Education and the modern generation

Started by Beorning, May 17, 2013, 02:26:42 PM

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Oniya

That whole 'Panzers crossing the border' thing will get you every time.  It doesn't help Americans that at the time we were trying to stay out of it.  Now, the date that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor - that one gets played back pretty often.  I would hope that most high school students have a memory of Roosevelt's speech about 'A day that will live in infamy'.
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Moraline

So what would a good education system look like? What would it cover and how would it cover it?

Trieste

Quote from: Oniya on May 22, 2013, 09:13:29 AM
I'll just say that Trie probably learned more in trying to avoid learning the date - which may have been a good thing.  Knowing that it was somewhere in the late 1930s is probably close enough for most purposes.  Knowing the major players (people-wise) helps put it into historical context as well.  Not knowing that it happened would have me reaching for volume 'M' of my parents' encyclopedia set - not because of relevance, but because it was the thickest book in the set.  A good, hardcover Michener novel might combine heft and relevancy, of course.

Trie ended up working harder in history than in any other class that year. >.>;;

Oniya

Heh - you mentioned.  But I wasn't thinking so much of the amount of work as the amount of extra information that you ended up having in your memory - at least until college.  ;)
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
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Trieste

That much is true. The only class that did as much good for knowledge was the class my junior year that used "Don't Know Much About History" as its textbook. It was an alternative learning program that was experimental at the time. It's my understanding that the students did so well on the MCAS that it's being integrated throughout the rest of the classes now. It's only something that would work at a school as well-off as the one I went to, though, because an integral part of the curriculum was hands-on. As in, traveling to D.C. and having our lecture on constitutional law on the steps of the Supreme Court building.

The only reason it didn't do more good, in fact, was because I didn't actually finish my junior year of high school - was pulled out in February of that year due to external reasons and didn't go back.

gaggedLouise

I remember hearing of a survey among U.S. 8th graders that seemed to indicate that many of them would not be able to point out where the U.S. was on a world map (without national borders marked) but that may have been a joke.   ???

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Neysha

Quote from: Beorning on May 17, 2013, 02:26:42 PM
I've just read a shocking article about the state of education among the current teenage / young adult generation in Poland. The article described the experiences of a few teaching aides - and the examples of pure ignorance they witnessed among their students. The examples include:

  • a high school student asking if Świtezianka (a 19th-century poem about rusalkas) was based on facts (the teaching aide's comment: "Should I really be explaining to a 18-year-old that rusalkas aren't real?"),
  • a high school student (shortly before graduation) asking who Hitler was ("I've heard the name mentioned..."),
  • a student having trouble telling what present century was - and being *unable* to tell what century it was 100 years ago (the aide relates she tried to calculate it by substracting 100 from 21...),
  • students being unable to tell what year the WW2 began,
  • a student asking who is the current 'president of Earth'.
The worst thing? Some of these students actually managed to *graduate* from high school and got admitted to *universities*. Meaning, in a few years, we'll be getting teachers, doctors, maybe even lawyers and politicians which such shocking gaps in basic knowledge...

Is it that bad in your countries?

I think this has to do with the haphazard way many school systems teach the humanities and social sciences.

I personally would prefer to see less of a focus on such things and more of a focus on (especially in elementary/primary school) the basics of "English" (or whatever language is primary) and thus including speaking, reading and writing and in addition mathematics as well as technology related courses so that people can communicate effectively at the very least. Maybe some Civics tossed in so that the kids aren't completely ignorant of the world around them with basics on governments and laws and very generalized social norms. Then when we go into secondary school we can dive into a core curriculum focused around the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and try and focus students on those. Granted, a lot of students simply aren't cut out to engage in such fields, but instead of driving them to the humanities/social sciences, maybe business/personal finances/ money management or trade learning or apprenticeship programs could be more fitting so they can learn nice job skills and talents which will help them be responsible and more important, help them find employment or a sustainable career path or occupation.

