Don't Stay in School
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So some things that need to change in the American education system:
- We need to stop the "teach for the test" approach. Kids don't like tests, and I agree with Scott. I've taken tests on things that I barely knew anything about and done very well, simply because I'm excellent at taking tests. Tests are an easy way to generate metrics and numbers for someone to present to someone else. However, our current testing system doesn't really test on comprehension, but rather, as @Dashrender I believe said (sorry if I'm mistaken), them being able to regurgitate information.
- Teach kids practical life skills. How to change a tire, create a budget, basic home and car maintenance, basic accounting and bookkeeping, and much more. I actually use basic algebra on a daily basis. I still end up using a calculator, but if I'm trying to figure out that 280 is 90% of what number, I know it's x*.9=280 and I end up dividing 280/.9 to get the answer. Stuff like that. But if someone isn't going to go for math in college, why are we teaching calculus and trig?
- Teach skills. After 8th grade, get kids active in learning something. Let kids choose some basic activities they WANT to learn about, and have people teach them. Construction? Computers? Cars? Get them learning hands-on, and help these kids start both gaining skills they could use to get a job, and help them figure out what they actually want to do for work.
- College is a means to an end, not the be-all, end-all. I agree with Scott that I think many GCs propagate a system that is built on bullshit, because if they don't further the bullshit, they are forced to admit to themselves, and others, that what they built their life on was a total lie. You wanna be a doctor, lawyer, CPA, etc? You're going to need a degree. Want to get into IT? College probably isn't necessary. I also think that, if someone wants to get into a certain field, bringing in people who actually have REAL EXPERIENCE in that field, rather than a GC just guessing or making shit up based on what they found in 2 seconds through Google, as far as what they should learn and what training path they should take, would be advantageous.
- Stop cutting woodshop, band, etc. You want kids to learn and you want kids to WANT to learn? Get them excited about the idea of learning. I agree with Scott also that learning for the sake of learning is something to be encouraged, not looked down on. It NEVER hurts to be MORE informed, but we are seeing the sad effects in this country of what happens when people are FAR LESS informed.
Just a few ideas...sorry for the long rant.
Thanks,
A.J. -
@thanksajdotcom said in Don't Stay in School:
@dafyre said in Don't Stay in School:
@Dashrender said in Don't Stay in School:
@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
@Dashrender said in Don't Stay in School:
I'll definitely agree that anything past probably 8th grade, and perhaps much less than that, are really needed by the common man.
Probably a mix. Few 8th graders are anywhere nearly prepared to talk politics. Things like geography and history are necessary for even basic functional citizenship (unless we remove democracy, then we don't have to educate every individual to all of these things - democracy comes at an incredible price.) Math needs to at least go to algebra. Science we go way, way too far. Computing we rarely even bother to introduce in any meaningful way. English lit... way too far.
I definitely understand where you are coming from - and I'll fully admit to my general lack of knowledge in history - but would dropping the general requirements for history really change much in the world we live in today?
History gives us good examples of things that have been tried and worked, or things that have tried and failed... In technology, government, business...
The issue is that, in the US, a lot of history is actually taught incorrectly, and is taught from a biased viewpoint that isn't really factually accurate, but is presenting the perception that is wanting to be imparted. I fully agree that "those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it", which is why we have candidates like Trump succeeding so well in the polls when he's very much a fascist. But we need to make sure that the history taught is being taught accurately, and not how people wanted it to be perceived, instead of what's the brutal reality.
A perfect example of this is regarding racism. People talk about how the country isn't racist, how we had the civil rights movement that helped end racism, but the fact is that the US has ALWAYS been racist. Since Day 1. Before we were even a country, settlers were infecting, killing, and stealing from Natives. The men who wrote our core documents were slave-owners til the day they died. Women couldn't vote until 1920. Segregation was still legal 50 years ago! And now we've got people who are freaking out about the LGBT community, calling them perverts, when it's all a giant bunch of bullshit. But I constantly remind myself, and others, that the USA is a VERY YOUNG country. There are universities all over the world that are many times older than our country. This year marks the 240th anniversary of our country. That's NOTHING compared to a lot of Europe. But I have high hopes right now...our country, and the world, is going through a transition away from a religiously-driven mentality towards a more scientific and secular one. Religious zealots are fighting their hardest to stop it, but my generation is already showing that more and more are rejecting the rhetoric of the past two millennia. And those that are staying religious are becoming far more secular about it. The next 20-40 years are going to bring MANY changes, and I am very excited to see what that will bring for both my children and grandchildren.
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Also important to note, all countries are racist. The issues vary, but the issues persist. Here in Eastern Europe you have totally different concerns than in America. Here Christian and Muslim groups live in harmony, but the Roma are discriminated against heavily. Americans often experience none of this. Move a Roma from Eastern Europe to the US and no one would be able to figure out why they were discriminated against here. In the US they'd just be another random person. You could even tell people that they were Roma and people would just say "what's that?"
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Go to Africa. They are very racist. Not against whites but against other blacks. There is no place on earth to get away from racism.
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@Minion-Queen said in Don't Stay in School:
There is no place on earth to get away from racism.
I cannot wrap my head around this. I just don't understand why people are so cruel to one another.
