Decoding the 5 Myths of Education

When Richard flung open the brochures of the best schools in the city, he had already formed a set of criteria in his mind on how to eliminate options. His daughter deserves nothing but the best and only the best school will suffice.

A successful businessman at only 34, Richard knew that money can buy the best. So he was ready to spend truckloads. Little did he know that his idea of the perfect education wasn’t as foolproof as he thought. He was one of those people who thrive in the ignorance of luxury and believe the stereotypes of education to be the holy grail.

The myths involving education have percolated into the minds of people since quite some time. A bit of conjecture, a few unsubstantiated studies and a dash of snake-oil salesman pitch have fueled the armchair debate of education. Everyone has a strong opinion and it is now, pretty natural to find experts lurking at every corner of the street. But the problem here is, it is very challenging to generalize one’s educational experience in contributing to what works best for a national education system. Consequently, the effects turn out to be disastrous.

Let us focus on a few myths that infest the education system like cotton worm in a fruitful harvest season. Let me tell you here, that I won’t be taking sides on any of the myths. I would present to you the mere facts and leave you to process those and think logically the next time you take up an initiative to decode the beliefs of education to someone.

Myth 1

The money madness.

Like Richard, many people believe that money can buy anything, especially education. Since this is a hugely believed myth, there must be some truth in it. Let’s see how much.

• Properly funded schools can afford to hire better-educated and well-experienced teachers.
• Higher salaries are likely to retain well-paid teachers, thus optimizing students achievement.

However, numerous studies conducted by education economists have defied this belief with a stringent revelation which showed that most of the education expenditure goes to reducing class sizes or upgrading infrastructure of the school. Therefore, it does not lead to a direct improvement of students outcome.

Statistics: 18.9% of Malaysia’s Government spending forms the public education expenditure. Also, education expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is relatively high.

Myth 2

Class size matters.

The most obvious reason why this myth gained foreground is that a smaller class size allow teachers to provide better and more tailored instruction. However studies suggest otherwise. One of which goes as follows:

Eric Hanushek, American author and economics professor conducted a study where he compiled 276 estimates on class size effects from 59 studies and found that only 11% of them indicated positive effects of class size on education.

Smaller class sizes are found to have a positive impact on student outcomes only when the ratio reduces to 15:1, which is an almost impossible investment for public schools to afford. Peter Mortimore, director of London’s Institute of Education, says, “There is proof that class size makes a difference for the youngest children. The jury is still out on whether the same is true in secondary schools.” The debate continues.

Myth 3

More homework leads to more learning.

Did you know that students in Finland are not assigned any homework? If you are curious about their educational outcomes for this attribute, let me enlighten you with a few overwhelming statistics. High school graduation rate in Finland is 93% compared to 75% in US. Also Finland has the highest rate of students going to college which amounts to a two out of three.

Homework is believed to be a continuation of the lessons learned in school. Practicing at home embeds the newer concepts in mind and reinforces the old ones, or so it is believed. However, there has been a roaring disagreement about the value of homework and whether students are assigned too much or too little of it. Studies have revealed that students doing homework outperformed 69% of those with no homework. Now the question that we are left with is, how much is too much? Or, is Finland an exception? The mystery continues.

Myth 4

The economically disadvantaged do not have the capacity to learn.

This is one of the most outrageous myths which I cannot help going against. Let me tell you an incident here. My uncle has the kindest of hearts I have ever encountered. He once, found a little boy on the street being abused by bigger kids, for not having a home to stay in. My uncle took him in and cared for him like a son. He financed his education and made a successful engineer out of the boy who didn’t have anyone in the world to call his own. He is a great brother to me and my cousins and we look up to him every single day.

Economically challenged students lack funding only. They were just not born to families that can afford a proper education. They may come across as children with lack of control, anxiety issues, having a bad reaction to authority and so on, but none of it is due to a lower education capacity.

Myth 5

Impact of teachers on child education.

With the proliferation of technology in education, various instructional modes have come up which claim to replace teachers. But one statement stands firm. Teachers cannot be replaced, no matter how effective technology turns out to be. A study conducted by International Association for Statistical Education found that students experienced difficulties with computer backed learning deeming it confusing.

Experienced and well-trained teachers contribute to a better education for students than teachers with considerably lesser or zero experience. The National Bureau of Economic Research revealed that teachers with more extensive training produce higher student achievement gains.

Also, teachers are not solely responsible for learning. Education is an interactive process. Therefore, student participation would only ensure academic success. Research indicates that less than 30% of student’s academic success can be attributed to schools and teachers.

The problem here is, the myths have formed such a strong foreground in our minds that it is difficult to discern the atrocity from the reality. Too often, the important educational decisions in life are based on these myths, instead of facts, which results in irreversible consequences.