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 Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:45 pm
I think its no secret when I say that I think the US School system is flawed.
It is a system that does not facilitate learning at all, much less educating people. Most teachers either don't care, or care and just don't have the tools neccessary to actually teach their students, all of it compounded with the fact that no one in the government seems to realize that schools need to get better treatment.
I'm not about to say that if given the choice, that we should switch to an asian system, especially that of Japan. No statistic you can give me can justify the BAD stuff the Japanese education system puts out. The Psychologically "damaged" kids, and even worse, kids who develop psychological conditions such as Hikkikomori and go as far as to avoid social interaction and development.
Personally, I'm in the process of being a teacher. I've talked to my old high school teachers, and my professors, and I really decided that teaching is me. I feel that the big problem is that teachers don't engage their students with knowledge, simply just try to cram it into your heads and then being able to regurgitate it later.
One of my favorite High School history teachers, who EVERYONE loved, taught in a very engaging manner. He would not simply cram stuff into your head, but he would engage you with the knowledge. We were told to not only take in the knowledge, and the dates, but to engage yourself with the information. Putting yourselves in the shoes of historical peoples, etc.
For WWI and WWII, we ran 2 week long simulations in class where the students were separated in groups, and took the mantles of the various nations and such that were involved, and while we learned the information, our simulations helped give us an idea of how the politics of these wars and the technology were developed.
I learned more in those History classes than any other class I've been in, and I feel that its the proper way to go about. When you engage yourself with knowledge, you are doing much more than just putting it into your head, you are actively building bridges to keep that information into long term memory, and to develop connections with that information with things that can relate to your life.
This wasnt the most organized post as I was mostly putting out my thoughts in text. I'm VERY passionate with teaching and passing down knowledge to the next generations after me, and I think its sad to think that our education system could be so much, but its not even reaching the levels it could be.
I want to end by saying that I am VERY fortunate to have teachers all throughout my school life, that actually cared about the classes education. One of my HS Physics teachers takes her Physics class on a ski-trip each year, which is designed to help you understand physics. One of my Middle School teachers had a segment of astronomy where students could build their own rockets, bought at the teacher's expense. One of my college professors is so passionate about teaching about how to be a real teacher, and it shows. You'd have to meet this guy to truly see what I'm saying. It is people like these that really make me see that our education system does have the potential to bloom into something great.
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Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:53 pm
Dark Solais The AP test has to be graded that way simply because of the fact that so many more kids these days are taking the classes, most of them don't belong there. In my school this year, our AP enrollment doubled, it makes what would have been far more personal and meaningful classes crowded comparitavely. The whole reason the school is doing that is they get extra money for every student who passes an ap class.
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Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:47 am
I'm from Quebec (Canada) and you are sorta off track in your first post.
The canadian school system is far different from the French one. s**t I can barely understand it lol!
How it works in quebec (good system, lack of funding $$)
Grade School (grade 1-6)
High School ( grade 7-11) - private or public - Private system very disciplined and crazy - public system sucks (people don't even know how to write basic french in grade 11 .... quebec is french btw)
CEGEP - 2 year pre-university program-
French & english for dummies tests to enter - This is more specialized teaching but it still remains quite general. Is quite usefull for many people who don't know where to go after high school
DEP- 3 year program in CEGEP where you specialize yourself in one domain (for people who know where they are going)
University - Well This is the big step! Natural selection occurs, only the smart survive!
anywho... hope that it's clear... it's nothing like the French!
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Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:51 am
Obersturmbannfuehrer Chii thoughts in text. I'm VERY passionate with teaching and passing down knowledge to the next generations after me, and I think its sad to think that our education system could be so much, but its not even reaching the levels it could be. . I hope that you become a great teacher ^^ we need more passionate people like you! I've had some teachers... wow you think that they wanted to slit their wrists everytime they entered the class I also had some who were really passionate about the stuff they were teaching... for instance, I had this bio teacher who loved it so much she kept on deviating from the program to explain neat biological stuff ^^ she was cooL!
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 7:48 pm
Honestly, I really have no basis to judge schooling. My graduating class is about 1300 people, and almost everyone I know is taking 5 AP classes. I'm lucky in that I'm in one of the best public school districts in the country, so we have pretty hardcore schooling. I mean, yeah, if you want to be a slacker, you can, but our schools are obnoxiously competitive. Like... I have a 3.6 GPA on a 4.0 scale, 3.8 on a weighted scale, and I'm not even in the top 10% of my class. Plus, we have "high school" which is grades 9 and 10 and then "senior high school" which is 11 and 12. Yeah, we're crazy.
