Schools in America: how to fix our education system.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
It's also a pride issue, Vagabond. If we can improve our education system, we will be the best in everything. The Euros will be left with nothing to cling to in their desperate struggle to avoid acknowledging their glaring inferiority in comparison to the U.S.A. Life will be good.

They'll still have health, respect for the rights of all and culture on you.

[David Floyd]

Yeah, like you.

Now, now, Agathon, I can't recall you ever scoring points off of me in a philosophical-type debate. And I don't think you ever will, if you stick to your belief that it's OK to murder one person to try to convince someone else not to murder 100

[Al B. Sure!]

And I don't think you ever will, if you stick to your belief that it's OK to murder one person to try to convince someone else not to murder 100

huh? if murdering one person convinces someone else to not murder 100 people... how is that not...

fine, David... act like you're a better philosopher than Kant and Bethem....

[Nubclear]

1. We need to give more funding to schools. Yes, you've heard this a thousand times, but it's true. My son used to have me read history with him (as it was required that a parent read with the child). Wanna know when the book was printed? 1980.
I went to his school for parent teacher conference. They have a large map at the entrance. 1987 edition.
I've visited numerous schools here in Logan, and none of them have decent technology. Their computers are Apple IIs. So not only are they teaching students Apple when the world is prodominately Windows, they're teaching it all wrong.
All this has forced me to act as a home teacher to my son.

2. Tied in with number one....It's time to pay the teachers more. I say $60,000 minimum. Investments today will pay off in the future....

3. Tied in with two....We need more teachers. I'm willing to bet there are 30-40 children per classroom (Which consits of one teacher). That is unacceptable. We should have at LEAST 2 teachers in a clasroom at a time but I would prefer 3-4.

4. An acknowledgement that males and females learn differently.

5. Dicipline. Teachers need to FORCE their students to pay attention, and disrupting students will be sent to a punishment after 1 warning.

6. A fundemental change in teenage psychology. Learning in schools must be put at the HIGHEST value, and top students (top as in meeting their ability, NOT meeting the A.) should be honoured and given first class treatment. Gradually overtime, it will be looked upon as a very desirable thing to be intelligent.

7. Required physical activity in a non-competitive environment. Physical activity promotes a desirable lifestyle, physical wellbeing, and refreshes the mind. However competitiveness must be kept to a minimum as it can interfere with the education process. While some would think "How can you then hail good students?", one way to do this would be to simply honour them. Do not say "Head of the Class", or "Class Genius", or "Number 1"....Simply display honour towards them, and make it known.

8. Resting periods. A period of low-noise where children would be allowed play games or read books.

9. Instead of having a standard nation-wide test, individual blocs of schools should be able to create their own tests, which would allow them to conform to their demographics.

10. Make the following classes REQUIRED: Philosophy, History, Math, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, a current events class, Physical Education, and Science.

11. Teach social tolerance.

I'm tired now.

[yavoon]

our system accomplishes a lot of what it needs to accomplish. the real knock on our system is we can't turn ppl who don't want to learn into students.

if ur actually there to learn by in large we can find u, give u a scholarship and get u to college.

and there is a point to be made, u can't have a nation of masters degrees(extreme exageration). someone needs to wait tables.

[yavoon]

as for what our schools lack. I'd say mainly logics and ethics classes. don't know what tass is smoking trying to teach kids 5 different languages. Americans speak english!

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by yavoon
as for what our schools lack. I'd say mainly logics and ethics classes. don't know what tass is smoking trying to teach kids 5 different languages. Americans speak english!

lololololzorz, @ leest ur-up is bi or tri lingwuul. lets tri 2 git 2 ur-ups levl of langwage.

mayb we shuld add a class fer "12 yr owld hackr speek" too loolllol!!!!!111!!!!!111

[yavoon]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar


lololololzorz, @ leest ur-up is bi or tri lingwuul. lets tri 2 git 2 ur-ups levl of langwage.

mayb we shuld add a class fer "12 yr owld hackr speek" too loolllol!!!!!111!!!!!111

for preaching so much social tolerance u sure are a bigot.

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by yavoon


for preaching so much social tolerance u sure are a bigot.

I'm just poking fun at your writing style, Yavoon.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by David Floyd

Now, now, Agathon, I can't recall you ever scoring points off of me in a philosophical-type debate. And I don't think you ever will, if you stick to your belief that it's OK to murder one person to try to convince someone else not to murder 100.

Not what I said. If you have good reason to believe that it will prevent the murders of a hundred others then it makes sense. After all, if you don't believe that then you obviously believe that what makes murder wrong is you having to do it, rather than its effect on the victims. And that is patently absurd.

Anyway, as for philosophical debates, the ones on Poly are fairly low key and usually the sort of stuff that people get taught in first year and never bother with again (like the existence of God and other such non-issues).

[Agathon]

Originally posted by yavoon

Americans speak english!

That is debatable.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

No average American (or NZer for that matter) gets an education like the one most Germans get.

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=93236

Who cares about irrelevant stuff like that? They are far more literate for a start.

[:) Smiley]

Get rid of Phys Ed. That's 15% of the day getting wasted while children in other countries are getting ahead. So you say that people are gonna get fat? Well, what is 30 minutes of baseball gonna do for your body?

[Arrian]

6. A fundemental change in teenage psychology.

Good luck.

Though there are many problems with the system, this is the one that stands out for me. I'm not THAT far removed from High School. I remember.

Like many of us, I suspect, I was one of the nerdy kids. This means I got As and Bs, answered questions/discussed topics in class, and wasn't ashamed of being relatively intelligent (the horror, the horror!).

Unfortunately for me on a social level, all of those things were extremely uncool. It was uncool to be smart, and worse it you didn't at least pretend you weren't. Some kids managed to combine smart & cool, but it was an impressive balancing act and pretty much meant they had to be invisible during class (no discussion) and downplay any acheivements.

This was in a "Redbook" public HS in CT - one of the best schools in the state, and I'd guess the country at large.

That's seriously ****ed up, and has to change if we really want our society's level of education to pick up. People have to want to learn.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

True, Arrian. That, if anything, will change everything... but I don't see it changing at all.