another discussion against modern schools

[azrael the reaper_95210]

This is something my public speaking teacher was saying the other day, and I happened to write it down to discuss here.

school - The process of taking curious, imaginative, questioning children and forcing them to sit down and shut until they quit asking questions.

As you can see, while he himself is a teacher, he does not approve of how school functions in our earlier days.

He even gave great examples.

Back in the younger days, around thanksgiving they would have you trace your hand and then make it into a turkey. Of course, there was always that one child who made it different ( that was me... hehehe....) such as coloring the turkey purple. So what happened? The teacher did not congradulate that child for originality, but instead, had the child re-make it, this time coloring it brown like everyone was "supposed to".

And of course, did they ever give you blank paper and say "here, draw whatever you want". ? or did they give you a coloring book page, with a picture already drawn and tell you to color it, making sure to try staying in the lines?


Tell me, which is better?


I think the point is made quite well........  

[Calypsophia]

it's true. schools arent designed to cultivate individual thought and expression. they are designed to get you to think the way society believes you should think. I also dislike how everyone is expected to progress at the same pace, and those kids who cant because they're inherently quicker to grasp concepts, and thus get bored, get penalized. I know some of them manage to skip a grade or two but imo not nearly enough. those deemed 'troublemakers' (talking in class, fidgeting, causing minor disruptions, falling asleep, doodling) a lot of the times are seen as having a character flaw of some kind instead of merely being bored because they're not challenged.  

[Kachan36]

Apparently, I went to a different kind of school. Yes, my school always focused on core concepts and skills, but it also encouraged creativity and independent thinking. In fact, in one case, my school took it a little too far:

When I was in the 1st grade, my class was introduced to an experimental form of teaching spelling. Instead of being taught how to spell a word, and being helped to memorize spelling rules and their exceptions, we were encouraged to "sound it out." What was wrong about this was that the teachers were then asked not to correct our more creative spelling. It was frustrating to me because I knew when I spelled a word incorrectly, but I could never get the teacher to help me learn the correct spelling. As a result of this experiment in creative spelling, my class consistently did worse on all spelling tests than other classes, even through high school.  

[azrael the reaper_95210]

well that was pretty stupid....

but that really does not tell me that they promoted creativity. more like they were experementing to see if this would get you to figure it out on your own. and anyway, the rest of your education was the same old conventional way, wasn't it? they didnt carry on this type of teaching throughout your education did they?  

[Fake Aorta]

Governments nowadays want a "perfect" society, so they want everyone the same. My children WILL draw purple turkeys, they WILL do what they want! they WILL eat pizza topped with oranges and bananas *that might taste good...hmm* because THEY WON'T BE SUCKED INTO THE BLACK HOLE FORCING THEM TO BE THE EXACT SAME!! I always had problems with being the same as everyone else. When I was in Kindergarten, We drew Giraffes with our hands and put a tree on the right side. I drew my tree brown and the leaves green, like the others, yet I drew my tre base up to the top and then drew leaves around it. I'd write my name last name first, rather than first name first. DON'T PUNISH YOUR CHILDREN FOR BEING DIFFERENT! CONGRATULATE THEM!  

[Andromeda Zreng]

That is a VERY fine point you make. People used to slap their kids for being left-handed, did you know that? If you were a school kid fifty or eighty years ago and your mom saw you writing with your left hand, she'd come over, spank you, put the pencil in your right hand, and sit and watch you struggle through an extra hour of homework.  

[azrael the reaper_95210]

jensenns

That is a VERY fine point you make. People used to slap their kids for being left-handed, did you know that? If you were a school kid fifty or eighty years ago and your mom saw you writing with your left hand, she'd come over, spank you, put the pencil in your right hand, and sit and watch you struggle through an extra hour of homework.

when I was a kid, I was amidexterous, so they forced me to go right. later in life, when Puberty and such hit, bulking up my arms, my left became much stronger. that was because I was actually left handed (by the way, i also naturally eat left handed). by this time, however, i was so used to writing wioth my right that i could not write with my left. so now, at the age of 19, I write about as well as a 2nd grader, and there is nothing i can do about it. Thanks alot public school system........  

[Ryoukai]

Guessing the dominant hand of an ambidextrous kid is very hard, so they just went with the most likely choice. I wouldn't blame the school for that particular incidence, just an unlucky guess.

I do, however, hate how schools are geared toward aural and visual learning only. I am a kinesthetic learner, as is my younger cousin. My preschool would not keep me unless my parents put me on drugs because I was "A.D.D." No, people, I was bored. And I was four years old. My cousin has been on and off of A.D.D. "medication" for years now. My parents refused to put me on drugs to make me conform to idiotic standards, and now I'm in college with a 3.2 GPA. Looks like A.D.D. is misdiagnosed all the time, huh.

