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Do your own experiment.
Hire a 5 -10 person "team" of USA public schooled students to run your farm / home business and leave them alone with your assets and customers for a weekend..
at least nothing will be broken... they wouldn't know how to even operate it unless it is connected to a smart phone
the other guys will put wear and tear on it using it, and fix what is broken if it gets the job done
It is cruel to put non academic children in a strict academic environment. Not all kids are the same and that is the truth. That is not being fair....that is making the non academic kids outcasts.
Our schools are jaded to the academics only as those are the "required" courses. It is unfair to the children who love working with their hands or struggle with academics.
We should absolutely rethink our education system.
There are all sorts of models out there, which is exactly why teachers need to vary their lesson delivery modes.
Booz-Allen Hamilton, one of the "beltway bandits", and a consulting company with over 80 offices throughout the world, does much of its work via work teams...at least that's what one of their executives told us at an inservice meeting at their office in McLean, Virginia. I then asked a friend of mine who worked for them, and he said yes, his project team had a common work space. Of course, individual parts of the job at hand were divvied up, but much of the planning and -- particularly during the culminating conclusion of projects when they worked humongous sifts to meet deadlines -- were done in consultation.
My medical practice -- with about 6 doctors and 6 nurse practitioners and a couple of specialists -- is pretty much like what you're describing.
But even in many (most?) middle schools there is a 3-tiered team approach: electives, interdisciplinary core team, and content department. It was interesting as this format gained popularity how some teachers...particularly many older teachers..floundered at working in any type of team setting. But it was a wonderful system. In the content team, teachers could consult about their subject's content. In the interdisciplinary team, teachers could consult about kids; one teacher could often explain how he/she was having success with a kid that others were floundering with. Of course in the classroom it's usually one teacher and 25 kids (give or take).
OK, now that you've mentioned Booz-Allen, it's all coming back to me. I got into a "spirited discussion" with you once before about this stuff.
You have spent your career in education. You obviously know education well, and it sounds like you were a great educator. However, you do not have experience in the tech world or any world outside of education. I remember re: one of these awful group projects that my daughter had, her teacher told me "that's the real world". I thought later, "As if I don't know the real world. I didn't just drop down from outer space. I work in the real world". (As does the teacher of course; I hate it when people talk about "the ivory tower" as if teachers are somehow detached from the "real world".
You can't learn all about how high tech operates at an inservice. I confirmed with my husband, who has spent a career in high tech and who I would consider an authority on how high tech works, having been employed by several high tech companies, this last one now for 16 years, how his job operates. It's nowhere near as groupy as you think it is, or how you think your friend described it. Heck, there's this whole big movement for people working "off-site" these days, usually at home. In fact, DH did arrange at one point to work at home one day a week when he worked for a different company, and he works some at home now. My son-in-law works at home in St. Paul, MN for a company in Boulder, Colorado!
Well... it is Monday afternoon and I have visited and dealt with edu issues in 3 countries already this week., So I think I know what you mean. You are VERY USA centric in thought! That is a HUGE problem within the "USA disgrace of education" for your future generations.
At least 100 of my kid's peers were foreign educated. Been canvassing & hiring foreign educated staff for 26 yrs. Volunteered at international trade schools in 6 international locations during this last year. <5% USA students, so we were able to move the learning along very fast.
Do your own experiment.
Hire a 5 -10 person "team" of USA public schooled students to run your farm / home business and leave them alone with your assets and customers for a weekend..
You have a nice day, too!
When the Japanese education system was looked at in depth, back in the early 90s when some thought they were the epitome of education, problems were found, just like in any system. In particular, they weren't that great with special ed. I recall reading an article about how kids with learning problems were sort of "counseled out", or rather their parents were. "Take your child home and teach him/her yourself". There was an emphasis on rote memorization.
If we looked at the Finnish system (the latest darling) with any degree of scrutiny, we'd find problems. I don't know what they'd be, I've never studied their system in depth. But no system is perfect.
In our middle school I would estimate that 80%+ of students bought the school cafeteria food.
Plus, think of packed student lunches sitting refrigerated in a locker for 5 hours. Appetizing?
