My biggest problem with the current teaching method which dominates our country is that it teaches facts which are, by themselves, pointless. I believe, though I have no stats to back my claim, that if students were taught logic and reasoning they would be infinitely more prepared to undertake real learning and gain true intelligence, because naked facts mean nothing unless they are clothed by context and reasoning.
Take, for example, the case of the question "why are plants green?". When I was first learning biology (years ago), the answer provided to the class was that plants contained chlorophyll, which is green. I couldn't remember this fact, because it, by itself, didn't make any sense. It wasn't until I found one of the best teachers I've ever had that I was able to understand this fact. The correct, contextually and logically rich answer to the question was that plants need to collect energy from sun-light, and, in the electromagnetic spectrum of light, green contains relatively small amounts of energy compared to the wave-lengths of red and blue, and thus, evolution has yielded in plants molecules which absorb red and blue wave-lengths and reflect the useless green - this molecule is called chlorophyll.
I received both of these answers in 9th grade, from two different teachers. After I left the first teacher, I had a hate for biology - a hate which the second turned into a passion and a quest for knowledge (which is why it is my major). I've met very few people who enjoy biology the way I do - usually people respond by saying how much they hated biology when they were learning it; it makes me wonder if their first biology teachers were content with giving out naked facts.
Of course, my case isn't unique, but it also isn't typical - if every teacher taught using a framework of logic/reasoning and facts, I think it would be a lot easier to learn (at least that's my case). I have a feeling that if the seeds of logic and reasoning were planted into children's heads, then a simple answer will only create a need (or a want) to understand the subject better.
Obviously, it's all easier said than done. I keep forgetting that Utopia is unattainable.
