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I think the truth is somewhere in between. Yes, there are a ton of failing school districts, but it's not as if kids are clamoring to learn all they can and be

I think the truth is somewhere in between. Yes, there are a ton of failing school districts, but it's not as if kids are clamoring to learn all they can and being told no. Kids aren't really motivated to learn the stuff (not that they ever have been in the history of education), and those schools aren't doing any motivating. It requires both parties to try. I think the idea of fixing schools has, and will continue to be, examined to death. What no one seems to examine is the other half of it. How can we as a society stop perpetuating the "learning is uncool" myth? Maybe it's because a math competition will never be as exciting as a football game, maybe it's just part of human nature to be skeptical of intellectualism as a defense mechanism for the ego... I don't really know. But I don't think you can "solve education" without paying attention to that part as well.

oldgregg 17y ago
But the cultural problem you're talking about is caused in large part by the structural problem. Students slack off because the system passes students along with impunity. Why bother studying math when you know you will get promoted anyway? The only way to fix that is to allows schools to kick poorly performing students out. There are plenty of students who want to do well but the system crushes them.
- antauth 17y ago
  What do you propose they do with the kids they kick out?
  - artsrc 17y ago
    I don't know what the parent proposes, but generally people propose that kids who read at a 2nd grade level, stay in 2nd grade.
- Xichekolas 17y ago
  While I would agree that students shouldn't be passed with impunity, I'm not sure the fix is kicking students out. The motivational factors that make sense to adults don't necessarily work on kids. Thinking back to when I was 13-14, being kicked out of school would have been a good thing to most of my peers. It would mean no more school, and school was a total hassle at that age. I think the answer lies partly in finding ways to motivate students to learn, and I think the root solution to that is going to lie somewhere with teachers that can sell what they are teaching. I had history teachers that were so into their material it was almost infectious. I had an Algebra teacher that taught everything as if it were the coolest thing in the world. It's hard to not care about something when someone else is visibly excited about it. And I think that has to be coupled with real expectations. People generally rise to the expectations that are set, and kids are no exception. The worst teachers I ever had were the ones that tried to pretend they were on the kid's side. The ones that would admit that what they were teaching was "pointless" but were "just trying to help us get through it because it is required". That is not inspiring. Not only is it uninspiring, but it creates a responsibility vacuum. If things are pointless, and everyone knows it, and there is no real responsibility to take it seriously, then why take it seriously? And finally, I think the biggest fix to the cultural problem has to come from our parents. Most parents are really just older kids, and deep down they have the same outlook on school as those teachers that admit it's "pointless". They talk a big game about education being important, but they don't back it up by actually considering it to be important. I don't think this has to come at the expense of other activities, but getting an A on a test should be at least as important and noteworthy to parents as winning a little league game or Prom night. So yeah, part of it is structural, but it's by no means all structural. The education of people does not occur entirely between 8am and 3pm. Much of what we learn is from our peers and our parents and really anyone else we are exposed to socially. And crucially, the attitude we learn to adopt towards school comes almost entirely from these people who are not part of the school system, and that attitude is crucial in determining how much we get out of that 8am to 3pm period.
yters 17y ago
The english grammar school system works alright. Around age 12 kids take a test that routes them either to higher academics or trade school. Those going the trade school route can go onto higher academics if they want, so it isn't set in stone. But in general, the kids who care about academics are grouped together, and those who don't are put in another group. In this situation, doing well academically actually is looked upon favorably, more so in the single gender schools than in co-ed.

oldgregg 17y ago

But the cultural problem you're talking about is caused in large part by the structural problem. Students slack off because the system passes students along with impunity. Why bother studying math when you know you will get promoted anyway? The only way to fix that is to allows schools to kick poorly performing students out. There are plenty of students who want to do well but the system crushes them.

antauth 17y ago
What do you propose they do with the kids they kick out?
- artsrc 17y ago
  I don't know what the parent proposes, but generally people propose that kids who read at a 2nd grade level, stay in 2nd grade.
Xichekolas 17y ago
While I would agree that students shouldn't be passed with impunity, I'm not sure the fix is kicking students out. The motivational factors that make sense to adults don't necessarily work on kids. Thinking back to when I was 13-14, being kicked out of school would have been a good thing to most of my peers. It would mean no more school, and school was a total hassle at that age. I think the answer lies partly in finding ways to motivate students to learn, and I think the root solution to that is going to lie somewhere with teachers that can sell what they are teaching. I had history teachers that were so into their material it was almost infectious. I had an Algebra teacher that taught everything as if it were the coolest thing in the world. It's hard to not care about something when someone else is visibly excited about it. And I think that has to be coupled with real expectations. People generally rise to the expectations that are set, and kids are no exception. The worst teachers I ever had were the ones that tried to pretend they were on the kid's side. The ones that would admit that what they were teaching was "pointless" but were "just trying to help us get through it because it is required". That is not inspiring. Not only is it uninspiring, but it creates a responsibility vacuum. If things are pointless, and everyone knows it, and there is no real responsibility to take it seriously, then why take it seriously? And finally, I think the biggest fix to the cultural problem has to come from our parents. Most parents are really just older kids, and deep down they have the same outlook on school as those teachers that admit it's "pointless". They talk a big game about education being important, but they don't back it up by actually considering it to be important. I don't think this has to come at the expense of other activities, but getting an A on a test should be at least as important and noteworthy to parents as winning a little league game or Prom night. So yeah, part of it is structural, but it's by no means all structural. The education of people does not occur entirely between 8am and 3pm. Much of what we learn is from our peers and our parents and really anyone else we are exposed to socially. And crucially, the attitude we learn to adopt towards school comes almost entirely from these people who are not part of the school system, and that attitude is crucial in determining how much we get out of that 8am to 3pm period.

yters 17y ago

The english grammar school system works alright. Around age 12 kids take a test that routes them either to higher academics or trade school. Those going the trade school route can go onto higher academics if they want, so it isn't set in stone. But in general, the kids who care about academics are grouped together, and those who don't are put in another group. In this situation, doing well academically actually is looked upon favorably, more so in the single gender schools than in co-ed.