The Modern Day School System

[Thanatos 2,847]

That last part is the big one, IMO. Lawmakers and policymakers are making classroom studies and curriculum having never been teachers themselves. That's idiotic. Saying you know how education works because you've been a student is like saying you know exactly how a building is supported because you walked inside it. It's complete and utter nonsense and yet people try to claim they can make school policy on that basis.

 

Really, it's part of a much larger problem that permeates many areas of life. We as humans assume that our experience and that of our friends mirrors the public at large. Despite the fact that we are a group of under twenty people in most cases, and our small sample size is insignificant in the grand scheme of things, we think that because we've done something or experience something in a certain manner, that is true for almost all others. We may not admit as such, but it influences our thoughts.

 

The anti-vaxx movement is 100% this issue. Parents have decided they know better about vaccines than doctors who have years of schooling and experience in this issue. Why? Because their circle of friends and people they read on the internet tell them so. Perhaps their own experience does as well- they gave one of their children a vaccine and he became autistic shortly afterwards. Nevermind that most autism begins to be recognized at the same age we tend to start giving vaccines and is basically undetectable earlier than that. My experience and that of my friends shows me vaccines = autism and so I will tell others this. And in the age of the internet, it is all too easy for vulnerable people to do "research" on the issue, and assume that anything that pops up in Google is legitimate.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Thanatos

[seanbrock 1,684]

Phil is right about the public school system being designed to squash independent thinking and promote obedience. Are there good teachers out there who can work around the system and help kids and turn them into leaders and free thinkers absolutely there are and those teachers are so important to our society it's a shame that they can't get the funding they need to do more with the programs they start in schools etc.

 

BUT like I posted in the science thread history actually says that philelliot is right on this

 

 

It's actually an undeniable fact if you know anything about the history of public education and how/why it was founded in this country. A guy named Horace Mann persuaded business owners that it would be a good way to control the masses regiment their minds and manipulate public opinion while he also told the public it would be the great equalizer. He saw the system they had in Prussia at the time and thought it was a great model to control public opinion. This isn't coming from some bullshit website either. I've seen/read actual newspapers the guy printed saying all this stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZp7eVJNJuw

Mann's idea's actually came from Johan Fichte who was responsible for a lot of ideas that would become the 3rd reich and our public education and propaganda systems where a big reason why Hitler and the Nazi's really admired our government. It's lost in history but there was actually a lot of support for the Nazi's in America.

[Sarge+ 3,436]

Maybe in the past that was true, but it's changing. Schools are now using more and more technology than ever before. All of this technology introduces students to new ideas and new ways of solving problems. This is actually one reason why young people are so addicted to Facebook. It's not only because they are self-absorbed little shits. It's because younger minds are thirsty for knowledge. Social media provides a constant stream of new thoughts and pictures. So using more technology in class is actually getting us closer to "ideal" conditions for learning (if there even is such a thing, but good luck proving what that is.)

[seanbrock 1,684]

Yeah, you're right technology and the interwebz have really been a game changer. If you pay attention though our government is doing everything it can to squash it. Trying to restrict internet access/speed and corporatizing search engines and the web in general. It's always been a fight on both sides. People fight for freedom and rights and fair pay and slowly over time it's taken away until the realize they have to fight for it again. We're still fighting to get back a lot of stuff that we got in the 60's and was rolled back and chipped away at with legislature over the years.

[Thanatos 2,847]

 

 

 

having first hand experience in a class room does in fact show me how it works and what it does.

your example is stupid as well. I dont have to know how to build anything to know when someone shows me a diagram of how its done.

 

not one single thing I learned in High school or college benefits me in any way now.

it was time wasted and money spent.

 

Well when you flunk out because your brain can't handle anything higher than 2+2=4, yes it does tend to not help you at all.

 

Clearly you didn't pass basic English, as you constantly misquote me. Never said a damn word about a diagram, I said *walking into a building.* Learn to read, idiot.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Thanatos

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Really, it's part of a much larger problem that permeates many areas of life. We as humans assume that our experience and that of our friends mirrors the public at large.

