|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:49 am
using namespace std;
int main ()
{ (Snagged from the ED; originally posted by che_hyun. Edited by Kazemuki.)
In the years 1989, 1990, and 1991, a man named John Gatto was named New York's Teacher of the Year. One of his speeches, entitled 'Why Schools don't Educate,' addresses what he felt to be the major shortcomings of today's compulsory education system. Below is an excerpt from this speech detailing the eight major points that he made. The entire speech can be read here.
From John Gatto's 'Why Schools Don't Educate'
1. The children I teach are indifferent to the adult world. This defies the experience of thousands of years. A close study of what big people were up to was always the most exciting occupation of youth, but nobody wants to grow up these days and who can blame them? Toys are us.
2. The children I teach have almost no curiosity and what they do have is transitory; they cannot concentrate for very long, even on things they choose to do. Can you see a connection between the bells ringing again and again to change classes and this phenomenon of evanescent attention?
3. The children I teach have a poor sense of the future, of how tomorrow is inextricably linked to today. As I said before, they have a continuous present, the exact moment they are at is the boundary of their consciousness.
4. The children I teach are ahistorical, they have no sense of how past has predestined their own present, limiting their choices, shaping their values and lives.
5. The children I teach are cruel to each other, they lack compassion for misfortune, they laugh at weakness, and they have contempt for people whose need for help shows too plainly.
6. The children I teach are uneasy with intimacy or candor. My guess is that they are like many adopted people I've known in this respect - they cannot deal with genuine intimacy because of a lifelong habit of preserving a secret inner self inside a larger outer personality made up of artificial bits and pieces of behavior borrowed from television or acquired to manipulate teachers. Because they are not who they represent themselves to be the disguise wears thin in the presence of intimacy so intimate relationships have to be avoided.
7. The children I teach are materialistic, following the lead of schoolteachers who materialistically "grade" everything - and television mentors who offer everything in the world for free.
8. The children I teach are dependent, passive, and timid in the presence of new challenges. This is frequently masked by surface bravado, or by anger or aggressiveness but underneath is a vacuum without fortitude.
That having been said, I must ask what your thoughts on the matter are? Do you feel that he makes good or relevant points, or that he is making hasty generalizations based on a small number of students that he has observed? Additionally, which of these points apply to you directly and which do you observe in your daily life, if still attending school?return 0;
}
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:50 am
using namespace std;
int main ()
{ Though I only fall into the sixth category (though not for the reasons listed), I see instances of all of his points on a daily basis. Many that I know by acquaintance are materialistic, ahistorical, and shy away from a challenge without a teacher to guide them through every step. One of my friends places absolute faith in grades. Frequently, though to no avail, I remind her that it is not the grade that matters, but what is learned--one can get straight 'A's and yet retain no practical knowledge.
There is the constant domination and alienation of the 'nerds' and other promising students by the 'preps' and the 'jocks.' As trite as the argument may sound, you can not argue that it is hopelessly impossible for an all-honours student who takes a genuine interest in his education to even attempt to fit in with the 'popular' crowd in a high school setting.
Frivolous high school relations that utterly lack intimacy abound. 'Oh, Jenny and I just broke up again--we'll probably get back together in a couple weeks.' It is nothing more than a pretentious and egocentric attempt at instant self-gratification in a fast-paced, ever-expanding society.
As far as the sixth entry is concerned in my life, I say that I fit into it not because I have the inherent desire to preserve the integrity of some pseudo-personality that is displayed proudly whilst covering up my innermost thoughts. No. Rather, I say this because I feel that it is largely pointless to look for a relationship before college at the absolute earliest. Middle school and below is absolutely ridiculous, and most high school relationships will be shallow and more sensual and social than actually meaningful.return 0;
}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:10 pm
This is the general population. Everyone. Nobody cares about anything. Bread and circus, etc.
Education is important, yet my schools use the same sytle of teaching that he says are bad. People want to be spoonfed everything from a textbook. I am guilty of this many times, and won't deny it.
As far as relationships, this does not apply to me the slightest bit as I am in a meaningful relationship with an amazing person. So there you have it, my thoughts. A bit scattered, but I'm in a hurry, plus I want to finish Ender's Shadow. Read it?
I'll suggest it in the literature forum.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:29 pm
Never heard of it. However, I'll try to beat you to it and append it to the first post. (Assuming you haven't already posted it... I don't know... My brain stops working in the evenings...)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 12:23 pm
Kazemuki using namespace std;
int main ()
{ Though I only fall into the sixth category (though not for the reasons listed), I see instances of all of his points on a daily basis. Many that I know by acquaintance are materialistic, ahistorical, and shy away from a challenge without a teacher to guide them through every step. One of my friends places absolute faith in grades. Frequently, though to no avail, I remind her that it is not the grade that matters, but what is learned--one can get straight 'A's and yet retain no practical knowledge.
There is the constant domination and alienation of the 'nerds' and other promising students by the 'preps' and the 'jocks.' As trite as the argument may sound, you can not argue that it is hopelessly impossible for an all-honours student who takes a genuine interest in his education to even attempt to fit in with the 'popular' crowd in a high school setting.
