Making schools 'Better' usually means more memorization for the students. Or maybe some more tests. (yeah you can memorize this but can you spit it back out in an hour?... again?)


I am all for the portfolio system. It is not easy, but you learn more and you might actually like it. Plus it is at your own pace.

Im home-schooled but went to public school there for 5yrs...And with 2yrs of Private school mixed in. Here in hawaii, the Public schools are just pathetic. (For various reasons such as the very real possibility of getting severely beaten-up...) Homeschooling is the best out of the three IMO. You get to work at your own pace without waiting for bubba in the back row to grasp the concept of 2+2. You can take a break pretty much whenever you feel the need to, and you get to choose your own curriculum. Im in 10th grade doing 'Saxon' Advanced Mathematics (Comes after Algebra 2) which is not really 'fun' with cute and colorful drawings...but I dont hate it either. And when youre done with your work...youre done. Now waiting for the schoolbus to come and pick you up for the 30+min drive home. Many of my friends finish their work before 2pm and have the rest of the day to do whatever they want. Also, I know a girl who just finished 10th grade...(Was doing the same math as me, but she was 1yr ahead in other subjs.)...and went straight to a community college. She's 15 and takes college classes and gets college credits while the rest of us have to finish high-school. IMHO, Homeschool is the way to go.

When Old Crab graduated from The University Of Houston it was refered to as "Cougar High". Much has changed for the ed system some for the better and unfortunately for the worse. There is no quick fix except for the one each individual makes to change or to better ones self through the ed process or as an individual personal choice. Just Think. >

Perhaps the british educational system has more of a handle on things then. Far from being perfect tho, it does encourage team work and working with partners. Desks are seldom set in rows in a primary school and often uses hands on experience to aid learning. The problem s britain is often the lack of parental support!

I think the school system and what you get out of it has a couple main factors:

1) Where the school is (which effects student to teacher ratio)

2) How involved the parent(s) are with the child.

I live in a small community that has lots of interaction with the kids.  There are also very small classroom sizes and advanced classes in high school.

But, teaching doesn't end at school.  The parents involvement in the process is needed.

i would not home school (past the obvious reason that I work) because I have an only child and I feel that social learning is an extremely important factor.  You have to deal with people in unpleasant situations all the time.  The diversity of public schools also teaches how to interact socially.

#11 by Doomgaze - 7/30/2003 7:17:13 AM ....Or the fact that parents have to work harder these days so they just don't have as much time for their kids as it used to be in the past.

I really think that this plays a major role. When I grew up, it was normal for Moms to stay home or to only work part time. It seems like the norm is now a two income family, which allows for less time for everything. You end up with a lot of latch key kids and parents who are too tired to pay attention when they get home (it's hard enough just to get dinner on the table some days.) (BTW, in case anyone wondered, I am not into Women's lib in the slightest... but don't get me started on that one.....)

Your parents obviously had more money than mine  because there is no way that we could have afforded to travel around, sail or even take many trips to local interests.  But, my Mom was always at home when I got home from school and always made sure we got our homework done and always asked "what did you do today?"  We also spent the entire summer at the local beach (which was a large lake fed by Lake Michigan) which was cheap but gave us something to do (was really cold, too!).

I think the biggest problem is the teachers. I go to a private school, so I don't know about public schools. (Although public school teachers in my state are some of the lowest paid in the nation, and public school teachers in my parish are some of the lowest paid in the state.) Most of the teachers at my school expect you to simply memorize exactly what they tell you. Your teacher says something wrong and you speak out? Punishment, plus you are expected to write the WRONG answer on a test. You have an opinion on a subject? You are disrupting the class and should keep your opinions to yourself. It really sucks when you are smarter than your teacher...

Heh, well I do go to a school with about 700 students in all. (Grades PK-12!!!) It really sucks when you live in the middle of nowhere, too...

Take it from a teacher by trade, I've taught in both the public and the private sector. Yes, the education system would seriously need some updating. The lecture structure dates from way back in ancient Greece, and while it might have been the best way before is not the case now.
But there a will to change. Computers are making their way into the classrooms, but unfortunately there is a lot of resistance coming from both the parents and the teachers.
There has been some reform attempts. For example, in Quebec, there is one on the table right now. A big one too. The whole system would change if/when it comes in place. The governement suggests to "projectize" the subjects. Meaning, instead of learning things for for the sake of learning, to insert the whole curriculum into a project, mixing many subjects into the project. Give the learning a reason to be. Another part of reform affects the sacred report cards. It is asked that report cards now be qualitative, not quantitative. Be objective oriented. Instead of having a percentage, detail in the report cards what were the objectives of the semester and how they were achieved by the student. Where did he/she fail? Where should he improve? Think about it, if you pass your grade with a 60% average, that means that you did not understand 40% of what was tought to you. Yet, you are going to go into the next grade, where it will be assumed that you learned everything fromt he previous grade. You are not going to understand some news things because they are directly linked to your knowing some of the 40% of things you didn't understand. So, you will pass this grade with 60% again if you're lucky. Now you didn't understand 40% of one grade and 40% of the other grade, it all accumulates, but you keep graduating. Anyway, reforms are suggested but they are often received very negatively by both the teachers (mainly the older ones) and the parents. Teachers complain that they weren't trained for that new system, that it will bring extra work. Understandable in a way since, contrarely to common belief, teachers work darn hard. 60 to 70 hours weeks is not uncommon (counting class preparation and corrections). Another resistance come from the parents who often think competively. They don't want to know how good their kid is doing with the objectives given, they want to know how good he is doing compared with his classmates. They want a number. They want 80%, 90%. They don't want to read 5 pages of details explaining where the kid did good and where he could improve.

Yes, our education system needs to evolve. Yes it needs a major revision. But the problem is that people are stuck in the old ways. It's hard to break away from what you are used to.

paxx said it better than I did.

The portfolio system I think, would be better. Instead of focusing on comparing a student to another, focus on the student getting better. More like instead of comparing a student to an achiever, help the student to know how to achieve.

The Bell system of grading (where someone has to fail, some are exceptional and everyone esle in the mojority is average) is not very helpful and is pretty objective as far as knowledge or potential.

I think we all know how to pass a test. Memorize the subject. Take the test and hold what you know long enough for it.

Then forget about it.

With portfolio learning you have more options to learn (direct or through projects and group/team work) and are graded on how well you have do (and I mean you not you against Tommy Jones)

It is either repeat, satifactory or well done. You can have a long eplaination detail or a simple idea of how to improve.

Through portfolio you learn what it really takes to be a worker of today as well as have the ability to take care of yourself tomorrow

1) Read/writing
2) Ability to search/research/query
3) Ability to put things together into information
4) Ask a educated question
5) Work in team dynamics

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/31/nyregion/31PUSH.html?ex=1060920000&en=85145ed218fd8ab1&ei=5004&partner=UNTD

You should be able to read that because it has the Juno link.

Very interesting and somewhat related to this topic. (Can't wait to tell Mom, many students were kicked out of school for interesting reasons)