I really enjoyed Dave Egger's TED talk. His presentation was great and he showed many pictures of the difference he and the people helping him could make. I found it intriguing. I absolutely agree with the statement that students will do better and thrive in education when the spotlight in shown on them or attention is drawn to them. I think his project to change public schools is a great idea. His pirate store was a great idea because I think it is extremely important to connect education to something whimsical. School can change everything, but many students don't realize that because it hasn't been exposed to them in a way that will inspire them.
When I was younger I fell in love with writing. The fact that absolutely anything could happen by the means of writing it down captivated me. I was inspired by the endless possibilities and the simple joys writing brought to me. I wanted to be an author for the longest time, but that all changed as school progressed. I was forced to change my attention from writing to other areas in school to be successful in the future. I feel as if education today broadens everything that needs to be learned in schools to the point where it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on your passions as a student. I don't think parents and elders respect the passion and drive behind younger students because it seems as if they couldn't possibly know what they want to do in the future rationally. Yes, that might be the case for some, but not for every single child. I feel as though school and the increasingly difficult standards of modern education, especially the expectations of colleges, have slowly decreased my passion and time I could really focus into writing or other passions. Yes, students need to be aware of a certain amount of information, but when does it become harmful to his or her possible future? I still have a love for creative writing and I think I always will, but it is not as beautifully creative and capable as it could have been had I focused on it when I was younger.
The thing that scares me is the fact that schools, as I see them, partially enforce the idea that a job is something that earns you money, not something you do because you love it. That schools enforce the ideal of perfection and knowing everything is the best thing for a student to have as an asset for college. Think about what that could do to kids. It could change their future for the worse. The increasing stress and expectations of the education system eat at my heart because I don't want the simplicity of the passion for learning to fade away like mine did. I want to sit at the computer like a did as a child, and type up my dreams into a little story. I can't do that anymore; maybe because of the pressure of the education system and my desire to do well, or maybe because of the reality of life, but either way I think that Egger's movement in education could help fix some of these situations. His simple movement to inspire students could just change the world.
Works Cited:
"Dave Eggers' Wish: Once Upon a School | Video on TED.com." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html>.
"Google Images." Google. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.talkingfingers.com/educational-reading-software/wp-content/uploads/child_writing.jpg>.
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