The Way Forward: Fixing our Education System

[The Comrade]

pretty sure al qaeda isn't "running things" now but please continue to move the goal posts.

[The Dharma Bum]

[Dylan]

Well in many respects 9/11 was a reaction to the US helping defend against an act of aggression.

[Divinity11]

And now we are talking about al queda and 9/11 in a thread about fixing our educational system.

[The Comrade]

[exploited]

I don't think making the basis of the education system knowledge is at all synonymous with turning everyone into a philosophy student, as has been suggested here. Rather, what I am suggesting is a less standardized curriculum, with more emphasis on teaching kids how to think. The teachers here keep on saying "kids just aren't interested," which I think, IMO, is just a bunch of jaded BS. Your kids aren't interested; the kids I went to school with were very interested in things they actually cared about, which ultimately varied from student to student. We need to find out what those things are, and then use them as a springboard for teaching other things. A kid who is obsessed with videogames can learn alot of math, research skills, computer skills and art design from being given the time and the tools to understand the basics of videogame design. This is the knowledge-first approach - not making every kid learn a little bit of math they won't use, a little bit of english they don't care about, and a little bit of science that are uninterested in, then expecting them to decide upon a career course when they haven't even gotten laid yet.

First step is instituting logic classes. We don't teach kids how to think critically, we just hope these skills develop. Why? Kids need to be taught the formal rules of logic, and then they need to be allowed to apply them to all their subjects, as early as possible. This is a skill that benefits everyone, from a car mechanic to an engineer to, yes, a philosopher.

Other steps would follow. I envision setting aside at least an hour a day for students to develop knowledge in things they are interested in. The teachers job would be simply to make sure they are actually studying SOMETHING, ANYTHING, and then trying to help them get the tools they need. I personally would ask each student to develop a day-long lesson for the rest of his main class, to be taught to the rest of the class, by him, at the end of the semester. Basically, the idea is to connect kids with the curriculum, in a way that actually encourages acquiring knowledge just for the sake of improving your mind.

You can't have a knowledge economy when no one cares about knowledge... and you can't have good teachers when they are required to stick to the letter of the curriculum. That results in a race to the bottom of the standardized barrel, which is why so many damned kids are coming out of high school without even the barest bones of an education.

[Hyperion]

At the basic level there's certain things students should be taught that might not be relevant to their interests at the time. School should be engaging, not fun. Some of the worst teachers go out of their way to make everything 'entertaining.' I'm not suggesting that your proposals are wrong, but essentially we're describing reforms that would require an enormous amount of reform and financial support.

[exploited]

Eh, yeah, that is true.

[The Dharma Bum]

It's worth it, because it will make a system for learning, not being conditioned to do things a particular way.

[exploited]