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I feel that schools should be smaller, 100 kids at most. The teachers should be very specialised. For example in electronics, or music, or biology. Kids can qui

I feel that schools should be smaller, 100 kids at most. The teachers should be very specialised. For example in electronics, or music, or biology. Kids can quickly rotate into and out of these specialised schools.

throwawaysea 6y ago
Specialization is one part certainly but we need other changes too. We need a decomposition of schools (many different providers instead of a one stop school for all subjects and activities), greater choice (charter schools, private schools, to challenge public school dominance), and movement away from the one size fits all educational culture imposed by giant monolithic teachers unions like the NEA (who are proponents of such racial “justice” policies). Unfortunately the ideologues who recognize the threat posed by educational choice to a public education system are already gearing up to fight against choice. Elizabeth Bartholet of Harvard for example, has been trying to build academic activist momentum against home schooling, which she describes as “authoritarian” (https://nypost.com/2020/04/23/harvard-professor-wants-to-ban-authoritarian-homeschooling/ https://nypost.com/2020/04/23/harvard-professor-wants-to-ban...). Of course, those against homeschooling don’t see any authoritarianism in schools being weaponized into propaganda machines when activist progressive politics are injected into the curriculums.
- mymythisisthis 6y ago
  I have nothing against teacher unions, or public schools. I just think that the one size fits all, isn't optimal. One size fits all seems to be a product of the early 1960s, when a large number of schools had to be built quickly to accommodate the boom of new kids born the previous decade. Large, modern, new, schools with good gyms and science labs were viewed as better than one room school houses. I think 60 years latter we are ready to try something new. A diversity of schools. Some large, some small, some very specialized, some retain the current model. Some where a student focuses on one topic throughout their studies, refining their knowledge every year. For example the same science fair project but get better every year, every iteration. Some schools where a student tries as many different things as they want. I believe that there is nothing more motivating than taking an intrinsic interest a student shows and getting the student to spend all their time on it. I also believe that all specialized paths lead to the same general knowledge in math, history, music., etc.
ipnon 6y ago
OECD's PISA office[0] found that large, college-style lecture hall sized classes were optimal for teaching large numbers of students. They used this factor to explain South Korea's better educational outcomes than the United States'. South Korean high schools typically have large class sizes and evaluate performance based on regular standardized testing, whereas American schools typically try to always make class sizes smaller and use subject grading criteria. [0] https://www.oecd.org/PISA/ https://www.oecd.org/PISA/

throwawaysea 6y ago

Specialization is one part certainly but we need other changes too. We need a decomposition of schools (many different providers instead of a one stop school for all subjects and activities), greater choice (charter schools, private schools, to challenge public school dominance), and movement away from the one size fits all educational culture imposed by giant monolithic teachers unions like the NEA (who are proponents of such racial “justice” policies). Unfortunately the ideologues who recognize the threat posed by educational choice to a public education system are already gearing up to fight against choice. Elizabeth Bartholet of Harvard for example, has been trying to build academic activist momentum against home schooling, which she describes as “authoritarian” (https://nypost.com/2020/04/23/harvard-professor-wants-to-ban-authoritarian-homeschooling/ https://nypost.com/2020/04/23/harvard-professor-wants-to-ban...). Of course, those against homeschooling don’t see any authoritarianism in schools being weaponized into propaganda machines when activist progressive politics are injected into the curriculums.

mymythisisthis 6y ago
I have nothing against teacher unions, or public schools. I just think that the one size fits all, isn't optimal. One size fits all seems to be a product of the early 1960s, when a large number of schools had to be built quickly to accommodate the boom of new kids born the previous decade. Large, modern, new, schools with good gyms and science labs were viewed as better than one room school houses. I think 60 years latter we are ready to try something new. A diversity of schools. Some large, some small, some very specialized, some retain the current model. Some where a student focuses on one topic throughout their studies, refining their knowledge every year. For example the same science fair project but get better every year, every iteration. Some schools where a student tries as many different things as they want. I believe that there is nothing more motivating than taking an intrinsic interest a student shows and getting the student to spend all their time on it. I also believe that all specialized paths lead to the same general knowledge in math, history, music., etc.

ipnon 6y ago

OECD's PISA office[0] found that large, college-style lecture hall sized classes were optimal for teaching large numbers of students. They used this factor to explain South Korea's better educational outcomes than the United States'. South Korean high schools typically have large class sizes and evaluate performance based on regular standardized testing, whereas American schools typically try to always make class sizes smaller and use subject grading criteria. [0] https://www.oecd.org/PISA/ https://www.oecd.org/PISA/