tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post7327535429754005450..comments2024-03-20T04:06:14.857-04:00Comments on Education Outrage: Why do we still have schools?Roger Schankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14567989582447087635noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post-59145732740790392892015-04-15T14:21:24.591-04:002015-04-15T14:21:24.591-04:00let's get the schools into the digital age--qu...let's get the schools into the digital age--quite wasting billions on a failed educational systemjohn william vondrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01037342209962288383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post-46893564737146651912009-04-17T22:34:00.000-04:002009-04-17T22:34:00.000-04:00On further reflection of competition…
Learning in ...On further reflection of competition…<br />Learning in school is not competitive as far as I know. It is not like the A’s are limited. I was never told “You didn’t get an A because Ralphie beat you out for the only one. <br /><br />What is competitive is access to education, particularly higher education. Higher ed is scarce resource. Further, access to this scarce resource is on a sliding scale based on a university’s reputation – the better the reputation, the scarcer the access. <br /><br />How this resource is allocated is (and should be) subject to fierce debate. It seems to me that today’s allocation process is: being better at academic learning than one’s peers, gets a student access to further (and higher quality) academic learning. Is there a process that is fairer? I don’t think it should be wealth. Should it be a simple lottery? <br /><br />It is interesting; this type of discussion keeps circling back to the central question: what is the purpose of school. Without a clear answer, it is difficult if not impossible to see of if negatives you have enumerated outweigh the benefits. Why do we have schools? To paraphrase Mr. Churchill: Schooling is the worst form of education except for all those others that have been tried.Chiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01728284711677464918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post-49042417830845686022009-04-17T06:05:00.000-04:002009-04-17T06:05:00.000-04:00Chip - the testing argument you give is standard a...Chip - the testing argument you give is standard and weak. "I am tested every day at work." No, not by multiple choice test you are not. Judging performance on real work products involving real world skills is fine by me, in school or at work. But school almost never does that. As for learning to compete, that is why sports are good for kids. There is enough knowledge to go around. we don't have to compete for it.Roger Schankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14567989582447087635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post-60887538514750666772009-04-16T22:12:00.000-04:002009-04-16T22:12:00.000-04:00While I agree in general with your position, I hav...While I agree in general with your position, I have a few points of comment and some specific disagreement:<br /><br />• Competition – success in workforce today is all about competition whether you are a plumber competing against other plumbers or an executive at a Fortune 100 company competing on the global state. School can be a good training ground to learn about how to compete. I am not, however, taking the position that it is well implemented today.<br /><br />• Learning is work. And it can be frustrating. But don’t most people appreciate what they have worked for? On the other hand, setting unrealistic expectations thus creating unnecessary stress should not be condoned.<br /><br />• Right answers. I think it is more that right answers are not always right. Rather, they are only right in a given context or situation. Developing strategies for how to deal with ambiguity is a key skill school should teach.<br /><br />• Peer pressure. If you can identify a group that does not have not politics, peer pressure or bullying, I would like to see it. Learning how to solve this problem is the learning experience, not learning how to avoid it. (see section about no right answers.)<br /><br />• Stifling – Couldn’t agree more.<br /><br />• Classrooms – Group learning is not bad per se. And sure, everyone would like their own personal mentor, but everyone would like a Rolls Royce, too. This is a balancing act, that when tilted toward money measurement (i.e., if 10 kids in a class is good, 30 must be better) and tilted away from an engaging learning environment, falls, to the detriment of the children.<br /><br />• Grades – Most companies I have where I have worked (and there have been quite a few in my 28 years of employment) have graded employees on a 1 to 5 scale. The 1’s get good raises, the 5’s get fired. One of the transition issues in going from school to work is learning how to succeed where the “grades” have much greater subtlety and ambiguity.<br /><br />• Certification – I hear the complaints about teaching to the test, etc. My question is: If you don’t test, how do your measure progress? And how to you communicate that progress? IMHO, any type of assessment is a test. If I am an employer, say a hospital, and you say you can do heart surgery, how do I know if you really are capable of performing this task?<br /> <br />• Confinement – couldn’t agree more.<br /> <br />• Winners. There are all kinds of winners in school and they should all be celebrated.<br /><br />• Practical skills – Good point. One of the key issues I see in the education discussion is the goal of education. What is success? I think the current economic environment is acting a catalyst for analysis of how we define success.<br />• Boredom – as you describe it, boredom is a learning tool. Interesting concept. Unfortunately, boredom can also lead to poor learning habits. Like a hammer, it can do the equivalent of driving a nail or busting a thumb. It’s all in the skill of the person using it. <br /><br />• Learn by doing – all for it. There is a small set of knowledge that a raw novice needs as a platform to build upon, but once that is acquired, actually performing and practicing a skill is proven to be effective. <br /> <br />I am looking forward to more of you insights and comments.Chiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01728284711677464918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post-26904064746569817402009-04-15T20:04:00.000-04:002009-04-15T20:04:00.000-04:00Thanks for posting this, it's good to see a conden...Thanks for posting this, it's good to see a condensed summary to get my head around all the issues.~~~https://www.blogger.com/profile/18178577825270275031noreply@blogger.com