Do most school age kids have any real interest what is being taught in school? (public school, psychology)

[fjtee]

Personally, I largely found school to be boring and spent most days daydreaming. I got mostly As and Bs - the Bs in math and science. I didn't put much effort into school, yet I supposedly went to one of the top public schools in the state of Maryland. I did just enough work to get the good grades, because I was afraid of disappointing my father and getting yelled at. That said, I always liked history. Once I got to college, things began to get more interesting and now I wish I could afford to work on some more degrees just for the heck of it.

Thinking about this some more, I think golfgal may have hit the nail on the head with "teenager talk."

I have a feeling most teachers know the interest level of their students. I imagine they're happy when students take a sincere interest in a subject, but largely want the students to put forth effort and treat them and the subject matter with respect, regardless of the interest level.

[Tricky D]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

What the heck does a high school student know about what is important in life?

The only thing I really needed to learn in school is reading, writing and basic math.
I don't need a school to tell me what to think, I'm perfectly able to find out by myself how to think.

[kimba01]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

What the heck does a high school student know about what is important in life?

Heck if high schools only taught what high school students wanted to know about, then it would be a steady diet of classes about video gaming, music, and how to coax a member of the opposite sex into performing the humpalumpadingdong with you.

I hated math. Despised it, in fact. Funny thing is, I use algebra every day of my life.

Some really do. C'mon, I am sure that Britney Spears knew she wanted to be a singer. Why the heck would she need math or history? Maybe some home ec classes though!

(No clue where that came from--random, I'll say so myself)

[RDSLOTS]

Originally Posted by kimba01

When you hear a student speaking about a good teacher, it is usually one that finds a way to take an otherwise boring (history, math...)subject and turn it into one that grabs their interest and keeps it. There is more than one way to teach a given subject. I have had boring teachers teaching history and interesting teachers teaching history and I can tell you I retained much more in the latter. If kids are falling asleep in your class you need to figure out a way to keep them awake. Some teachers just come in and put their time in and leave. (not that I am blaming the teachers, there are equally or more students that won't be interested in anything)

Excellent post, kimba01, and exactly true. I taught with many a colleague who had absolutely NO business being in a classroom. The rote method of teaching is becoming more and more 'dated,' less and less effective, with generation after generation of over-stimulated children who are used to being entertained. I am hoping the young teachers are more attuned to that, myself.

Before I retired (for health reasons), I felt encouraged by several student teachers I worked with, mentored, and turned my classes over to, if only for a semester. This old gal even learned a trick or two. Most were employing effective, engaging strategies, and making learning fun and meaningful. It can be done, but it takes a creative teacher, willing to put some effort into making the objectives meaningful for the students. A kid, sitting in a desk, in a HS, can tell you in a heartbeat if what he/she is being asked to do in a classroom is busy-work or BS, and unfortunately, a lot of what some teachers expect is just that -- busy-work and/or BS.

That is where systems need to be more diligent about weeding the better, more effective teachers from those just thinking teaching is a job like any other. It isn't -- never has been, never will be.

[RDSLOTS]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

I only went to school because I was afraid of being unemployed.
I've always gotten good grades because I was a perfectionist; only the grades mattered but I didn't really learn anything.
The truly valuable things I learned, I learned outside school.

Good point, Tricky D. This is true for many students, as is the observation that a school need not teach one what to think. I see education as an exercise more in teaching students, some of them, either to think or how to think. Somehow, some unfortunately get as far as HS without ever applying the brain in their head(s).

[toobusytoday]

My youngest son likes history after having two good teachers in a row teach it in an interesting way. I remember having a civics teacher in 9th grade that really got me interested in US history. He would throw out topics and we would have to research them and then debate each other. All of my kids have had good English teachers.

Math teachers that are good seem to be uncommon. Sometimes it's just the connection the teacher makes with the students that makes the class interesting or understood. My daughter had the same math teacher for three out of her four years in HS and thought she was a great teacher. My older son had the same teacher for one year and did poorly in her class - she didn't teach in a way that he learned and was a hard grader. She retired before my youngest started HS. Interestingly enough it was the one bad math teacher that my daughter had in 11th grade that made her seriously think about teaching because she realized what a difference a good teacher could make.

