quote:
Doing well in class, while a noble goal, does not = educated. We know more today, but understand less. Some students can tell you what year the constitution was written and ratified, but almost none can explain why.

Schools today crank out memorizers and regurgitators instead of thinkers. This has been a slow progression over the last 100 or so years.

I think schools are TRYING to get students to think now but in a misguided way. We are pushing skills and concepts before fundamentals are grasped.

If you compare education today to education in the past, the differences are probably light years apart. If we were lucky, back in the day, we might answer some basic chapter review questions and call it a day. Today, students are required to do so much more.

But schools never really produced thinkers, in my opinion. That came from home, and a natural curiosity by students (fostered by parents and society) that propelled students to learn and apply knowledge and skills. Students and parents filled in the educational gaps on their own at home and out in the world. That seems to be largely missing in students today.

Now schools SHOULD encourage students to think deeply about concepts, but I think our expectations for what schools can do for students far exceed reality.

This post was edited on 4/13/14 at 12:40 pm

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Posted by olgoi khorkhoi

priapism survivor

Member since May 2011

14916 posts

Posted on 4/13/14 at 1:09 pm to shutterspeed

I think schools are as much for babysitting than anything. It allows mothers to work or shop or get drunk in the afternoons.

All kids need, to become educated, are good books and time. Anyone can educate themselves and, in turn, their children exponentially better and faster at home than the government can in a public school setting.

Education is not filling a bucket, it's lighting a fire.

My nine year old reads for hours each day in his free time. He also plays outdoors for hours, climbing trees, hunting and exploring. Because he is not forced to sit in a chair for 8+ hours a day (his school can be completed in 2-3 hours), he can blow off steam and read while relaxing. We don't have a TV and the kids don't play on the internet.

My wife has acquired quite a library of entertaining books, many of which are very old, all of which allow the kids to learn while being entertained.

Once a child develops a love of reading, all you have to do is keep him supplied with good books and the education takes care of itself.

Most of the greatest minds in history were self-taught.

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