Recently I ran into the following videos [url=http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html] [url=http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html] I agree with the points made but wonder how one would go about revolutionizing the current system of education, please share your thoughts.
I say we need to get rid of forcing kids to study things they will never need or ever care about. Also when they know what they want to be have school courses in high school that prepares them for that career. If it is an Athletic career then they will also be able to focus on a back-up career. If someone has no idea what they want to do then give them a business focus. After high school they go to colleges to continue studding their subject. Also I believe public colleges should be free like other public schools.
a very valid argument, and i totally agree with it. but i think tiis for the sake of accuaracy and monotomy. i can't even begin to imagine how chaotic it would be for a counselor to schedule each student's schedule if they could pick any course they want, to focus on one. a BETTER option would be to have schools for different areas, like 'School of Arts' or 'School of Engineering' ,etc.. another problem would be budgets for teachers and/or lack thereof. having so many teachers would be a huge stress on a district's budget.
say we need to get rid of forcing kids to study things they will never need or ever care about. Also when they know what they want to be have school courses in high school that prepares them for that career. If it is an Athletic career then they will also be able to focus on a back-up career
also very true and i agree with. but then imagine if a student was studying for say medical in school and then in say senior year decides that he/she doesnt want to be in a medical career anymore. then what? not trying to bash your words, just pointing out a problem in what would otherwise be a good thing.
having so many teachers would be a huge stress on a district's budget.
Funding would come from the government which could get the money from increased taxes on the wealthy and taxed on companies that make more then $x amount of money in profit a year ex. a company makes a profit of $5bil the government takes 2% as a tax which is $100mil which can pay over 2000 teacher at the average salary of 18 jul 2010.
If one found a way to change elementary school so that talents and passions were realized earlier the it would be a relativity simple matter of having specialized schools, but how would one change elementary school?
say medical in school and then in say senior year decides that he/she doesn't want to be in a medical career anymore
The student would have been studying medical in general due to them only being in high school so they could go into college for a different career path or choose a semi medical field that they would like better. They would have to go longer in college and it would cost the country more though..... I see your point.
There is one problem with this. Students don't even know what they want to be in high school. Some not even in college! You can't reform schools based on this one section. There are parts of this current school system that indeed need changes, but you can't just change it altogether. What is truly wrong with this current school system?
What is truly wrong with this current school system?
the lack of creativity/opportunity. its so monotomous, with very little off-the-track classes.its rather difficult to really set up all your classes for one career. but i do also see your point, that most students don't even know what they want to be. solution? a smaller, general high school or equivalent.
If one found a way to change elementary school so that talents and passions were realized earlier the it would be a relativity simple matter of having specialized schools, but how would one change elementary school?
I would cut back on the amount of work they have to do and try to expose them to as much learning opportunities on different careers as possible. So that when they get into middle school they have a broad idea of what they are interested in. Then during high school expose them a little to each subject so they can narrow it down farther. Freshmen year they choose at most 3 areas. Sophomore year they should then choose the one they are most interested in.
yes the world works perfectly fine with the current system, but what would it be like if everyone could do something they loved? I do not know how the system could change, but I am certain should change. Personally my talent and passions were suited to the current system, but I know many who are not as lucky, and how skillful might they become if they did not have to study math when they love art?
I would have no problem with allowing younger students to specialize, as long as my Educated Voter System was implemented first.
We (that is, those of us that live in democratic-ish nations) live in a society where everyone has some sort of control over everything. Therefore, if people are ignorant in one subject, they might make bad decisions regarding that area of knowledge.
For instance, if we allow people who want to be, say, a zoologist refrain from studying economics at a very early age, how can we expect this person to vote for a candidate with intelligent economic policies? How could they possibly recognize someone else's knowledge of economics when they themselves know almost nothing of it?
Basically, there are two main options around this problem:
1) We (try to) make everyone learn at least the fundamentals of everything. But this prevents people from specializing at an early age. Additionally, people don't try as hard when learning about subjects they don't care about, which makes one question whether just how effective this situation is.
2) We let some people specialize in general knowledge (I know, it sounds weird). These would be the people who vote. Everyone else would be allowed to do what they want, but would not be allowed to vote. More info on my thread.
what would it be like if everyone could do something they loved
It's impossible for everyone to do something they love due too lazy people who love to do nothing, also the menial jobs no one wants to do, but I guess immigrants and people still in school could do it.
the lack of creativity/opportunity. its so monotomous, with very little off-the-track classes.its rather difficult to really set up all your classes for one career. but i do also see your point, that most students don't even know what they want to be. solution? a smaller, general high school or equivalent.
No, not really. The reason why we do not specialize kids so early in age is because it is too complex and tedious for them to understand. The boards give schools a curriculum for a reason; because all these classes are required for students to even function in real life. They cannot provide other branched methods of classes for students to take, because they would be too branched off from other classes. Then there's the whole "I don't want to do this after all" argument, which puts them back at square one. But wait! This student is already too far ahead to go back to what he/she wants to do! He/she has to pay more money to relearn what he/she truly wants! And we all know that's f'ed up.
If you want kids, preferably your children, to specialize early and help them realize what they really want to do when they grow up, do it yourself! Who do you think has more influence in their world in this day and age? Teachers? Or parents? I think the answer's obvious. Take the kids out to see the world. Have them get a firm grasp of what they want to do. Help them out, show them what their dream job does and performs. They won't really know until they experience! You can't do this thing with an entire class, not even with a specific group; they all have their ideas and strengths that set them apart from everyone else. Oh, and there's another "I don't want to do this after all" argument again.
This current school system is fine. It needs tweaks to fine-tune itself, but otherwise, we don't need a reform.
