"Students learn what they don't want to learn and teachers teach what they don't want to teach."
It is a double failure systems. A teacher in school most often is forced to teach things which s/he herself sees no meaning in. Teachers most often teach things they detest. While on the surface when asked, what subject would you prefer teaching they would tell you my favorite is ___________ . However the problem is that they choose from already a limited list, they weigh it against pay, job security and market demands. Their choices are not really free choices. So a maths teacher might not really enjoy teaching maths but chooses to due to the system that we are in. Ofcourse, we keep hearing a lot about "passionate" teachers. I am sorry to say, I've haven't found many. What they usually turn out to be are pretending to be passionate, not really passionate. Worst, most often the teachers themselves don't realize that they are fooling themselves.
I met a teacher, when I asked her what you love teaching. She said, language and mathematics. I repeatedly ask teachers - "teach only what you enjoy and love to teach.", she kept saying mathematics and language. When I see her classes, I don't really feel that's true.. Then few days later, the teacher bought me some food cooked at home. It was delicious. I said, it is heavenly. So, over next 3 weeks she'd bring something or else for me once in a while. I learnt, that she was perhaps the best cook I know around me! She enjoys cooking, she loves to experiment, mix and match, try new things and she gets pleasure when she offers it to others. She would share all recipes with me with such joy. I thought if there is anything she must be teaching, it should be cooking, food, health and taste ! But where is place for such things in our schools ? No wonder she disguises herself as a "passionate" mathematics teacher.
That's one side of the problem -teachers don't teach what they'd really want to teach.
The other side is, students are not allowed to learn what they'd love to learn. How often do we ask our children what would they like to learn ? We impose our decision on them. We ensure we teach whatever is the curriculum to each one of them. A child was very interested in insects, he seems to have a natural flair to interact with insects and learn about them through observation. I wonder if our schools allow space to allow that child his learning journey. Instead, he is forced to sit in a class to learn about all the things that doesn't interest him at this point of life. No wonder, we have kids who are unhappy, not excited about learning and thus are often distracted.
That's the other side of problem - kids are not allowed to learn what they'd love to learn.
The result is a hideous place called school full of unhappy, uncreative and unloving people getting worse with every year that passes by. Imagine, a school where kids learnt what they want to learn and teachers taught only what they love to teach, oh ! what a sight that'll be.
