Todays Flawed Education System, What's Your Take?

Well considering how they don't teach you facts anymore but how to take a freaking test (at least where I live) I would say yes it needs to be reformed in a big way.

Honestly, it really depends on the school district. There are some exceptional public schools in this country. Hard to say what the exact flaw is. Not every great school is heavily funded, so it goes beyond just money.

Honestly, it really depends on the school district. There are some exceptional public schools in this country. Hard to say what the exact flaw is. Not every great school is heavily funded, so it goes beyond just money.

sonicare

Absolutely. Totally broken. We are training our children to get pieces of paper that saysthey are qualified in doing somethingthey probablycheated to get through. If getting a Bachelors degree isnt good enough anymore, whats the point? The cieling is just going to keep raising. I think the whole grading system is stupid, children are competing for numbers on a slip of paper that is totally meaningless. Children should be taught to do what they love, not what society expects them to do *cough... engineering... cough*. I hated public school, and as much as studying music in college rocks, its still so fake.

Not to mention it discourages divergent thinking which was a key feature in almost every genious in history. Nickprovs

I think schools should encourage children to develop and pursue what they're interested in a lot sooner than college.Allicrombie

I think what the US has in that regard is fine. I'm from England and I have heard talk from almost all of my relatives who grew up in that educational system that having to essentially choose your career at age 15/16 is impossible, and many of them ended up making the wrong decisions because what they were interested in at the age was not what they actually liked in a few years time.

When I tell them how it works in the US, they all love the idea. We do get the chance to pursue what we are interested in before college. Four years of it in high school. Where I live, we have to take 4 classes of both english and math, 3 classes of both science and history, 2 classes of a language, and 1 classes of physical education. What we do with the other 15 classes throughout high school is our own choice. I wanted to pursue the sciences and maths, so I ended up taking a ton of those classes. But at the same time, you are exposed to general education classes, which keeps you open to deciding to do new things. When I came into high school, I wanted to be a biologist. I decided I didn't really like biology but I preferred math more, and so I decided to become a physicist. And then I decided I like to work with computers more with math, so then I wanted to be a computer engineer. I had plenty of chances to explore what I wanted to do and now I am very confident on what I am going to pick for my major at college. And it is completely different from what I wanted to be at 16.

tl;dr - Kids are encouraged to do exactly that.

I think everyone can agree that we need radical education reforms, problem is, who's going to do it and how?

In the U.S. I just don't see an over-haul possible. We'll have Public Universal health care before we see that.

There should be a wider variety of classes and school should teach us more useful for life things.

There should be a wider variety of classes and school should teach us more useful for life things.

MrMe1000

the people that i went to high school with that said they wanted to be teachers, most of them were dumb as f***. i don't want an idiot trying to teach children.

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]I think schools should encourage children to develop and pursue what they're interested in a lot sooner than college.stanleycup98

I think what the US has in that regard is fine. I'm from England and I have heard talk from almost all of my relatives who grew up in that educational system that having to essentially choose your career at age 15/16 is impossible, and many of them ended up making the wrong decisions because what they were interested in at the age was not what they actually liked in a few years time.

When I tell them how it works in the US, they all love the idea. We do get the chance to pursue what we are interested in before college. Four years of it in high school. Where I live, we have to take 4 classes of both english and math, 3 classes of both science and history, 2 classes of a language, and 1 classes of physical education. What we do with the other 15 classes throughout high school is our own choice. I wanted to pursue the sciences and maths, so I ended up taking a ton of those classes. But at the same time, you are exposed to general education classes, which keeps you open to deciding to do new things. When I came into high school, I wanted to be a biologist. I decided I didn't really like biology but I preferred math more, and so I decided to become a physicist. And then I decided I like to work with computers more with math, so then I wanted to be a computer engineer. I had plenty of chances to explore what I wanted to do and now I am very confident on what I am going to pick for my major at college. And it is completely different from what I wanted to be at 16.

tl;dr - Kids are encouraged to do exactly that.