 

 

Like football fans who think they can coach a team because they've watched the game on TV? Hot damn this thread is coming full circle. :D

Edited October 26, 2016 by SteVo

[seanbrock 1,684]

Now days most teachers lecture their class via power point and it's boring as fuck. As long as the power points were provided to them almost anyone could teach a lot of courses if they just read ahead of the class by a chapter tbh. The books in high school are of a pretty low reading level too so it wouldn't be that hard to be a teacher.

 

AGAIN, are there good teachers who don't do that and strive to get the information across in a more creative way to engage students and make sure the information sticks? Sure, but a lot of teachers don't really give a fuck and would rather be lazy. Do they want their students to do well? Of course. Are they will to put in the extra time required? No, not often and some of them even have to have a second job.

 

I think we should make it harder to become a teacher and pay them a lot more because good teachers are really important to have. A lot of you guys who went to college as education majors can attest to a lot of people doing it because it's easy. Education majors are doing beer bongs and keg stands every weekend at the college I went to which churns out a lot of education majors.

Edited October 26, 2016 by seanbrock

[Thanatos 2,847]

How do you know that most teachers lecture their class via powerpoint?

[seanbrock 1,684]

Most classes I've ever been in are that way but I guess you have a point. That's just my own experience.

 

 

Found this article though

https://www.tes.com/us/news/breaking-views/it-time-teaching-profession-declare-war-powerpoint

Edited October 26, 2016 by seanbrock

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Now days most teachers lecture their class via power point and it's boring as fuck. As long as the power points were provided to them almost anyone could teach a lot of courses if they just read ahead of the class by a chapter tbh. The books in high school are of a pretty low reading level too so it wouldn't be that hard to be a teacher.

 

AGAIN, are there good teachers who don't do that and strive to get the information across in a more creative way to engage students and make sure the information sticks? Sure, but a lot of teachers don't really give a fuck and would rather be lazy. Do they want their students to do well? Of course. Are they will to put in the extra time required? No, not often and some of them even have to have a second job.

 

I think we should make it harder to become a teacher and pay them a lot more because good teachers are really important to have. A lot of you guys who went to college as education majors can attest to a lot of people doing it because it's easy. Education majors are doing beer bongs and keg stands every weekend at the college I went to which churns out a lot of education majors.

 

 

I can only speak for my personal experience regarding PowerPoints. As a student, the only teachers I had who taught that way were social studies (world and American history), but they both added in their own commentary here and there, enough to show that they knew what they were talking about. As a teacher, I don't know a single teacher at my school who teaches through PowerPoints. I'm sure there are some, but they're not teaching any upper-level classes.

 

Sean, your idea about paying teachers more to entice more qualified people to enter the profession is a wonderful one. But, sadly, it is an idea that has been floated and rejected many times before. Education will never get additional funding for anything unless it's some nonsensical technology initiative that lines the pockets of lawmakers, publishers, etc.

 

In all seriousness, though, I do appreciate your kind words towards "good teachers who make sure information sticks" because that's me.

Edited October 26, 2016 by SteVo

[seanbrock 1,684]

 

 

I can only speak for my personal experience regarding PowerPoints. As a student, the only teachers I had who taught that way were social studies (world and American history), but they both added in their own commentary here and there, enough to show that they knew what they were talking about. As a teacher, I don't know a single teacher at my school who teaches through PowerPoints. I'm sure there are some, but they're not teaching any upper-level classes.

 

Sean, your idea about paying teachers more to entice more qualified people to enter the profession is a wonderful one. But, sadly, it is an idea that has been floated and rejected many times before. Education will never get additional funding for anything unless it's some nonsensical technology initiative that lines the pockets of lawmakers, publishers, etc.

 

In all seriousness, though, I do appreciate your kind words towards "good teachers who make sure information sticks" because that's me.

It's the best way to make our education better but sadly you're right.