Most of the humanities and social sciences then can be considered electives as opposed to part of the core program as we're seeing now in a lot of programs. And ultimately, if people really want to invest in further education in the humanities, there's still always going to be college, or more fiscally possible, the internet and libraries and other resources which can often be obtained easily and cheaply if people wish to pursue/better educate themselves in such topics without making it mandatory or a huge part of a basic or core educational curriculum.
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Callie Del Noire

My take of late? Say the last 15 to 25 years.

In the US there is a background movement to weaken the public education system for a variety of reasons.
-Religious groups want their 'truth' taught.
-'Small Government' groups like the tea-party
-Groups that want to privatize education so that they can do to it what they did to the US penal system.

Cyrano Johnson

Quote from: Neysha on May 22, 2013, 02:01:30 PM
I think this has to do with the haphazard way many school systems teach the humanities and social sciences.

I personally would prefer to see less of a focus on such things . . .

So, just to be clear: you looked at that list of examples, concluded that they're instances of the haphazard teaching of humanities and social sciences... and figure that the take-away is that there should be less focus on teaching those things? That's what you're saying?
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Shjade

Looking at that statement with as objective a viewpoint as I can manage, I can see some merit to the suggestion of tossing the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. Teaching a very one-sided version of history might be more damaging in some respects than leaving people to find out about these things on their own, assuming they bother to do so.

I'm not saying I recommend that as a course of action for public education, but...
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Neysha

Quote from: Cyrano Johnson on May 22, 2013, 03:46:25 PM
So, just to be clear: you looked at that list of examples, concluded that they're instances of the haphazard teaching of humanities and social sciences... and figure that the take-away is that there should be less focus on teaching those things? That's what you're saying?

Absolutely. I don't want any schools teaching humanities and social sciences with watered down textbooks, known or subconscious biases and filtered viewpoints, and political or social meddling, and general incompetence/uneven teaching. There's a virtual cottage industry of literature (best exemplified by the popular book by James Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me) from both sides of the political spectrum that's been rightfully critical of schooling at least in the US, and not just of public schools, but private as well. Outside of a bare minimum of understanding of some of the subjects, I honestly don't see the purpose of overemphasizing studies in the humanities when there is a very important need to focus on the STEM fields, as well as focus on English (or other languages as appropriate) and personal finance/business concepts as a core curriculum. And later in secondary school, expanding the prior studies and trying to find a greater focus on trade/apprenticeship type programs for the large numbers of students that might not be STEM oriented.

Humanities can still be there, but as a far less emphasized elective. With the proliferation of information on the internet and libraries and books and other media, people can be free to educate or delude themselves as needbe. They're doing a wonderful job of doing so in spite of, or perhaps due to an over emphasis on humanities in schooling already and are willing to invest thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into pursuing degrees in somewhat self replicating degree fields. (where the main outlet of pursuing a subject of study is teaching said subject)
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Oniya

'People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.' - Edmund Burke
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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Kythia

Quote from: Neysha on May 22, 2013, 06:31:06 PM
Humanities can still be there, but as a far less emphasized elective. With the proliferation of information on the internet and libraries and books and other media, people can be free to educate or delude themselves as needbe. They're doing a wonderful job of doing so in spite of, or perhaps due to an over emphasis on humanities in schooling already and are willing to invest thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into pursuing degrees in somewhat self replicating degree fields. (where the main outlet of pursuing a subject of study is teaching said subject)

But the proliferation of information on the internet and in the libraries isn't just humanities.  It's also the sciences.  I'm pretty certain that if I wanted to know how to do some maths thing or what a certain chemical reaction would do I could find it using the some tools and techniques as I'd use to find something in the humanities (Wikipedia, as a starting point, most likely). 

It seems your argument can be expanded to "Schools aren't needed, everyone can teach themselves".

