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I completely agree. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find people that disagree. The thing is, we can't agree on how we should do it instead. Some people argue

I completely agree. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find people that disagree. The thing is, we can't agree on how we should do it instead. Some people argue that there are 2nd order effects one needs to take into account, e.g. abolishing grades; what would be the impact on the hiring market, where grades often are a proxy for discipline, work ethic, etc.? I think Sal Khan was on to something when he hypothesized that we should do homework at school, and the lectures at home. Essentially flipping the model. Most of these big problems haven't been solved in 1 fell swoop but by many people nibbling on the edges. I suspect this will be no different. In large part due to the inertia of culture.

AnimalMuppet 7y ago
> I think Sal Khan was on to something when he hypothesized that we should do homework at school, and the lectures at home. Essentially flipping the model. I think that works better for at least some people. I'm pretty sure that it works worse for some people, too. What it does is change which group is more successful. That might be nice, in promote-equality kind of way, but it isn't necessarily progress. Actual progress would be figuring out which people do better in which kind of educational approach, and putting each person in the environment where they do best.
- rjyoungling 7y ago
  Thank you for adding the clarification. That was actually what I meant but I should have been more precise in my communication. Anytime we try to force a sufficiently large group of people into one system, we're bound to create artificial distortions as a result of sanding down the rough parts, i.e. the outliers. Part of the solution will have to be the offering of multiple paths toward becoming a productive/successful citizen. There's a second problem here as well, the status quo problem. When a sufficiently high percentage goes through university (and all in the same age bracket as well.), you create a signal that if you don't go through traditional education, you're somehow defective. Thereby, removing the option of choosing a different path because of the stigma (e.g. starting university at 36 instead of 18).

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

> I think Sal Khan was on to something when he hypothesized that we should do homework at school, and the lectures at home. Essentially flipping the model. I think that works better for at least some people. I'm pretty sure that it works worse for some people, too. What it does is change which group is more successful. That might be nice, in promote-equality kind of way, but it isn't necessarily progress. Actual progress would be figuring out which people do better in which kind of educational approach, and putting each person in the environment where they do best.

rjyoungling 7y ago
Thank you for adding the clarification. That was actually what I meant but I should have been more precise in my communication. Anytime we try to force a sufficiently large group of people into one system, we're bound to create artificial distortions as a result of sanding down the rough parts, i.e. the outliers. Part of the solution will have to be the offering of multiple paths toward becoming a productive/successful citizen. There's a second problem here as well, the status quo problem. When a sufficiently high percentage goes through university (and all in the same age bracket as well.), you create a signal that if you don't go through traditional education, you're somehow defective. Thereby, removing the option of choosing a different path because of the stigma (e.g. starting university at 36 instead of 18).