What Should We Be Teaching?

I was having a discussion with a non-teaching friend today. When I say non-teaching, I mean she isn't a classroom teacher... She kept saying, "This you need to write about. You should write about this." And so, because she usually gives me pretty good advice, I decided to do just that.

I teach students with autism, and have taught students with other significant (also frequently referred to as severe) disabilities. I've been teaching 15 years, not counting student teaching or time spent working as a teaching assistant through a program my high school offered to students in the gifted & talented group. That program allowed G/T students starting in 9th grade, and all students starting in 11th grade, to be mentored by a professional in their field of interest. I wanted to be a teacher, specifically a teacher of the Deaf, so I started working as a teaching assistant in classrooms that had Deaf students as a 9th grader. It was one of the highlights of my high school career. I gave up my study halls to be a part of it.

My discussion this evening centered around what we teach our students, and the reason that some students hate school so much. I've been saying that I hate teaching core content classes. And that really isn't true: I love teaching history, but I don't like that I can't teach HISTORY. I have to cram facts into the heads of my students so they are prepared for a state test at the end of the year. There isn't time to go back and teach them how to think, to let them show me they've mastered skills that are important for after high school. I know teachers who manage both, and I'm insanely jealous because somehow, I just can't manage. It may be because I first have to teach my students the concepts they haven't yet gotten because they are behind coming into my room due to their disabilities.

I wonder why we stopped offering vocational programs in so many schools. There is no reason that a student who does well in vocational programs shouldn't go to college.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be teaching history. I am saying that maybe we need to look at what and how we're teaching... not just children with disabilities, but all children. Is it truly that ALL children need to be prepared for a university degree? Is there a reason that it is so awful to give the children choices? It makes me sad that my students don't want to be in my classroom, and they aren't excited about learning. I think I could make them excited...
if I could teach history instead of just teaching a test.