Education thread revisited

[Thorn]

Well, we lost our thread to a discussion on the political aspects of war strategy. I still think that Education is a good topic for the few of us who are interested in discussing it further, so here's a virtual "bump" of the topic for those who care.

Here's the last education-related post from that thread:

Originally Posted by Kathianne
I curious, what would you like to see changed in education? What do you think the purpose of schools, (k-12) should be? What do you think the challenges are, today regarding financing, qualifications of teachers, expectations of the public, and the differences in student populations across the country?

I'd appreciate if any responders would say whether or not they are currently parents, students, teachers, or just plain old taxpayers. Thanks.

BTW, I'm a teacher.

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Thorn's response:

Sorry, I didn't mean to comment and run, but am under some serious time constraints for a while.

I'll partially comment on an earlier post by Epicurius as well, in which he felt it wasn't right to hold all students to the same standard.

There has to be a basic set of skills taught, to give students a solid grounding in those skills that will be useful to them no matter what they do. Facility with and correct use of the English language is essential for communication; that includes a decent basic vocabulary. Spelling is important because so many words sound alike but have widely different meanings (i.e. homonyms). Basic arithmetic skills also are essential; among skills I stress the importance of understanding those exercises, not simply being able to parrot out rules by rote. Basic science understanding, and history and geography, as well as what we used to call "social studies", are also important in helping kids become well rounded individuals. New learning tools certainly have made both teaching and learning both more accessible and more challenging. The sheer bulk of information available is daunting at best, and it's important to somehow teach students critical thinking, how not to accept everything they read as truth.

To me it is also essential, though we see this too rarely right now, that students have some instruction and understanding of logic and reason and critical thinking. (Italicized part added later).

None of these subjects has to be dry; on the contrary learning can be a lot of fun if it's approached correctly.

From these elemental studies (did I forget something?) students then can begin to understand what choices may be available to them and choose to develop one or several of those skills further.

An earlier poster (same one I think) also made a point about more able students being essentially warehoused with those less gifted. I've learned also that many students who should be in Special Ed classes (discontinued in many areas!) also are included in mainstream classes. This isn't fair to them or to anybody else. Also more able students in some areas are held back to the class norm, which often isn't too high.

Another thread or post can deal with the difficulties that teachers face just in the classroom, as well as administratively, with parents, with the system, etc.

I am a research scientist currently working in a medical school. Recently our curriculum has shifted from the former grueling memorization of information to a problem solving approach; far more reasonable in a world where medical information is more readily accessible given a basic understanding of anatomy, physiology, etc., and knowing what questions to ask.

 

[Battleborne]

The last thread was fine....!

Gotta remember this is JPP...'Just Plain Politics'...flying under the radar is a common occurence...just food for thought Thorn!

 

[DigitalDave]

In Ohio, Charter schools keep coming under fire from Democrats because 'it takes money away from the children'. When those kids don't go to the public schools, the public schools get less funding from the State, and they get put into the Charter schools. The Dems here in Ohio have launched a few campaigns against them, but have failed. Mainly because its a little bit better to have those children in the Charter schools than to have them with the rest of the children that bully them. My friend's brother is in one of these charter schools, and he's excelled. He has a tendency to hum (and I forgot what his diagnoses is, but it wasn't anything he could control) when he reads and does homework, so he got made fun of a lot in public school. Of course, that distracted him and made him rebel when the teachers didn't do shit about it other than to try and tell him to stop humming. Seperating these kids out is a great move for the children themselves to get an education.

 

[Thorn]

That's really great, Dave. I agree with the concept of individual approaches to learning. Having taught undergraduate statistics as a grad student (don't groan, you guys!) I learned pretty quickly that especially with a subject that seems to have an aversive emotional component to it like math-related exercises, everybody has a different learning style. I tried hard to tailor my approach to each student so that everyone would understand the basics and find it stimulating, not be intimidated by it. By and large, that approach was pretty successful. Once students realize that they can do something it becomes a lot more fun.