But I mean, I really have had some great teachers and I've learned a lot. The different levels of classes (regs, honors and then AP) give you three different leves on which to learn, which is really nice. I haven't had a problem with a lot of overcrowded classes, so my complainents are limited.
Within my school district, if you want to suceed there a lot of pressure and competiton, so as far as I'm concerned, my school district is quite awesome. But I'm sure this may or may not be the norm.
I mean, yeah, we're not as great as Japan, but we're also better than other placed too, I think.
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:04 pm
Keyblade Ballerina Well, so far as I'm concerned, American school systems are by FAR the easiest in the world (quite literally...next to the fact that some DON'T have school). In most cases, you have to "try" to fail.
Take Japan for example (albeit, a rather extreme example). Japanese teens have to take a final graduation exam at the end of senior year. If you fail once, you try again; fail twice and well...life is over as you know it. After all, failing means disgracing your family and family is important. A reason why the suicide rate is so high for teens in Japan.
Take France for another example. Over half the high school students have repeated at LEAST one year of schooling. They too have to take an exam (le bac) to graduate and move on into Universities. Fail once, get another try. Fail twice and you repeat senior year (1st grade. Their's is backwards.)
I'm sure you're thinking that "Oh, well that's just the equivalent to the SAT," and you're sorta right, but DAMN, I've heard that these tests are freakin HARD.
And schools aren't as personalized as they are in America.
And Look at Canada, they have tons of Immersion Schools (immerse you into a school that is entirely in a foreign language) and have a similar system to France.
I'm just saying that we Americans have got it pretty damn easy...
*NOTE: Don't flame me if some of these facts are wrong. They come from my teachers, so sources are unknown and vary... You could say most schools, for some high schools are near impossible to make good grades in all the classes. I will admit that these are not normal public high schools, but federally (or in the case of the one I attend, the state and companies) fund it and it takes special requirements to get in. At my old high school, the teachers let me read a book during class, not even pay attention, yet I had the highest grade. At my new school (which is 11th and 12th only), one does not have time to read a book. But it is a dorm school, and has it perks (one which many would say co-ed dorms, though law requires there to be a barrier unless suppervision is provided between male and female side).
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:52 pm
Well, I'm not sure how easy it is...which is easy... for me, but I personally hate the American public schooling system. There is no competition, no real need for any teacher or student to do anything. Of course you can go to a private school, but then you're paying for your education and the education of someone else, so then you have no money for anything else, espessially when you have multiple children. If we changed to a private schooling system, our teachers would actually try, because the better they worked, the better school would hire them, the more the student pays to go to that school, the more the teacher gets paid. It would not be more expensive, either, because you would not have to pay the taxes that go to education. So, for now, I am doomed to sit in math class, bored, acing all the tests, while some kids who I am smarter than (I scored more on the placement test) actually get to learn in the advanced classes. Yep. We got it easy.
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 10:56 pm
The majority of American schools do have a exam the students have to pass before they can graduate. It varies on state.
I personally have had bad experiences with American schooling.
*gets ready to tell his story*
Alright, so I lived in Australia from 6th to half way through 10th grade, and then we moved back to America. As I skipped a grade going to Australia my parents wanted to put me back into 9th grade for the remaining 6 weeks left of 9th grade, but the 9th grade wouldn't accept me because I had already graduated 9th grade, and 10th grade school wouldn't accept me because I didn't have the required 5 credits to attend high-school, so I was just left sitting at home for the remaining of the summer.
After fighting the school all summer over me getting into school I finally got into high-school once my dad told them that i'm going to their school whether they like it, or not. I was doing great in school until I started to run into trouble with medical, and personal reasons. I was filed on for truancy(missing too many days of school); Although, I was mainly missing class due to my medical condition, and had an agreement with the principal about excusing my absence. Once they filed truancy the agreement with the principal never existed, and I couldn't prove that we had an agreement with the principal for the absences to be excused. Therfore, I had to pay hundreds of dollars in fines, and classes for both my dad, and I. We later discovered, after reading some laws, that the school, and courts were at fault. We let them off easy as we didn't want to go through the cost of lawyers, and the time that would be spent on the case, so we told the Judge that they messed up, and we could file a complaint that would cause an inconvienence for them, and asked him that he court order me to get my GED since I was under the age of 17, and you can't drop out if you're under the age of 17(which I was at the time). So I dropped out after the 10th grade year was over, and completed my GED, and started College.
