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First, as MiniVanDriver just mentioned, our school system is terrible.
I've always thought, well, no, not always, recently come to think that our schools system is amazing because it can take naturally curious children and make them hate learning.
I did enjoy college. While far from perfect, it was a vast improvement, and allowed some freedom of curiosity. I still take classes from time to time with no thought or burden of trying to earn a degree but solely because want to learn something.
I certainly don't share the disdain that many have for school. There were good moments and bad moments. Friends and enemies. A lot like now. I like the environment. Students, in general, seem to me happier than workers, in general.
I certainly prefer learning to working. At least many of the jobs that I've worked at. The job I have now (kind of) is my favorite because it requires a lot of learning.
The term 'atrocity' comes to mind. As it is organized today, education is a 19th-Century solution to a 21st-Century problem. Yet it is so entrenched, so orthodox that it is well-nigh impossible to solve. The solutions offered by the education establishment are, at best, incremental.
I think one of the great ironies of education as an institution is that it seems incapable of learning. Instead, it keeps offering up rote responses such as, "We need more money." Yet, per student spending, adjusted for inflation, has doubled since 1985. Teacher pay has only inched up. Where did all that money go?
They promised dramatic change when we ramped up funding. Yet that improvement never materialized.
We have many friends who are current or former teachers. They literally all talk about the same thing: A sclerotic bureaucracy that doesn't give a damn about the kids. As one of my friends, a former administrator who recently retired: The only way to improve education is to burn the entire thing down and start all over again.
The term 'atrocity' comes to mind. As it is organized today, education is a 19th-Century solution to a 21st-Century problem. Yet it is so entrenched, so orthodox that it is well-nigh impossible to solve. The solutions offered by the education establishment are, at best, incremental.
I think one of the great ironies of education as an institution is that it seems incapable of learning. Instead, it keeps offering up rote responses such as, "We need more money." Yet, per student spending, adjusted for inflation, has doubled since 1985. Teacher pay has only inched up. Where did all that money go?
They promised dramatic change when we ramped up funding. Yet that improvement never materialized.
We have many friends who are current or former teachers. They literally all talk about the same thing: A sclerotic bureaucracy that doesn't give a damn about the kids. As one of my friends, a former administrator who recently retired: The only way to improve education is to burn the entire thing down and start all over again.
Some public school systems have alternative schools that aren't so stifling. I've noticed in my home town, some new small private schools have appeared; one emphasizes environmental science, and has a lot of field trips for kids to learn out in nature--learning by doing, then analyzing back in the lab.
I don't know if alternative methods like that could be replicated at least partially, in conventional public schools. I guess the classes are too big in urban schools, for teachers to maintain control of kids outside the classroom, especially taking into account the usual discipline-problem kids.
Some public school systems have alternative schools that aren't so stifling. I've noticed in my home town, some new small private schools have appeared; one emphasizes environmental science, and has a lot of field trips for kids to learn out in nature--learning by doing, then analyzing back in the lab.
I don't know if alternative methods like that could be replicated at least partially, in conventional public schools. I guess the classes are too big in urban schools, for teachers to maintain control of kids outside the classroom, especially taking into account the usual discipline-problem kids.
Perhaps, so. But I would be interested to know if progress still is measured by the one-size-fits-all yardstick.
To me, a lot of the discipline problems likely stem from the environment students face day-after-day. I read somewhere that a common characteristic of misbehaving students is a higher-than-average intelligence. If this is indeed the case, then the discipline problems are acting out their frustrations, a symptom rather than the disease.
The other thing is a question of incentive. If you active mastery of the subject matter more quickly, then what happens? The current system requires you pretty much sit tight at your desk while the slower kids puzzle through matters. If we a student's progress through the entire maze of education relied on mastery of material rather than simply ticking off days in the figurative jail call, what would happen? If, for example, a student knew that truly mastering math meant fewer lessons, shorter days, or even graduating early, I'm pretty certain that we'd have some seriously motivated kids on our hands.
The other thing is a question of incentive. If you active mastery of the subject matter more quickly, then what happens? The current system requires you pretty much sit tight at your desk while the slower kids puzzle through matters. If we a student's progress through the entire maze of education relied on mastery of material rather than simply ticking off days in the figurative jail call, what would happen? If, for example, a student knew that truly mastering math meant fewer lessons, shorter days, or even graduating early, I'm pretty certain that we'd have some seriously motivated kids on our hands.
Good teachers don't abandon the bright kids, who get their work done early. They give them extra work with more challenging material to resolve. But I agree, that in some cases, it's the bright kids who may act out in class, or drop out of school altogether, or may passively drop out, by getting poor grades, because the material is too boring and easy, so they can't respect it. Maybe those kids should skip a grade, or jump forward a year in certain subject matter.
As I posted recently, I think the belief was forged back when society was more repressed and repressive, so that the college experience was seen as an opportunity to cut loose, before assuming the "respectability" and responsibilities of adulthood. It may also be rooted in the view of work as a daily grind, rather than a somewhat creative endeavor one enjoys, or finds meaning in.
I think it's a belief from a bygone era, that's no longer relevant in an age, when working one's way through college has become the norm, and social mores have loosened up quite a bit.
As I posted recently, I think the belief was forged back when society was more repressed and repressive, so that the college experience was seen as an opportunity to cut loose, before assuming the "respectability" and responsibilities of adulthood. It may also be rooted in the view of work as a daily grind, rather than a somewhat creative endeavor one enjoys, or finds meaning in.
I think it's a belief from a bygone era, that's no longer relevant in an age, when working one's way through college has become the norm, and social mores have loosened up quite a bit.
It's also from the days before birth control and people married in their early 20's. If you have a family at age 22, it's understandable that you'd look back at school as a fun, carefree time.
Fast forward to 2019. People get married much later if at all. Birthrates are way down and people have children later, if at all. Me? My best days were in my 20s into my early 30s. My professional career was launched and every year was better than the previous year. I was at my physical peak. I had all the opportunities for fun of my college years but I had the money to do them without the burden of all that homework and exams. High School for me was awful. College was better. My decade after college was even better.
Good teachers don't abandon the bright kids, who get their work done early. They give them extra work with more challenging material to resolve. But I agree, that in some cases, it's the bright kids who may act out in class, or drop out of school altogether, or may passively drop out, by getting poor grades, because the material is too boring and easy, so they can't respect it. Maybe those kids should skip a grade, or jump forward a year in certain subject matter.
But where is the reward in that? That's kind of my point. If you do all your work and do it well, you get more work.
I think most people think in terms of ‘today’. We all have great memories of school or college; but ultimately, if we are looking to the past as our ‘best days’, it could be indicative something is missing in the present. It might be time to expand one’s outlook (or life) in a meaningful way.
But where is the reward in that? That's kind of my point. If you do all your work and do it well, you get more work.
The reward is in the fact that it's work that's actually challenging and interesting; it's work your brain can actually chew on and learn from, rather than breeze through feeling unsatisfied. It's more engaging, and provides more of a sense of accomplishment, at the end.
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People say that your school days are the best days of your life. Would you say that's true for you?