Why not? What did you eat for lunch in school? There's nothing wrong with fruit and a cheese or PB&JU sandwich for lunch. Generations of kids were raised on those.
It is cruel to put non academic children in a strict academic environment. Not all kids are the same and that is the truth. That is not being fair....that is making the non academic kids outcasts.
Our schools are jaded to the academics only as those are the "required" courses. It is unfair to the children who love working with their hands or struggle with academics.
We should absolutely rethink our education system.
What is a non academic child. I'm guessing that would be me since I barely graduated high school...and I mean barely graduated.
Of course, after high school I earned a degree in computer sciences, 2 more degrees in geosciences, and another degree in educational administration. And was virtually always on the Dean's List.
And I'm why...and others like me are why...I don't want to shut doors to children. I'm not saying there can't be "tracks", but tracks shouldn't cut off people's futures.
OK, now that you've mentioned Booz-Allen, it's all coming back to me. I got into a "spirited discussion" with you once before about this stuff.
You have spent your career in education. You obviously know education well, and it sounds like you were a great educator. However, you do not have experience in the tech world or any world outside of education. I remember re: one of these awful group projects that my daughter had, her teacher told me "that's the real world". I thought later, "As if I don't know the real world. I didn't just drop down from outer space. I work in the real world". (As does the teacher of course; I hate it when people talk about "the ivory tower" as if teachers are somehow detached from the "real world".
You can't learn all about how high tech operates at an inservice. I confirmed with my husband, who has spent a career in high tech and who I would consider an authority on how high tech works, having been employed by several high tech companies, this last one now for 16 years, how his job operates. It's nowhere near as groupy as you think it is, or how you think your friend described it. Heck, there's this whole big movement for people working "off-site" these days, usually at home. In fact, DH did arrange at one point to work at home one day a week when he worked for a different company, and he works some at home now. My son-in-law works at home in St. Paul, MN for a company in Boulder, Colorado!
LOL. Yes, we did get into it a few times, didn't we. I have since come to really respect and enjoy your posts.
What is a non academic child. I'm guessing that would be me since I barely graduated high school...and I mean barely graduated.
Of course, after high school I earned a degree in computer sciences, 2 more degrees in geosciences, and another degree in educational administration. And was virtually always on the Dean's List.
And I'm why...and others like me are why...I don't want to shut doors to children. I'm not saying there can't be "tracks", but tracks shouldn't cut off people's futures.
Good tracks don't shut off people's futures, they give them options. The reality is there are many kids who are not and never will be college material. It's just dishonest to lead them on to something they cannot succeed at unless the standards are lowered to non existence. I went to school with kids like that. Many were my friends. It was pure hell watching them be tortured by teachers everyday, and yes, it certainly was torture to those kids to be made a spectacle of on a daily basis as the teacher tried to force them to learn beyond their capabilities. These kids couldn't read harder words than "the" yet many had mechanical aptitude and would make good mechanics, carpenters, or other workers. Why were they tortured in a math class where 2+2 was beyond them? Most dropped out as soon as they were old enough to escape the classroom. There need to be more options than one size fits none.
Good tracks don't shut off people's futures, they give them options. The reality is there are many kids who are not and never will be college material. It's just dishonest to lead them on to something they cannot succeed at unless the standards are lowered to non existence. I went to school with kids like that. Many were my friends. It was pure hell watching them be tortured by teachers everyday, and yes, it certainly was torture to those kids to be made a spectacle of on a daily basis as the teacher tried to force them to learn beyond their capabilities. These kids couldn't read harder words than "the" yet many had mechanical aptitude and would make good mechanics, carpenters, or other workers. Why were they tortured in a math class where 2+2 was beyond them? Most dropped out as soon as they were old enough to escape the classroom. There need to be more options than one size fits none.
I'm really annoyed with people who talk about "college material". There are lots of "late bloomers" out there, people you would have never thought could make it in college who somehow had a wakeup call.
What kind of a mechanic can't add 2 + 2? Not one I would want working on my car! I sure as heck wouldn't want a carpenter who can't add (or subtract) cutting wood for a project in my house. Ditto for lots of "other workers".
I'm also getting very annoyed at you saying, despite much evidence to the contrary, that everyone in HS is put in the college prep curriculum.
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for your future generations. 
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