Sure, they'll get some of it wrong.  Miss or misunderstand basic concepts.  But that applies to both branches

(and I think the science/humanities split is wrongheaded and a relic of historical accident rather than anything core, but that's by the by).
242037

Neysha

Quote from: Kythia on May 22, 2013, 08:19:19 PM
But the proliferation of information on the internet and in the libraries isn't just humanities.  It's also the sciences.  I'm pretty certain that if I wanted to know how to do some maths thing or what a certain chemical reaction would do I could find it using the some tools and techniques as I'd use to find something in the humanities (Wikipedia, as a starting point, most likely). 

It seems your argument can be expanded to "Schools aren't needed, everyone can teach themselves".

Sure, they'll get some of it wrong.  Miss or misunderstand basic concepts.  But that applies to both branches

(and I think the science/humanities split is wrongheaded and a relic of historical accident rather than anything core, but that's by the by).

Oh no, I fully support schooling as opposed to leaving it to some sort of individual choice or self teaching. I just want to see a greater focus on the subjects I illustrated before.

While both categories are accessible beyond schools, I feel schooling is more essential for one over the other. In regards to the Humanities, there's still plenty to learn outside of formal schooling if one chooses too and being in a very generalized manner more interpretative and speculative, there's a lot more freedom to it as well. (which is part of the hazard of it being such an overemphasized focus in many schools)
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Shjade

Quote from: Oniya on May 22, 2013, 07:47:11 PM
'People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.' - Edmund Burke

But I don't even like posters! :|
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Cyrano Johnson

#65
Quote from: Neysha on May 22, 2013, 06:31:06 PM
Absolutely. I don't want any schools teaching humanities and social sciences with watered down textbooks, known or subconscious biases and filtered viewpoints, and political or social meddling, and general incompetence/uneven teaching.

Okay. Glad to know I wasn't misreading you.

So, first of all, your diagnosis of the root problem seems mistaken to me. One of those examples above -- the girl who tried to figure out what century it was a hundred years ago by slightly flawed methodology -- is a clear example of innumeracy, a mathematics fail. Whatever problem is going on in those schools extends to more than just the teaching of humanities.

In the larger sense, though, I have a feeling would see the dangerous foolhardiness of someone saying to you: "that school system is teaching math poorly, so we should de-emphasize the subject and make it as marginal an elective as we possibly can, since people can go and learn it on their own if they really want to anyway." I don't get the feeling that, as pertains to a subject as important as being able to count, you would fail to see the insanity in that "reasoning." So, I'm puzzled as to why you seem to imagine that the humanities -- which address similarly basic areas of knowledge as being able to synthesize information, comprehend what one is reading and share a reasonably common base of knowledge about society and history with people around you -- are relatively disposable in this way. It seems just completely nuts to me to look at bad humanities education and say not "let's fix it" but "let's throw as much of it out as we possibly can," for much the same reasons that doing this with maths or science would be nuts.

I mean, science and maths need partisans, don't get me wrong. I'd be happy to see more scientific literacy and better numeracy in the modern world. But I don't get the kind of partisans who imagine every other sphere of endeavour can be chucked in the process, and fail to see how foolhardy and dangerous that kind of thinking is. When you have schools that don't teach Civics, or teach it as some minimal throwaway subject, the whole concept of citizenship and involvement in democracy deteriorates. When that happens, groups that want to give "equal time" to Creationism in the science classroom -- or teach totally fictional versions of history reframed to make "their side" look more heroic -- gain purchase and power. It's incredible to me that people should fail to see the problem with that.
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Healergirl

 Vocational schools in the USA?


Nowadays, the Community College system picks up the load that Vocational schools used to carry.  Far too often, the load that High Schools are forced to carry as sell.

Home Schooling?  The motivations for doing that can be quite complex.  A far from small motivation is the perceived lack of safety for the student in some school systems.    And of course, the perceived decline in standards.  And yes, I am aware that frequently these are  Dog Whistles for justifying white flight due to integration.

But not always, and I would argue that in an age of sensationalized bad news, perhaps  not even mostly.   And lets face it, education system bureaucrats can be a very unresponsive bunch to legitimate parental complaints at times.