Hard to say what the exact flaw is. Not every great school is heavily funded, so it goes beyond just money.

sonicare

I think schools should encourage children to develop and pursue what they're interested in a lot sooner than college.Allicrombie

This is probably one of the most intelligent and smart things I've heard anyone say on this board. With things like electives, kids kinda already can, but not to the extent of college. Honestly, if a kid isn't going into a career that involves trigonometry, why have them take it?

I think everyone can agree that we need radical education reforms, problem is, who's going to do it and how?

In the U.S. I just don't see an over-haul possible. We'll have Public Universal health care before we see that.

Blue-Sky

Well there is no system that will not have flaws. The question is how do we get children to invest in an education.trick_man01

Nothing will ever be flawless but today's education system has some pretty glaring flaws.

[QUOTE="Nickprovs"]Not to mention it discourages divergent thinking which was a key feature in almost every genious in history. stanleycup98

[QUOTE="trick_man01"]Well there is no system that will not have flaws. The question is how do we get children to invest in an education.turtlethetaffer

Nothing will ever be flawless but today's education system has some pretty glaring flaws.

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

[QUOTE="trick_man01"]Well there is no system that will not have flaws. The question is how do we get children to invest in an education.trick_man01

Nothing will ever be flawless but today's education system has some pretty glaring flaws.

My theory is one where you can take many, many more electives once you reach the junior high/ high school age. by then many people already know which subjects are their strengths and which ones they like.

[QUOTE="trick_man01"][QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

Nothing will ever be flawless but today's education system has some pretty glaring flaws.

turtlethetaffer

My theory is one where you can take many, many more electives once you reach the junior high/ high school age. by then many people already know which subjects are their strengths and which ones they like.

So we let everyone make up classes they like? Get real. There can't be an elective for every single thing. The classes that matterare going to exist already.

I don't know how old you are, but if you want a new class you should talk to your school about it. If you're in high school it might be possible to get a new class started if enough people support it. If you're in college there's a slim chance of that happening.

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

[QUOTE="trick_man01"]Well there is no system that will not have flaws. The question is how do we get children to invest in an education.trick_man01

Nothing will ever be flawless but today's education system has some pretty glaring flaws.

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

[QUOTE="trick_man01"]I didn't say it didn't, I just asked what would be the best way to get every child that goes to school invested in their education, or what system would have the least flaws?ROFLCOPTER603

My theory is one where you can take many, many more electives once you reach the junior high/ high school age. by then many people already know which subjects are their strengths and which ones they like.

So we let everyone make up classes they like? Get real. There can't be an elective for every single thing. The classes that matterare going to exist already.

I don't know how old you are, but if you want a new class you should talk to your school about it. If you're in high school it might be possible to get a new class started if enough people support it. If you're in college there's a slim chance of that happening.

That's not quite what I meant. I mant that there is a bigger emphasis on the electives than core classes. That would certainly spark more interest, you can't deny that.

It's not just the education system that is at fault here. Kids themselves these days are less motivated to even pick up a book and start reading it. And what's the reason for this? Bad parenting. Parents in the U.S. need to discipline their children more so that their kids will feel more obligated to work and study hard.Parents need to start taking responsibility for what their kids are learning and how much education they are recieving.Also, with technology advancing at a tremendous rate, kids are in turn becoming less and less lenient towards their education and would rather (i.e.) play games on their iPhone 4. Why else do you think that children in the past got higher standardized test scores compared to today's kids?

Bottom line: Parents need to start limiting the T.V. and videogames and rather focus on making their kids hit the books more often.

So we let everyone make up classes they like? Get real.

ROFLCOPTER603

Kids themselves these days are less motivated to even pick up a book and start reading it. And what's the reason for this? Bad parenting. Parents in the U.S. need to discipline their children more so that their kids will feel more obligated to work and study hard.Parents need to start taking responsibility for what their kids are learning and how much education they are recieving.

butteman12

Discipline isn't the only way of doing that and really not that great a way of doing it. Parents should lead by example, young kids are copy cats. Also they should teach their kids, not just sit them infront of the TV to keep them quiet, my mum's a teacher it seems that less and less parents are reading to their kids.