When you put a kinesthetic learner in an environment where they are not allowed to do anything, of course they'll go stir-crazy! But no, it would be too hard to find a creative way to teach, wouldn't it? It would be too hard to leave your blackboard once in a while to interact, I get it.

Don't get me wrong, you'll get the occasional excellent teacher. But mostly you'll get teachers that were taught by the same system that says different is wrong.  

[azrael the reaper_95210]

Ryoukai

Guessing the dominant hand of an ambidextrous kid is very hard, so they just went with the most likely choice. I wouldn't blame the school for that particular incidence, just an unlucky guess.

they always want to encourage kids to be right handed, since that is the majorities dominant hand. they do it to amidexterous kids, and many left handers as well........

Ryoukai

I do, however, hate how schools are geared toward aural and visual learning only. I am a kinesthetic learner, as is my younger cousin. My preschool would not keep me unless my parents put me on drugs because I was "A.D.D." No, people, I was bored. And I was four years old. My cousin has been on and off of A.D.D. "medication" for years now. My parents refused to put me on drugs to make me conform to idiotic standards, and now I'm in college with a 3.2 GPA. Looks like A.D.D. is misdiagnosed all the time, huh.

When you put a kinesthetic learner in an environment where they are not allowed to do anything, of course they'll go stir-crazy! But no, it would be too hard to find a creative way to teach, wouldn't it? It would be too hard to leave your blackboard once in a while to interact, I get it.

Don't get me wrong, you'll get the occasional excellent teacher. But mostly you'll get teachers that were taught by the same system that says different is wrong.

if you do get hands-on teaching, it is usually little 5-10 point assignments......  

[Kachan36]

azrael the reaper

well that was pretty stupid....

but that really does not tell me that they promoted creativity. more like they were experementing to see if this would get you to figure it out on your own. and anyway, the rest of your education was the same old conventional way, wasn't it? they didnt carry on this type of teaching throughout your education did they?

The example I gave was meant to show that we were encouraged to think for ourselves. Unfortunately, this one backfired, but it was not the only instance of unconventional teaching.

I don't remember anyone being punished, belittled, or corrected for producing creative artwork. My friend used to always color water yellow and the sky green because those were the colors she liked. Teachers usually thought it was great that she thought outside the box (although one did ask her mother if she was color blind, but I think she just wanted to make sure.)

Incidentally, I minored in Secondary Education in college. I have a license to teach middle and high school English in Massachusetts. I took several required teaching classes on creating lesson plans for diverse learning styles. I learned ways to accommodate slower and faster learners; students with dyslexia; visual, aural, and kinesthetic learning styles; and even students with different types of intelligence (i.e., linguistic, linear, kinesthetic, musical, etc.) Teaching to diversity was a huge focus in my education classes.

Schools are definitely not perfect, but they are certainly better than they used to be. Most of these ideas about different learning styles are fairly new, and older teachers don't understand them, yet. However, as new teachers come into the system, I think there will be more and more improvement.  

[azrael the reaper_95210]

Kachan36

azrael the reaper

well that was pretty stupid....

but that really does not tell me that they promoted creativity. more like they were experementing to see if this would get you to figure it out on your own. and anyway, the rest of your education was the same old conventional way, wasn't it? they didnt carry on this type of teaching throughout your education did they?

The example I gave was meant to show that we were encouraged to think for ourselves. Unfortunately, this one backfired, but it was not the only instance of unconventional teaching.

I don't remember anyone being punished, belittled, or corrected for producing creative artwork. My friend used to always color water yellow and the sky green because those were the colors she liked. Teachers usually thought it was great that she thought outside the box (although one did ask her mother if she was color blind, but I think she just wanted to make sure.)

Incidentally, I minored in Secondary Education in college. I have a license to teach middle and high school English in Massachusetts. I took several required teaching classes on creating lesson plans for diverse learning styles. I learned ways to accommodate slower and faster learners; students with dyslexia; visual, aural, and kinesthetic learning styles; and even students with different types of intelligence (i.e., linguistic, linear, kinesthetic, musical, etc.) Teaching to diversity was a huge focus in my education classes.

Schools are definitely not perfect, but they are certainly better than they used to be. Most of these ideas about different learning styles are fairly new, and older teachers don't understand them, yet. However, as new teachers come into the system, I think there will be more and more improvement.

yes, i agree. many newer teachers will terach more diversly. (though not all. I've had a few fresh out of college who became semi-corrupted by their mentors during "student teaching". )

still, I agree that for the most part they are going to hopefully change. one problem I DO see however is those older teachers who refuse to go away..... they usually are the bad teachers in the school........