlying problems ofdiscrimination. The education system needs to put in place better policies to ensure diversity inschools and create programs to help those who are struggling because poverty could also havea connection to academic outcomes as mentioned in the evidence. Leyla referenced The UnitedNations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in their goal 4 “Ensure Inclusivity andEquitable Quality Education and promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for all” it lists anoverview of disparities that exist before COVID-19 and COVID-19 implications that exist as ofnow. Leyla makes her argument better because the evidence seems too recent, noting thateven in the past there were discriminations like gender and race but these still happen alongwith other factors as well.
In conclusion, despite the universal need for education and schools must factor in the truththat the system needs improvement. Leyla’s argument addresses that she values education anddoesn’t want her opinions on the education system to disprove that. She wants to improve andmake the education system better for students and make it more accessible for them. LeylaAcaroglu uses reliable sources to define words or strengthen her argument further. At the end ofthe article, she speaks on her limitations and biases based on her work as a founder in TheUnschool Of Disruptive Design.ReferencesAcaroglu, Leyla. “System Failures: The Education System and the Proliferation of ReductiveThinking.” Medium, 2018.Diamond, Adele. “The evidence base for improving school outcomes by addressing the wholechild and by addressing skills and attitudes, not just content.” Early education and development21.5 (2010): 780-793.García, E. and E. Weiss. “Early Education Gaps by Social Class and Race Start U.S. ChildrenOut on Unequal Footing: A Summary of the Major Findings in “Inequalities at the StartingGate”.” (2015).Orlin, Ben. “When Memorization Gets in the Way of Learning.” The Atlantic, 12 June 2018,Robinson, Ken. “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” TED Talks, uploaded by TED talk, 7 Jan. 2006United Nations, “Goal 4 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs.” United Nation
ReflectionIn the beginning, I didn’t know what topic to choose because I had originally chosen a differenttopic but I realized that it was more of a research question. I chose to do more research on aspecific article that provides an analysis of a topic to see the author’s argument. I chose to focuson the education system when I stumbled upon Leyla Acaroglu article. The first reading washard because she had a lot of points that she made in her argument and I noticed she providedsources, in addition to her claims. I had to read it over and over again to make sure I was ableto summarize her argument more clearly than she did in her article. I managed to choose to talkabout a few due to the number of sources she had. I didn’t know which ones to include but Iwanted to choose the ones that mainly supported her claims rather than the ones that gavefurther context. I still wanted to talk about the fact that she did provide context for certain thingsin her article which made it easier for me to understand because she used different terms that Ididn’t know about but it was important to know them to understand what she was talking aboutspecifically.I thought about my thesis throughout my essay. I wanted to address Leyla Acaroglu’sargument and mention the rhetorical analysis throughout her piece, which is pathos and logos.This was also how I decided to include some of the sources because it demonstrates the use ofthe rhetorical method. For each paragraph, I wanted to point out the overall argument LeylaAcaroglu was trying to make based on her article and overall tone. I found this essaychallenging compared to the other ones we’ve done because I’ve never written a criticalanalysis essay so it was hard to avoid summarizing and to focus on the author’s tone. I thinkoverall Leyla Acaroglu was good and I tried to make different arguments that were related to her claims.
