Put Down the Textbook by Alexa

Put Down the Textbook by Alexa - January 2015 Scholarship Essay

Teachers, please put down the textbooks. As Richard Branson said, “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and by falling over.” Early in our lives, we don’t receive a thick instruction manual about how to grow. Never before has a baby been seen studying a book about how to eat with a spoon rather than its fingers. No child has ever been sat down to learn the rules of potty training from a how-to book. Learning is the same system for everyone, which is done through actions, trial and error. However, it is education that has changed. Students do not learn the way they once did. Institutions have taken the “doing” part out of education, but I believe it is time we revisit our childhood ways and learn something new through actions.

As a high school senior, I have seen my fair share of years of education, twelve to be exact. I understand the necessity for organized grades, curriculum, and classes. I think that every student ought to go through school and strive to do their best, no matter how trivial they believe some of the knowledge may be. Indeed, there are always things that must be learned that we question. Who uses advanced trigonometry in their everyday lives anyhow? Well, someone must, because it is considered a necessary skill that students should comprehend in the process of their education. Some knowledge must come from a textbook and through the laborious actions of studying, understanding, memorizing, and reciting the information. However, textbook facts and figures are not the limit of education.

Not everyone will use advanced mathematics in their future lives and careers, nor will everyone constantly need to remember each grammatical rule they ever learned or the elements of chemistry that they once had to memorize. I understand the need for basic, foundational knowledge, but as a student, I also understand the mundane nature of learning strictly out of a textbook. It is easy to lose interest or to have no interest at all when you must merely memorize what you are taught in order to pass the class and move on with your life. Students quickly become dispassionate about learning and have no desire to better themselves through their education.

Teachers, heed the advice of a student who loves learning. Since I was a young child, I’ve had a very unusual and spectacular education. In my early grade school years, I attended a private school that embraced hands-on learning. Now I’m a homeschool student, free to choose a curriculum that best suits my interests and to learn in the best possible way to retain the information. I have always learned by doing. There is one quote regarding learning that I have always loved. It says that if you tell me, I will fail to remember. If you show me, I might recall what I was taught, but if you involve me, I will never forget.
Just like when we were children, learning by doing, I believe that teachers ought to encourage students to learn through actions, ones that will encourage them to never forget the information. Though some things they may never need to remember, there is information in education that should never be overlooked. Students these days have no love for learning and they lack passion for anything concerning education. It is time we put down the textbooks and do something. Get your hands dirty, try something new, fail or succeed, and learn from the experience. Education today lacks experiential, applied learning. However, it is this kind of hands-on schooling that will guarantee students love learning. Students who learn early to enjoy their education will pursue their interests in the future and will become empowered, intellectual leaders in the future.

If I could go back and give one piece of advice to the teachers I have seen and learned under, I would encourage them to always involve their students. I know the necessity for textbook knowledge, but I also understand the personal needs of a student and the fact that there is a greater necessity for students who love to learn. When learning from a book and reciting facts and figures is not enough to create passionate learners, it is time that the system of education is changed. Make education exciting, unique, relatable, creative, experiential, captivating, and important! Students need to learn by doing, just as they did as children. Though skills such as eating, walking, and riding a bike once seemed so hard, we look back and realize that we’re professionals at those basic habits now. We didn’t need a fat over-priced textbook to teach us how to tie our shoes or learn the ABC’s. We learned by doing, trying, exploring, failing, trying again, and eventually mastering those skills. The same principle applies for every piece and level of education, no matter how basic or complex; people learn through experience. So please, teachers, put down the textbooks.