Project Classroom Makeover Analysis

“The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is choice” – Brain Herbert. Learning is something every single person on the plant does since the moment they are born. We learn how to walk and talk and analyze things around us since childhood and as we get older the criteria for learning changes. The process in which one learns also changes over time. The reality of life is that part of the human experience is learning. Learning never stops and the truth is we are the masters of our own learning journey. In the essay, “Project Classroom Makeover”, by Cathy Davidson, she goes into detail on the shortcomings of our education system and how certain examples of the non-norm of education …show more content…
The idea that a grade on paper is more important than the students drive to learn is encouraged by the education system we have today. Jean Twenge author of, “An Army of One: Me” explained, “Grade inflation and lack of competition may be backfiring: in 2003, 43% of college freshman reported that they were frequently bored in class during their last year of high school, up from 29% in 1985. This is not surprising how interesting could school possibly be when everyone gets an A and self-esteem is more important than learning” (500). More students are bored out of their mind in class because the education system focuses more on the idea of getting a passing grade and doing well on standardized test then actually focusing on getting the child to learn. Learning capacity is the way that individuals can recognize, absorb and use knowledge. If most individuals in the classroom are not paying attention because the material is boring, or the system is geared towards a good grade rather then application of the knowledge in other aspects outside the school standard why should they pay attention? Cathy Davidson, the author of, “Project Classroom Makeover”, wrote about her mother in-law’s experience as a teacher. She stated, “Mrs. Davidson, as she was called, was a main reason for this educational success story. How did she do it? First, she got in a lot of trouble, every year, with the school superintendent because she refused, ever, to teach to a test. She covered what the province demanded of third, fourth, and fifth graders and far more, but she always did it her way, as a challenge, a game, and interactive and communal learning activity. She made learning fun- and she was tough.” (65). Mrs. Davidson decided to get rid of the idea of standard test and implemented different ways on how to teach her students which had