Neysha

Quote from: Cyrano Johnson on May 23, 2013, 12:48:52 PM
Okay. Glad to know I wasn't misreading you.

So, first of all, your diagnosis of the root problem seems mistaken to me. One of those examples above -- the girl who tried to figure out what century it was a hundred years ago by slightly flawed methodology -- is a clear example of innumeracy, a mathematics fail. Whatever problem is going on in those schools extends to more than just the teaching of humanities.

I don't feel it was mistaken. My diagnosis wasn't meant to specifically deal with each and every issue brought up in the OP ultimately and specifically. But in a general fashion and I think that generally, as I stated in my original post, it was mostly due to haphazard humanities instruction.

QuoteIn the larger sense, though, I have a feeling would see the dangerous foolhardiness of someone saying to you: "that school system is teaching math poorly, so we should de-emphasize the subject and make it as marginal an elective as we possibly can, since people can go and learn it on their own if they really want to anyway." I don't get the feeling that, as pertains to a subject as important as being able to count, you would fail to see the insanity in that "reasoning." So, I'm puzzled as to why you seem to imagine that the humanities -- which address similarly basic areas of knowledge as being able to synthesize information, comprehend what one is reading and share a reasonably common base of knowledge about society and history with people around you -- are relatively disposable in this way. It seems just completely nuts to me to look at bad humanities education and say not "let's fix it" but "let's throw as much of it out as we possibly can," for much the same reasons that doing this with maths or science would be nuts.

Incorrect. I'd prefer a greater emphasis on the STEM fields, as well as personal finances and English/Grammar/Communications (whatever we can call it) and a base of Civics, as I stated earlier. Reading comprenhension and communication should be covered by Grammar classes, or at least I hope they would, early on. Being able to communicate goes beyond the purview of just the Humanities IMHO and if I misspoke, I apologize. I want people to be able to communicate at a reasonably competent level, or else the STEM education would be useless. But yes, I do find possessing anything more then a basic knowledge of most humanities to be rather disposable unless its in a field one is pursuing or a hobby or passion or something they themselves choose to make an investment in.

QuoteI mean, science and maths need partisans, don't get me wrong. I'd be happy to see more scientific literacy and better numeracy in the modern world. But I don't get the kind of partisans who imagine every other sphere of endeavour can be chucked in the process, and fail to see how foolhardy and dangerous that kind of thinking is. When you have schools that don't teach Civics, or teach it as some minimal throwaway subject, the whole concept of citizenship and involvement in democracy deteriorates. When that happens, groups that want to give "equal time" to Creationism in the science classroom -- or teach totally fictional versions of history reframed to make "their side" look more heroic -- gain purchase and power. It's incredible to me that people should fail to see the problem with that.

Civics would be covered, as I stated in my original 'diagnoses.' But I don't see any particular need for expansion of the core curriculum into humanities. They can still exist as electives, both in Secondary School and in College so if people want to invest their time and money into it, they should feel free. But again, I would much prefer an emphasis on a core of STEM + Personal Finances (since many people seem woefully ill equipped at managing money) and as stated before, Grammar/English so they can communicate their ideas effectively. Therefore with this system, there'd be a lot less wiggle room for cultural/societal radicals such as those you bring up, to corrupt schooling. It certainly would be hard to be worse then social studies standards are today. And "theories" like Intelligent Design can be rightfully relegated to the Humanities electives where they belong by an increasingly scientifically literate populace. :)

And again, for emphasis, I don't want to eliminate the Humanities. Just de-emphasize them in core curriculum. Humanities are still important in a broad sense, but individually, I find its importance a fair bit more muted in comparison to learning STEM fields or learning a trade, skill or vocation or how to communicate effectively etc.
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Oniya

I think, perhaps, there is confusion about what you class as 'Humanities'.  Traditionally, the humanities include ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts such as music and theater. The humanities that are also sometimes regarded as social sciences include history, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, cultural studies, law and linguistics.
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Neysha

Quote from: Oniya on May 23, 2013, 03:48:18 PM
I think, perhaps, there is confusion about what you class as 'Humanities'.  Traditionally, the humanities include ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts such as music and theater. The humanities that are also sometimes regarded as social sciences include history, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, cultural studies, law and linguistics.

