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If the population is educated in ways that allow each member to be productive, it isn't. The problem is the one size fits all type of education we seem to strive for. I consider my plumber and electrician to be educated but neither of them went to college and I don't care if they graduated from high school. My brother is an expert in the field of car body repair. He's smarter than me but flunked out of college. College just wasn't for him.
The problem is trying to force everyone into the same mold when we need many molds filled. When you teach people things they don't find useful and don't want to learn they don't learn much. So if an educated population means sitting in a classroom learning stuff you have no interest in or use for it's a waste of everyone's time.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 08-20-2014 at 05:15 AM..
We make them go to school so they learn how to be good workers...I mean consumers....ummm for knowledge?
I'd argue that media teaches them to be good consumers. I'd also argue that what we're passing for education these days doesn't make them good workers either. There was a time when we did. There's a cartoon that circulated a while back that depicts 1960 vs 2010. In 1960 the parents and teacher are yelling at the student saying "What do you mean you failed" in 2010 the parents and the student are yelling the same thing at the teacher. Back when we held students accountable for learning we were training them to be good workers. Now we train them to be good at blaming everyone else for their failures. The only thing today's version of education is good for is sending kids on for more education. I'd argue that it's college that teaches them to be good workers now. College is the first place they are now held accountable for their own actions. There was a time when college was about knowledge but not anymore. It's just ticket punching to get that job after graduation now.
But you need to talk about the right type of education - the right amount for the unique individual suited towards that individual's needs and desires. And as we've been trying to get some people to understand is that this does not always mean a 4-year college education.
The most successful person in my family - financially - didn't graduate from high school, but become a contractor and has now retired to his second home in Florida. My own sister has only a HS degree, but went on to get her realtor's license, and now makes more than I do (I have an Ed.S.). Another member of my family - an in-law - graduated from HS, became self-taught in IT, took about 3 CC classes, but not for a degree, and is now the IT director at a Charlotte hospital pulling 6 figures. A freind of the family graduated HS, become an apprentice electrician and now earns as much as I do teaching. The sister of a friend become a welder through a Vo-tech school and now pulls down $28/hr working at Eastman Chemical Company. I could go on, but I think I've made my point.
All of these are just some examples of the great jobs out there that don't require a 4-year - or even 2-year - college degree. So then why are more and more of our systems shifting to a one-track path? Why are the vo-tech schools dissappearing? Well, that's another discussion I'll keep for later lest someone tells me to remove my tin-foil hat again.
I have a ss who makes more in one year than I make in 3 and he has never attended a single college class. His education was on the job. He worked hard, learned and worked his way up in the company.
College isn't for everyone and college isn't necessary for everyone. There are people like me for whom it is necessary. I needed to go to college. There are people like my SS and my brother who don't need to go to college. People are not one size so why should education be one size fits all?
I did really poorly in school, particularly high school. It was just not for me, but yet I was forced to continue. I am surprised that so many teenage boys can sit still for 8+ hours a day actually. I think I could have been more productive and happier doing something else. I am thinking like a work/school program or something or perhaps school/volunteer work combination doing selective classes that interests you plus minimums in other areas in order to get your diploma, or perhaps a technical high school. When I went to school, if available, those programs were mainly considered for troubled kids.
The problem is trying to force everyone into the same mold when we need many molds filled.
I agree but unfortunately that is not affordable at the public level. Besides, that's what colleges and trade schools are for. Public schools are meant to teach only the fundamentals.
Of course, there will be outliers! We've certainly heard all the stories. But the wages go up at about the same degree as the UE goes down, by education level.
Why do we make kids go to school. Alot of these kids are just wasting taxpayers money. Letting kids choose would lead to better test scores, less distractions, less violence, and just a better environment. It would especially make a change in low income schools. I say if kids want to throw away their life, let them. I say make kids go from k to 7th grade then let them make their own choice.
Well, letting kids choose may also result in something like the Islamofacist State of Georgia and Florida.
I agree but unfortunately that is not affordable at the public level. Besides, that's what colleges and trade schools are for. Public schools are meant to teach only the fundamentals.
Perhaps we should release kids to trade schools earlier. IMO, if you teach with rigor and hold kids accountable, you can teach the fundamentals by 10th grade. If kids are not going to college, they should be in some kind of job training program after that. In urban areas this should not be a problem. Different districts could specialize in different things and there are community colleges as well. I live within reasonable driving distance of 3 community colleges. Rural areas would be where you'd have the most issue. If you don't have the population density to support different programs they couldn't be offered.
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I have a ss who makes more in one year than I make in 3 and he has never attended a single college class. His education was on the job. He worked hard, learned and worked his way up in the company. 