Frivolous high school relations that utterly lack intimacy abound. 'Oh, Jenny and I just broke up again--we'll probably get back together in a couple weeks.' It is nothing more than a pretentious and egocentric attempt at instant self-gratification in a fast-paced, ever-expanding society.
As far as the sixth entry is concerned in my life, I say that I fit into it not because I have the inherent desire to preserve the integrity of some pseudo-personality that is displayed proudly whilst covering up my innermost thoughts. No. Rather, I say this because I feel that it is largely pointless to look for a relationship before college at the absolute earliest. Middle school and below is absolutely ridiculous, and most high school relationships will be shallow and more sensual and social than actually meaningful.return 0;
} I would like to argue your point here. I have been on honor roll every year at high school, and think that school is one of the most important things in my life at the moment, and love learning. I also hang out with what you might call the 'popular' crowd. Although at my school there isn't a 'popular group'. It is not impossible for me to 'even attempt to fit in' because I know that they do not wish to talk about intellectual things. I don't hang out with them all the time, other wise my brain might die, but I do hang out with them when I get bored of actually thinking, and want to have some mindless conversations. Anyone can fit into any group as long as they know how that group works. Everyone can act like any stereotype if they want. If you actually wanted to hang out with the 'popular' people then you would. You don't have to change yourself completely, just pull upon that mindless materialistic side of you that doesn't get out much. ...sorry I kinda started rambling, and am totally off topic. Back to topic. The points that apply to me are: five, and six. Five: I'm not completely cruel and I don't tell you to 'suck it up and deal with it you p***y' if you come to me with a problem. I will help out any and all of my friends with their problems, but when it comes to myself, if I show any 'weakness' or need for help then I get hard on myself. I know it's not right...blah blah blah. Anyways. Six: I don't have that much of a problem with intimacy really, I like being close with people. I just keep my true self hidden at all times, which makes being intimate difficult. I have hidden myself, not behind a character made from TV but from having to deal with my past. As to instances of his points, I have seen many daily. It saddens me when kids don't ask why any more, they just learn what they are told, take it as it is, not wondering why it is so. I always ask why, I need to know every aspect of the topic. If you are going to learn something, learn all of it. I'd list more examples of his points, but this is already a wall of text.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:46 pm
I don't know what kind of school John Gatto teaches in, and I'm sure it would have a different ambience from my school. I can say that different schools have different sort of social stratifications too, and that in turn will affect the social circles one can go around in. From my experience in private and public schools, my siblings, and my college friend's experience during their high schools, it sometimes seems that we live very different worlds altogether.
Similarities between them
2. The children I teach have almost no curiosity, and what they do have is transitory
Yep. All of the schools I know of are guilty of having students like this. I guess it's just the whole rote-learning system, static and theoretically-oriented curriculum as well as a lack of budget.
4. The children I teach are ahistorical, they have no sense of how past has predestined their own present
True. But maybe that's just because everyone's obsessed with the present and how it might affect their future.
6. The children I teach are uneasy with intimacy or candor.
Not really. If you regard someone as a friend, you'd be intimate with them, as much as your personality makes it possible. If you don't regard them as such, the only thing you'd put forth to them is a mere polite and neutral mask. The same applies to teachers, of course.
Dissimilarities
1. The children are indifferent to the adult world.
3. The chldren I teach have a poor sense of the future, of how tomorrow is inextricably linked to today
5. The children I teach are cruel to each other, they lack compassion for misfortune, they laugh at weakness,
7. The children I teach are materialistic
My high school
1. 3. If there was something everyone was doing, it's to get out of high school as fast as you can and enter the adult world. Preferably without looking back. As soon as one's in the last year or so, everyone is either obsessing or thinking of what college they'd go to and what kind of career they're planning to pursue. False.
5. There's not much of different types of kid as there are natural circles of friends--you go around in any circle you like as long as you know at least one or two people in them, but they're not exactly your close friends that way. I guess not everyone can spare the effort to care
7. Well, since everyone's so busy trying to get into the college of their dreams what else do they focus on? The scrap of paper that will be a proof of how 'good' they are. True.
My brother's high school
1. 3. Most people realized that to be able to make a living isn't exactly a simple task. Not true
5. It had an air of intense camaraderie where you practically knew everyone who entered at the same year as you are, and most people who are directly a year above or below you. Everyone generally goes around with everyone else. Everyone knows everyone else.
7. Many of them are, but many of them chase the grades because they don't know what else they could do to get into a good college.
My friend's high school
1. 3. It was one of the most sought after public school in my city. One of the proofs it had for that was how at least 50% of the students in my faculty was an alumni from it. Are they indifferent to the adult world? No.
Do they have a poor sense of the future? That depends on the definition.
5. The students tend to clump into the popular and nerd-ish/geek-ish people--though the division is usually by social aptitude and/or looks than anything else. At times the bullying and the pressure to conform to the common norms are strong. True.
7. Same explanation as my school's. True.
This post has strangely divided itself around the odd and even points. Weird. By the way, sorry if this gets a bit long.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:36 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