I despise American schools as they allow no leaniancy.
Also, American schools depend on attendance because that is how they get funding. They get paid money per student that is on the attendance report everyday. Which is why the truancy is in effect so they don't lose their money.
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Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 7:54 pm
o.O i don't trust american school systems. the standards for teaching some classes are so low.
for example. ( i think i found this fact on a job website awhile back) most math teachers don't have a major OR minor in math.
My AP Psych teacher didnt' even study psychology in college
And our school was in such a dire need for math teachers that we had 3 and a half math openings. so, they called a counseler/math teacher to teach, and a retired lady whose rather forgetful ^^; and maybe two other people.
if thats not bad. well >.>; maybe this will change that thought
Our school is overcrowded, So much so that even though they ordered NEW spanish books, they were still short as to have every student in class share with another student. now this would have been ok except for the fact that the students were paired where one with a good spanish grade was coupled with someone with a low spanish grade and if one of the pair didn't do well, then Neither got a good grade, therefore, the good student would suffer because the bad student wouldn't do jack squat.
American schools are rather silly ^^
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Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 9:07 pm
sleeping_seraphim o.O i don't trust american school systems. the standards for teaching some classes are so low. for example. ( i think i found this fact on a job website awhile back) most math teachers don't have a major OR minor in math. My AP Psych teacher didnt' even study psychology in college And our school was in such a dire need for math teachers that we had 3 and a half math openings. so, they called a counseler/math teacher to teach, and a retired lady whose rather forgetful ^^; and maybe two other people. if thats not bad. well >.>; maybe this will change that thought Our school is overcrowded, So much so that even though they ordered NEW spanish books, they were still short as to have every student in class share with another student. now this would have been ok except for the fact that the students were paired where one with a good spanish grade was coupled with someone with a low spanish grade and if one of the pair didn't do well, then Neither got a good grade, therefore, the good student would suffer because the bad student wouldn't do jack squat. American schools are rather silly ^^
My school has a background prestigious enough that upon recieving my grades last year, has earned myself many invitations to colleges nation wide and also the option to study abroad. I was also granted an invitation to the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine, a summer program to introduce top students nation wide to the broad fields of medicine. After participating, I was also sent another invitation by the same group that ran NYLF, this time, to the National Youth Leadership Conference which focuses on politics.
The teachers in my system are very well qualified however, since the induction of last year's freshmen and this year's freshmen class, has caused a major problem for the school staff in terms of accomplishing their job of teaching. It seems that with each passing generation, the children grow rowdier and more rebellious to the point of the school name and honor being tarnished.
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:19 pm
Zophell Dark Solais The AP test has to be graded that way simply because of the fact that so many more kids these days are taking the classes, most of them don't belong there. In my school this year, our AP enrollment doubled, it makes what would have been far more personal and meaningful classes crowded comparitavely. The whole reason the school is doing that is they get extra money for every student who passes an ap class. *Rubs eyes a bit* Really? Damn... I guess that also explains the "Take harder courses even if you don't exactly excel in them" spiel they give the freshmen too, I feel bad for the future kids in high school, it's all about the benjamins (I really needed to say that, hehe).
That is all...
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Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:07 pm
The American School sytem sucks.but i think its getting tougher.... The american way of life sucks overall we are pampered with all these rights and what not and now than im almost graduating im freakin out because its gonna be hard. My brother and sister were raised in mexico but moved here during high school and they say that its way to "sugar coated in america". Im the wuss in the family and i hate it but i try and no matter how much i try i cant top them beecause they have "suffered" and i havent
America needs to toughen up on the kids and i mean TOUGHEN UP bring back ruler smacking and all that jazz they need it.
Is it me or are kids getting more violent?
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The Boney King of Nowhere
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Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:11 pm
Tetsudai #4375 in the world and dropping. Oddly enough, we were #1 before the Department of Education was created.
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Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 1:11 pm
America's got it easy... But, then again, not so, since if you really want to do well you have to go to school until you are thirty years old whereas French and English schools don't go that far.
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Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 5:29 pm
Terraniaxe America's got it easy... But, then again, not so, since if you really want to do well you have to go to school until you are thirty years old whereas French and English schools don't go that far. You really don't need to study to be a doctor or lawyer if you want to "do well." Also, aspiring doctors and lawyers have to study well into their late 20's in France and England, too.
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