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The High School Survey of Student Engagement finds that 66% of high school students are bored in class every day. Seventeen percent say they're bored in every c

The High School Survey of Student Engagement finds that 66% of high school students are bored in class every day. Seventeen percent say they're bored in every class every day. Two percent claim they're never bored. 82% say the material isn't interesting; 41% that it isn't relevant[1]. Middle school students are bored 36% of the time during schoolwork, versus 17% for other activities. The UK is not different from the US. Most students don't like academics. Some of them hate it. [1]Yazzie-Mintz 2010, pp.6-7 [2] Larson and Richards 1991, pp. 427-29

lbriner 5y ago
I didn't say that education was really interesting in the UK, I was saying that the claims that the problems are foundational due to history are not true. There is nothing stopping those educators with the ideas/resources/energy from doing everything the OP said doesn't happen in education. Having been to a UK school, I wouldn't have referred to teachers as academics, so that is a strange quote but for sure, I found many lessons quite tedious and I think there should be less excuses now because of the internet and much cheaper multi-media.
- barry-cotter 5y ago
  As a teacher I also wouldn't refer to most teachers as academics. Most students have little to no interest in most of the subjects taught. This is not a knock on them. It's only a little less true of university students, who have chosen to be there. The internet and cheap multi-media do not change the fact that most students find the subjects they are being taught, and the topics in those subjects boring and irrelevant. It's rewarding to teach the kids who find it interesting, or want to learn the skills that the subjects provide a frame for, or who want to get good grades to get into university but many students don't want to be there. Tedium is unavoidable if you're trying to teach someone who has no interest in learning what you're teaching.
tharkun__ 5y ago
While I get that things aren't rosy, I think we do have to be fair. High School is supposed to give you a broad basis of education (at least where I went to high school, which is Germany). This means that you have to take a lot classes on topics that you find utterly boring, not interesting and deem irrelevant to your life. Of course I found my German classes irrelevant and boring. I knew the language and grammar very well and having to find meaning in a green "Emergency Exit" sign being mentioned half way down on page one of the book we had to read was completely pointless to me. I wanted to get out of there and go back to the computer lab and learn more about sorting algorithms. But we only had one hour of that each week. And sure, biology class was at least interesting but learning and being tested on how a bee dances to let the hive know where to find the field of flowers definitely is interesting but to I would venture more than 90% of students completely irrelevant. Now reverse everything I said for someone that is interested in language, politics and public speaking. They hate the irrelevant calculus and are bored out of their minds while dreaming of reading and finding meaning in the next Goethe poem.

lbriner 5y ago

I didn't say that education was really interesting in the UK, I was saying that the claims that the problems are foundational due to history are not true. There is nothing stopping those educators with the ideas/resources/energy from doing everything the OP said doesn't happen in education. Having been to a UK school, I wouldn't have referred to teachers as academics, so that is a strange quote but for sure, I found many lessons quite tedious and I think there should be less excuses now because of the internet and much cheaper multi-media.

barry-cotter 5y ago
As a teacher I also wouldn't refer to most teachers as academics. Most students have little to no interest in most of the subjects taught. This is not a knock on them. It's only a little less true of university students, who have chosen to be there. The internet and cheap multi-media do not change the fact that most students find the subjects they are being taught, and the topics in those subjects boring and irrelevant. It's rewarding to teach the kids who find it interesting, or want to learn the skills that the subjects provide a frame for, or who want to get good grades to get into university but many students don't want to be there. Tedium is unavoidable if you're trying to teach someone who has no interest in learning what you're teaching.

tharkun__ 5y ago

While I get that things aren't rosy, I think we do have to be fair. High School is supposed to give you a broad basis of education (at least where I went to high school, which is Germany). This means that you have to take a lot classes on topics that you find utterly boring, not interesting and deem irrelevant to your life. Of course I found my German classes irrelevant and boring. I knew the language and grammar very well and having to find meaning in a green "Emergency Exit" sign being mentioned half way down on page one of the book we had to read was completely pointless to me. I wanted to get out of there and go back to the computer lab and learn more about sorting algorithms. But we only had one hour of that each week. And sure, biology class was at least interesting but learning and being tested on how a bee dances to let the hive know where to find the field of flowers definitely is interesting but to I would venture more than 90% of students completely irrelevant. Now reverse everything I said for someone that is interested in language, politics and public speaking. They hate the irrelevant calculus and are bored out of their minds while dreaming of reading and finding meaning in the next Goethe poem.