[Tricky D]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Interestingly enough it was the one bad math teacher that my daughter had in 11th grade that made her seriously think about teaching because she realized what a difference a good teacher could make.

The thing is that you can't force feed people information if they just aren't interested in the subject.
No matter how great you are as a teacher.

And I find it insane to demand that young people know exactly which profession to choose when they don't even truly know who they are.

[TouchOfWhimsy]

What the heck does a high school student know about what is important in life?

Well, teens know what's important in THEIR lives. Just as 20-somethings might not know what's important in a 50-year-old's life... and a 50-year-old might not know what's important in an 80-year-old's life. If you are going to go around saying that "you don't know waht's good for you when you're 17," then you can certainly say it about any age group.

We simply don't force adults to sit down and learn things they have no interest in on the off chance that it will be "useful" someday. As an adult, I will say that anything that I find is necessary to learn about, I learn about. Would it be useful for me to learn how to change the oil on my car? Sure, probably... but not necessary for me at this time, since I can easily have my husband do it or pay $20 at Jiffy Lube.

If at some point it becomes necessary for me to memorize the list of presidents in order, then I will. If it at some point is necessary for my kids to do so, then I'm sure they will... but I'm certainly not going to impose it on them when they're 11 or 13 or 15 for the sake of "learning what's important in life." That is the sort of drivel that kids are forced to memorize (not learn) for no reason that htey're not interested in.

[RDSLOTS]

Originally Posted by beanandpumpkin

If at some point it becomes necessary for me to memorize the list of presidents in order, then I will. If it at some point is necessary for my kids to do so, then I'm sure they will... but I'm certainly not going to impose it on them when they're 11 or 13 or 15 for the sake of "learning what's important in life." That is the sort of drivel that kids are forced to memorize (not learn) for no reason that htey're not interested in.

The exercise is not to learn the US Presidents in the order of their terms in office, but to practice committing things to memory, even if only short-term. Memorizing a poem is less important in terms of being able to recall the poem twenty years from now, as it is in using the brain.

The argument that learning needs to serve a purpose is most valid, and hopefully, the teacher shares the lesson's objectives with the class. If the argument that children can best decide for themselves were to hold true, children would have little need of adults, wouldn't they, past say the age of 5? Children, of all ages, may have a keen sense of what they may need to know and be able to do, but they lack the maturity or the skills to make good choices.

A child's brain is not fully developed until the child is well into his/her twenties, and for some, adolescence continues well into the 30s and 40s. This is certainly a topic for another thread, but many of today's youth appear ill-equipped to become contributing members of society. At 18, I was able to take care of myself, and at 23, had been working for year in my chosen profession, and had married, was responsible for myself, and contributing to the upkeep of my own household and the welfare of a spouse. I am not implying this is the route for all youth -- looking back, marrying at 23 was too young -- but I could take care of myself. I have nieces and nephews, who have been so over-indulged, and never had to think for themselves, and don't have the skills, until I wonder if their parents won't be supporting them until they are well into their 30s.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

Originally Posted by toobusytoday The thing is that you can't force feed people information if they just aren't interested in the subject.
No matter how great you are as a teacher.

My daughter WAS interested in the subject but was frustrated that it was not being taught in a method that she could understand. She would ask the teacher to explain it differently and he just couldn't do it, whereas her good math teacher could do that.


And I find it insane to demand that young people know exactly which profession to choose when they don't even truly know who they are.

I agree that it's "insane" to "demand" that people choose a profession before they know themselves. But isn't it wonderful if you actually know what you love by the time you go to college? My daughter was one of those people that always wanted to teach. Spent her summers as a camp counselor, one summer in a day care, worked as an aide in an elementary school her senior year in HS, and babysat from the age of 12. She was one of those babysitters that had a bag of books and toys that she would take with her.

My son, otoh, is a rising junior in College and while he has a major, I really don't think he knows what he wants to do after he graduates. Hopefully, he'll figure that out within the next two years.