Well I prefer using "Humanities" as a broad term as opposed to "Ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts, music and theater, history, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, cultural studies, law and linguistics etc except on a base level of the previously bolded subjects and others as de-emphasized electives."

;)

I apologize for any confusion. :)
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Cyrano Johnson

About the only thing on that list that's not already an elective in most secondary school systems I know of is literature. And that only sort of, because the study of literature at the secondary level is basically an excuse to teach basic composition, reading comprehension and critical thinking. I wouldn't make the learning of any of those "de-emphasized electives" and I don't see what school system really exhibits the supposed problem your suggestion is solving. Take the examples in Beorning's post: if you think those students should be learning a base level of history, they aren't, and your notions about what should be done don't seem relevant at all to improving that; the issue is the need for more emphasis on quality humanities education (which isn't a zero-sum game with STEM subjects, the one should complement the other).
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Neysha

Quote from: Cyrano Johnson on May 23, 2013, 04:39:22 PM
About the only thing on that list that's not already an elective in most secondary school systems I know of is literature. And that only sort of, because the study of literature at the secondary level is basically an excuse to teach basic composition, reading comprehension and critical thinking. I wouldn't make the learning of any of those "de-emphasized electives" and I don't see what school system really exhibits the supposed problem your suggestion is solving. Take the examples in Beorning's post: if you think those students should be learning a base level of history, they aren't, and your notions about what should be done don't seem relevant at all to improving that; the issue is the need for more emphasis on quality humanities education (which isn't a zero-sum game with STEM subjects, the one should complement the other).

It's only an elective in that the typical graduation requirements for a US Secondary School is something along the lines of four credits of English (which is fine, people should be able to read, write and speak ideas) but the upper level courses tend to be excuses for straying into the humanities for various reasons when they could be spending that same time learning something more STEMish or of use in an actual job or career field not directly related to that particular humanities subject. And then, you get three or four credits in Social Sciences as a basic requirement and one to two credits in Fine Arts... and yet only 2-3 in Math and maybe 2 in Science related related fields. Then you toss in all of the electives, which can be easily utilized by opportunistic students to pad their GPA's with classes they'd rather glide through. (and IMHO there's a tendency for Humanities as opposed to STEM classes being easier to coast through) There's only so much classroom time to utilize and kids aren't moving past basic algebra, basic scientific literacy, and alternatively have little actual schooling in any particular trade or vocation or other practical/technical skills, and while these generations are familiar with technology, we should be focusing more on whether they can do coding and programming languages, or use various software beyond MS Word or be able to manage their personal finances. Maybe then they can actually be prepared and equipped to go to college, or at least enter the job field with more relevant skills then knowing what year WW2 began. (which sounds kind of like a trick question anyways)
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Lilias

Quote from: Oniya on May 22, 2013, 07:47:11 PM
'People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.' - Edmund Burke

That's why the Horrible Histories franchise (books, TV show and magazine) is such a smash over here. Who can resist 'History with the nasty bits left in'? ;)
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To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
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Neysha

#73
Quote from: Lilias on May 23, 2013, 05:02:06 PM
That's why the Horrible Histories franchise (books, TV show and magazine) is such a smash over here. Who can resist 'History with the nasty bits left in'? ;)

I think the best method for secondary schools and intro level college history classes would be taking Howard Zinn's A Peoples History of the United States, and Paul Johnsons A History of the American People, rip the books apart, and then juxtapose the chapters chronologically, and then bind it up textbook style for classroom instruction.  >:)
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Lilias

My school years are long past, and the Spawn still has a ways to go, but I'm starting now to clear shelves for this. >:)
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