Blog Post #2 - Khan and Short History of American School

 After reading Khan’s Chapter 2: The Broken Model and watching A Short History of American Schooling, I started thinking a lot about how our education system was built and why so much of it still feels outdated today. Both the reading and the video made me realize that schools haven’t really changed much from the past — they still follow a system that was made to control, separate, and measure students instead of helping them grow.

In Khan’s reading, he talks about how schools were designed to create “obedient workers” rather than creative thinkers. That part stood out to me because I’ve seen that same pattern in my own school experiences. We’re told to follow rules, meet standards, and memorize facts, but not really encouraged to think deeply or question things. It made me realize how broken the model really is — it’s built around control instead of curiosity.

The video connected perfectly with that idea. It showed how American schooling started during the industrial era, where students were basically treated like factory workers — everyone doing the same thing, at the same time, in the same way. That image really stuck with me. It made me think about how that same system still exists today: tests, bells, grades, and ranking students as if learning can be measured by numbers.

Both Khan and the video made me question what kind of teacher I want to be. I don’t want my classroom to feel like an assembly line where students just complete work to get a grade. I want it to feel alive — creative, open, and meaningful. Especially as someone who plans to teach English and Theatre, I want students to use imagination, storytelling, and discussion to learn about themselves and the world.

Overall, One thing Khan mentioned that I really liked was the idea of focusing on mastery rather than memorization. That’s something I want to apply in my teaching, giving students time to actually understand and explore, not just rush through lessons to move on to the next thing. Both the reading and the video made me realize how much needs to change in education. The system may be old and broken, but as future teachers, we have a chance to make classrooms feel human again — a place where students can think, create, and be themselves.