5 ms·

Modern education hasn't produced well-rounded individuals since the nadir of Taylorism in 1910. It's produced one-dimensional people who are good at passing arb

Modern education hasn't produced well-rounded individuals since the nadir of Taylorism in 1910. It's produced one-dimensional people who are good at passing arbitrary requirements for the sake of passing arbitrary requirements. This process is even worse in countries without the socio-cultural background of the US - read Feynman's description of education in Brazil (iirc, from Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman) for a fantastic example of this sort of degeneracy. Essentially, it had students "learning physics" by memorizing and guessing what the teacher wanted from students who had "learned physics".

krastanov 9y ago
I have read it, and I also have worked with educators in the US, France, and Eastern Europe. While there are plenty of things done wrong, the claim that a modern school hasn't produced a well-rounded individual is ridiculous. Yes, there is way too much focus on standardized tests, but there are also many schools that do a great job at creating stellar pupils. Regrettably, this is usually available only in affluent areas (and even then it is not universal).
- ThrustVectoring 9y ago
  I'm not sure you can call very many students well-rounded when they haven't done anything significant on their own initiative at age 21. Adolescents used to go and learn trigonometry so they could do surveying, or pick up silversmithing, or whatever, at like age 12 to 16. Now they don't.
  - krastanov 9y ago
    Trig to do surveying at 12 is the exact opposite of well rounded. On the other hand very many students today indeed have amazing breadth of knowledge from math to literature and civics (which you can see in their writing, extracurricular choices and volunteer work) - something that gets much rarer as you go in the past where students had to pick up work at age 12 to 16. Regrettably, today in the US, schools that are not in affluent areas have trouble living up to this standard.

krastanov 9y ago

I have read it, and I also have worked with educators in the US, France, and Eastern Europe. While there are plenty of things done wrong, the claim that a modern school hasn't produced a well-rounded individual is ridiculous. Yes, there is way too much focus on standardized tests, but there are also many schools that do a great job at creating stellar pupils. Regrettably, this is usually available only in affluent areas (and even then it is not universal).

ThrustVectoring 9y ago
I'm not sure you can call very many students well-rounded when they haven't done anything significant on their own initiative at age 21. Adolescents used to go and learn trigonometry so they could do surveying, or pick up silversmithing, or whatever, at like age 12 to 16. Now they don't.
- krastanov 9y ago
  Trig to do surveying at 12 is the exact opposite of well rounded. On the other hand very many students today indeed have amazing breadth of knowledge from math to literature and civics (which you can see in their writing, extracurricular choices and volunteer work) - something that gets much rarer as you go in the past where students had to pick up work at age 12 to 16. Regrettably, today in the US, schools that are not in affluent areas have trouble living up to this standard.