[QUOTE="ROFLCOPTER603"]

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

My theory is one where you can take many, many more electives once you reach the junior high/ high school age. by then many people already know which subjects are their strengths and which ones they like.

turtlethetaffer

So we let everyone make up classes they like? Get real. There can't be an elective for every single thing. The classes that matterare going to exist already.

I don't know how old you are, but if you want a new class you should talk to your school about it. If you're in high school it might be possible to get a new class started if enough people support it. If you're in college there's a slim chance of that happening.

That's not quite what I meant. I mant that there is a bigger emphasis on the electives than core classes. That would certainly spark more interest, you can't deny that.

It would spark interest in some people, true. But the amount of interest in certain classes would not warrant their creation. For instance, myhigh school has well over 50 different electives. The problem is that certain electives aren't interesting to enough people, so very few people sign up for them. Our school wastes money on these electives' materials and their teachers instead of improving classes that the majority wants. I'd rather that they rent out graphing/scientific calculators to everyone in math classes instead of spending money on Middle Eastern and African studies (our community is 98% white=0 interest).

It's not just the education system that is at fault here. Kids themselves these days are less motivated to even pick up a book and start reading it. And what's the reason for this? Bad parenting. Parents in the U.S. need to discipline their children more so that their kids will feel more obligated to work and study hard.Parents need to start taking responsibility for what their kids are learning and how much education they are recieving.Also, with technology advancing at a tremendous rate, kids are in turn becoming less and less lenient towards their education and would rather (i.e.) play games on their iPhone 4. Why else do you think that children in the past got higher standardized test scores compared to today's kids?

Bottom line: Parents need to start limiting the T.V. and videogames and rather focus on making their kids hit the books more often.

butteman12

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

[QUOTE="ROFLCOPTER603"]

So we let everyone make up classes they like? Get real. There can't be an elective for every single thing. The classes that matterare going to exist already.

I don't know how old you are, but if you want a new class you should talk to your school about it. If you're in high school it might be possible to get a new class started if enough people support it. If you're in college there's a slim chance of that happening.

ROFLCOPTER603

That's not quite what I meant. I mant that there is a bigger emphasis on the electives than core classes. That would certainly spark more interest, you can't deny that.

It would spark interest in some people, true. But the amount of interest in certain classes would not warrant their creation. For instance, myhigh school has well over 50 different electives. The problem is that certain electives aren't interesting to enough people, so very few people sign up for them. Our school wastes money on these electives' materials and their teachers instead of improving classes that the majority wants. I'd rather that they rent out graphing/scientific calculators to everyone in math classes instead of spending money on Middle Eastern and African studies (our community is 98% white=0 interest).

My whole point is just giving kids more choices.

[QUOTE="ROFLCOPTER603"]

So we let everyone make up classes they like? Get real.

markop2003

I should've phrased that better. I know that he didn't mean that we should only have electives. I'm saying that letting everyone make up their own electives (or have a huge amount)is not a good idea because some elective subjects would not have enough students to equal out the cost in money and in physical space.

[QUOTE="ROFLCOPTER603"]

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

That's not quite what I meant. I mant that there is a bigger emphasis on the electives than core classes. That would certainly spark more interest, you can't deny that.

turtlethetaffer

It would spark interest in some people, true. But the amount of interest in certain classes would not warrant their creation. For instance, myhigh school has well over 50 different electives. The problem is that certain electives aren't interesting to enough people, so very few people sign up for them. Our school wastes money on these electives' materials and their teachers instead of improving classes that the majority wants. I'd rather that they rent out graphing/scientific calculators to everyone in math classes instead of spending money on Middle Eastern and African studies (our community is 98% white=0 interest).

My whole point is just giving kids more choices.

I'd be all for that if it was free. But it's not. A class with only 15 people in it is not worth the cost of paying that teacher and using the room.