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The other thing that drives me nuts is when I hear people talk about how things like gender fluidity, transgender, etc like it's some radical new "liberal" thing. But these are things that have been around for thousands of years. I find it amazing how people talk about so many issues like they are brand new. They aren't. They have been around for a very long time, all around the world. What has happened is that, because of the internet primarily, issues that used to be hidden in the shadows, are coming to the light. Also, matters that used to be very "taboo" to talk about are becoming more normal and accepted. People who used to have to fear for their life or their safety, physically, emotionally, etc, are now able to talk about these things without AS BIG a fear of that. We're in the age of information with so many people who are proud to be so uninformed it's embarrassing.
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@dafyre said in Don't Stay in School:
@Minion-Queen said in Don't Stay in School:
There is no place on earth to get away from racism.
I cannot wrap my head around this. I just don't understand why people are so cruel to one another.
Amen!
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@dafyre said in Don't Stay in School:
@Minion-Queen said in Don't Stay in School:
There is no place on earth to get away from racism.
I cannot wrap my head around this. I just don't understand why people are so cruel to one another.
It's not always intentional. Sometimes it's just misunderstanding.
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@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
@dafyre said in Don't Stay in School:
@Minion-Queen said in Don't Stay in School:
There is no place on earth to get away from racism.
I cannot wrap my head around this. I just don't understand why people are so cruel to one another.
It's not always intentional. Sometimes it's just misunderstanding.
Or cultural. Most people are morons, and morons fear what they don't understand instead of taking the time to gain understanding. It's a reflex basically. "Oh, that doesn't make sense to me, so it's stupid and I'm going to hate it." Intelligent people would rather learn about something that simply write it off because it's something they don't know.
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@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
@dafyre said in Don't Stay in School:
@Minion-Queen said in Don't Stay in School:
There is no place on earth to get away from racism.
I cannot wrap my head around this. I just don't understand why people are so cruel to one another.
It's not always intentional. Sometimes it's just misunderstanding.
I think that racism is intentional. A misunderstanding is just that... One person may feel they have been insulted, while the person doing the insulting has no idea what they did wrong...but it was a cultural difference, not a one person feeling like they are superior to another.
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@dafyre said in Don't Stay in School:
@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
@dafyre said in Don't Stay in School:
@Minion-Queen said in Don't Stay in School:
There is no place on earth to get away from racism.
I cannot wrap my head around this. I just don't understand why people are so cruel to one another.
It's not always intentional. Sometimes it's just misunderstanding.
I think that racism is intentional. A misunderstanding is just that... One person may feel they have been insulted, while the person doing the insulting has no idea what they did wrong...but it was a cultural difference, not a one person feeling like they are superior to another.
Many people would, and have, argued that not understanding, not taking the time to understanding, limiting understanding only to your own group is racism.
Of course, I've also been told that only certain races can be racist. A statement which is, quite obviously, racist.
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@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
@dafyre said in Don't Stay in School:
@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
@dafyre said in Don't Stay in School:
@Minion-Queen said in Don't Stay in School:
There is no place on earth to get away from racism.
I cannot wrap my head around this. I just don't understand why people are so cruel to one another.
It's not always intentional. Sometimes it's just misunderstanding.
I think that racism is intentional. A misunderstanding is just that... One person may feel they have been insulted, while the person doing the insulting has no idea what they did wrong...but it was a cultural difference, not a one person feeling like they are superior to another.
Many people would, and have, argued that not understanding, not taking the time to understanding, limiting understanding only to your own group is racism.
Of course, I've also been told that only certain races can be racist. A statement which is, quite obviously, racist.
When I approach someone of different culture (mainly when face to face), I make sure to let them know that I am not trying to be offensive, and that if I do something to offend them to tell me.
I love learning about various cultures, but I'd rather learn it form the people who live it, rather than from the books that just tell us about it.
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@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
Many people would, and have, argued that not understanding, not taking the time to understanding, limiting understanding only to your own group is racism.
Interesting - do you consider it so?
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@Dashrender said in Don't Stay in School:
@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
Many people would, and have, argued that not understanding, not taking the time to understanding, limiting understanding only to your own group is racism.
Interesting - do you consider it so?
Honestly I'm not sure. Certainly not always, but I think sometimes. I think that it is situational.
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@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
http://www.theonion.com/article/officials-starting-think-school-just-not-nations-t-52820
Too close to reality
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@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
@Dashrender said in Don't Stay in School:
@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
Many people would, and have, argued that not understanding, not taking the time to understanding, limiting understanding only to your own group is racism.
Interesting - do you consider it so?
Honestly I'm not sure. Certainly not always, but I think sometimes. I think that it is situational.
I don't think that would be racist at all. It's definitely something, but racists? This situation would be the case for anyone who doesn't take the other person's situation into account regardless of race, religion, gender, etc, etc, etc...
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@tonyshowoff said in Don't Stay in School:
@scottalanmiller said in Don't Stay in School:
http://www.theonion.com/article/officials-starting-think-school-just-not-nations-t-52820
Too close to reality
Close?
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Oh, is that satire?
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Interesting the comparison to other countries - one's who's culture still keep families close at hand and personal responsibility seems (from this outsiders view) to be a thing.
