Boredom, Repetition vs. Education
by Rod Hughes
In every country, the majority of students complain of boredom in class, but in Costa Rica they may have a point, reports the daily newspaper La Nacion.
The paper points out that the same material is often covered two years running in grade school, indicating a lack of curriculum coordination. For example, the fourth grade covers non-verbal communication, the interpretation of gestures and such. Important for socialization of the students, one might say, but it is repeated in the fifth grade.
Or the case of group and individual action in protection of the environment through recycling, composting and such, taught in the fifth grade, then repeated in the sixth. Again, important in a small country where littering is a national illness and the environment is a vital economic factor. But twice in a row?Further, the paper says, the sixth grade is a general resume of the material taught in the fourth and fifth grades. This was valuable when the students were required to pass standardized, nationwide tests in order to graduate into high school, but the Ministry of Education has eliminated this test.
Alexandrina Mata, vice minister in charge of educational programs, told the paper that the curriculum is under general review but not to expect reforms until 2009. But she touched on another sore point with students and many parents—lack of creativity among teachers. They must deepen their understanding of the material and try to pass it on to students in different and more interesting ways, she says.
The traditional teaching method in this country involves the teachers writing material on the blackboard and the students copying it into notebooks, often without understanding what it means or how it relates to life in general. This is partially due to the cost of textbooks, which many parents cannot afford. But it is a time-consuming process that means less teacher opportunity for explanation. Regretably, some teachers welcome this rote-memorization, due to laziness or lack of understanding of the subject.
Mata regrets this lack of teacher creativity. She admits that some of the material studied is obsolete but notes that a worse problem is the dull way it is presented, through a written exposition on the blackboard. She noted that there were many simple lab experiments to demonstrate photosynthesis, for example, but teachers simply stick to the old method.
She further criticized her predecessors at the ministry for not bringing teachers up to speed on their subjects, especially in the fast-changing sciences. It is not enough, she emphasizes, just to teach the facts of physics but also the reasoning behind it.
Such forward thinking is long overdue, according to many who have been through the system. Three University of Costa Rica pyschologists several decades ago tested students graduating from grade school in reasoning power, then tested them in their final year of high school. They found that the students had actually declined in their problem-solving abilities during the interim.
The ancient copybook method apparently gives students the facts—while robbing them of the abilitiy to use them constructively.
This reporter has had first-hand experience with the old method. Some years ago, while helping his daughter the night before an exam, he was appalled to learn that she had memorized everything without understanding a thing. When he stopped to explain the basis of a of a certain point, she urged him to proceed to the next point.
“But you’ve got to understand the material if you expect to remember it,” explained this reporter.
“I don’t have time to understand, Dad!” she protested with a note of hysteria in her voice, “I’ve got to study!”