Perhaps double the time allotted to reading, writing and math in the K-6 grades. Raise the minimum bar for what counts as passing grades, and for the love of god hold children back when they don't know their material, especially when it comes to math. Maybe separate regular from advanced tracks earlier in education.

We hold fast learners back and put their slower counterparts in situations for which they are ill-prepared. Children need to master the basics before they move forward. We keep graduating children who have no business advancing and it's only hurting them in the long run.



...but I doubt there will be any significant changes in the foreseeable future. Our problems are as much cultural as they are structural.

Middle Eastern and African studies (our community is 98% white=0 interest).

ROFLCOPTER603

You mentioned technology, with today's technology there is more knowledge seconds away than at any point even I was in school (around 5 years ago). So instead of using technology as a scapegoat, couldn't we use it as a tool. I understand the need to limit videogames and agree with that point, but technology is a tremendous gift of this generation.trick_man01

I should've phrased that better. I know that he didn't mean that we should only have electives. I'm saying that letting everyone make up their own electives (or have a huge amount)is not a good idea because some elective subjects would not have enough students to equal out the cost in money and in physical space.

ROFLCOPTER603

We watched that video in AP Language, quite a good summary. My view on education is that yes, it is broken, but I have no idea how to even go about fixing it. I'll let someone else figure that out, I'm no teacher :P

Maybe separate regular from advanced tracks earlier in education.

cybrcatter

That should be done as soon as they start school. In reception here in the UK you can have kids which can write basic sentances alongside those who can barely speak a word of english. TBH it would be better to just scrap years altogether as they don't really work.

Wow...That man is a brilliant speaker. I think its very true. Children are being taught in a way that 'There is only one solution to any given problem'. They aren't being taught on how to think of one solution, then stop for a moment and consider others.

EDIT: To markop:

I agree. I 'matured' differently from other kids. Up until about Year 3 I wasn't very good at writing, I would write simple words huge on the page while others around me could write simple sentences, but all the time I was listening, and to this day I cannot explain what happened next. In Year 4/5 It was like I had all the knowledge inside my head and someone had suddenly flicked a switch. It was all there and I became one of the smartest people in my class/year.

However it would have been better to have classes based on ability, not age. And as well as this, remove the pressure of GCSE's and A-Levels. Let people take these exams when they are ready, and have learnt enough to take them.

it' hard to reform something if you can't pinpoint the cause.

I think the problem is the state required tests, which just lead to students learning "trivial facts" to pass the tests instead of learning to concepts that really do matter in the long run.Reed_Bowie

In the IB program they often force us to think beyond what's given in the textbooks and question our education. Additionally, we're taught to independently come up with our own ideas for all assignments. So I guess the IB is doing something right :P

It's completely messed up for two reasons: Standardized testing and (partially) unions. I say unions because they protect horrible teachers and it's a politically driven machine. Standardized testing because teaachers now teach how to take a test and the information on the test and try and stay on a pacing guide so they cover everything prior to the test. Problem with this is that students often need re-teaching on many aspects and some students need extra attention, and they don't receive this.

On top of that, if you're school is struggling with the tests, instead of giving you extra help they take away funds.

Honestly, from experience, here'ssome big reasons:

1. The system is built ina way that students don't give a s--- anymore. I took an Algebra 2 class and had some problems there, and when I looked at the grade sheet, there was a time where I had a B and had the highest grade in the whole class, and half the students were failing. There was a general lack of interest into anything but football at my last high school.
2. It's become so results oriented that if you're not coming home withan Honor Roll you're seen as a failure. Given how funding can now be determined from test scores...yeah.

Believe it or not, there was a time where, before the elementary school I had took a big statewide test, we were told that we needed to get great scores in order for the school to receive funding.Need I say more?

Sometimes kids don't care because their parents don't care.

Sometimes kids don't care because their parents don't care.

hakanakumono

It makes me sad that I had so many of them so far in High School that it makes me not excited for my Senior year, which is sad.

We need to make it way harder, so that even the smartest kids have a hard time. It should be a spartan education for the mind.