SD on 12/3/2006 at 19:59
There's a religious debate? Where?
Mr.Duck on 16/3/2006 at 00:54
Quote Posted by Cybernide
"Cyan... you know, there, between your... legs... it's a... special place..."
If I were home-schooled, I would've learned everything from porn, I guess. And THEN where would I be?
Making $300 per customer?, minus the mouthwash expenses.
:angel:
Convict on 19/3/2006 at 08:47
Quote:
Hundreds of West Indian families in Britain are sending their children back to the Caribbean to get what many have found to be a better state education.
The children sometimes stay with relatives, and do not see their parents for months, in order to receive what is regarded as a more disciplined, traditional and structured schooling.
Parents who were born or have settled in Britain say the sacrifice is worth it, because British schools have become ill-disciplined and there is peer pressure on teenagers to do poorly in examinations.
...
Mrs Seaton-Graham, 45, who used to live in Bedford, said: "The state system in Barbados is very good. The expectations of pupils are so much higher and they seem more inspired to do well because the teachers are more on the side of the children."
...
Mrs Goodman, who lives in West Dulwich, south-east London, said: "The schools in Barbados are much stricter with pupils than those in Britain and teachers make the pupils take much more pride in their work. They were quickly doing much more advanced work than they had been doing in Britain."
...
Her sons have attended various primary and secondary schools in Barbados. "To start with, they complained that teachers were too strict and fussy, but eventually their work just got better and neater. In Barbados people really appreciate the value of a good education and know it can lead to a better job.
...
Mrs Goodman's children also appreciate their schooling. Ronald said: "Standards in schools are higher here. We have to be quicker on our feet with numbers and words than in British schools."
(
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=PAXXCUEW1UCMNQFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/03/19/neduc19.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/19/ixhome.html) Telegraph :joke:*
*By which I mean it is amusing that a poor country's schools are considered so much better than a wealthy country such as the UK
RyushiBlade on 19/3/2006 at 09:35
My cousin in England dropped out of highschool. I asked him why, and he replied, "Well, everyone's doing it. All my mates have already dropped out. Anyway, I've already got a job working at a bar."
I couldn't understand it. I pointed out that to get a good job he needs a good education. With irrefutable logic, he pointed out to me that his father didn't go to college. Obviously the world today is the same as it was back then, and so I was defeated.
Or rather, I gave up.
Raven on 19/3/2006 at 11:02
I am seriously worried about the attitude of pupils (and parents) i have seen in school. In fact the attitude in this country (press, parents, government) is always that the school has failed the child, in fact in college we are taught that now-a-days it is the whole education system that is failing the children.... what is worrying is how they don't really have an answer as to what the system should be.
Do we educate our children to send them to uni or get a job - in which case (bottom line, despite what some may say) qualifcations lead the way, or are we to educated the whole child (where teachers become basically parents and fail is a bad word).
We are stuck between these ideas and the problem is that education theory and practise seem to be at dynamic opposites with the two sides constantly swinging like opposing pendulums. The result is we are left in the middel constantly under changing strain and with very little mvoement either way. Another gripe, while i'm at it, is that the theory tends to be pushed by people wanting to sell materials/books and quick fixes/gimics to educational establishments (this explains the repeating cycle of fads coming and going)... mainly SO THAT THE AUTHOR CAN RETIRE FROM THE CLASS ROOM!! /cynical mode off (apparently that is one of the biggest sins as a student teacher!)
D'Juhn Keep on 19/3/2006 at 12:25
I guess now that the gimmickry of this thread has vanished, we could use it to discuss schools!
It's a pretty confusing issue. Schools in a relatively poor country being better than ours? Shock! But are these the best schools in Barbados vs mediocre or poor schools in the UK? That's probably not far from the truth, I'd think. The problem here is that all I know about the state of Barbados education is what I've read in the above article. Could it be that their bad schools are even worse than our worst schools and we just don't know about it? There is a common image, to my mind, of children in schools in poorer countries being great students who realise that a good education is what they need to succeed in life. So they work as hard as they can to get their education. However, I know people who did that in English schools too, so why is it we hear about English schools being hellholes more often than not? I suspect it's because in developed countries the media shows the worst parts of what's going on rather than the best. Student in affluent area gains good education at good quality state school. Where's the story in that?
In poorer countries, our expectations of their standard of living, etc are lower, meaning that if we see people succeeding/children working hard, it seems like they're prevailing against the odds.
The point I'm trying to make here is that they're opposites. People doing well in poor countries is news but if they don't do well it's not news and the situation is reversed in rich countries! I hope you see what I mean.
Quote Posted by Raven
We are stuck between these ideas and the problem is that education theory and practise seem to be at dynamic opposites with the two sides constantly swinging like opposing pendulums. The result is we are left in the middel constantly under changing strain and with very little mvoement either way. Another gripe, while i'm at it, is that the theory tends to be pushed by people wanting to sell materials/books and quick fixes/gimics to educational establishments (this explains the repeating cycle of fads coming and going)... mainly SO THAT THE AUTHOR CAN RETIRE FROM THE CLASS ROOM!! /cynical mode off (apparently that is one of the biggest sins as a student teacher!)
I find your writing quite confusing and your metaphors bizarre and convoluted! I think I know what you're trying to say though. For the first part, I think the English system is changing quite a bit nowadays to fit the reality of society. Kids in high school who aren't academically minded can take more practical courses that will help them get good jobs, rather than mostly wasting their time with what they see as irrelevent studies. This is a bit at odds with the current university policy the government has of sending everyone to university to study anything, but as you say, it's in a state of change at the moment.
The second point, about people pushing their own agenda on education policy in order to sell shit seems a bit of a ridiculous idea, can you show any proof or indeed tenuous links to back this up?
descenterace on 19/3/2006 at 12:51
If people aren't going to take responsibility for their education, they should be forced to take responsibility for it.
Exactly how this is done is left as an exercise for the reader.
One method would be to say 'if you drop out of school don't expect the welfare system to help you, ever'.
As for how the education system could be improved: extend College to 3 years instead of 2, and maybe make the Uni courses somewhat more focused instead of forcing the students to diversify into subjects they're not interested in.
Case in point: This year I had to choose six modules from a list of twelve to study. I ended up selecting them by process of elimination, because only about three of them seemed remotely interesting. And the point of Uni is to devote several years studying a subject that we're interested in, right?
Vigil on 19/3/2006 at 22:27
Quote:
If people aren't going to take responsibility for their education, they should be forced to take responsibility for it. One method would be to say 'if you drop out of school don't expect the welfare system to help you, ever'.
Quote:
Case in point: This year I had to choose six modules from a list of twelve to study. I ended up selecting them by process of elimination, because only about three of them seemed remotely interesting. And the point of Uni is to devote several years studying a subject that we're interested in, right?
Better not lose interest and drop out though because if you do you're a worthless piece of shit who isn't entitled to any help! :thumb:
descenterace on 20/3/2006 at 08:12
Right, but Uni is Higher Education. I've already got five A-Levels.
Vigil on 20/3/2006 at 09:26
Quote Posted by descenterace
Right, but Uni is Higher Education. I've already got five A-Levels.
Aye, but why is that distinction relevant? Dropping out of Uni is definitely not as life-screwing as dropping out of high school, but the very same motivation problems apply - and high-school age students are even less well-equipped to deal with motivation problems than university students (who, as supposedly responsible adults, are pretty bad at it to start with). Punishing high-school students post facto by refusing them welfare support is hardly a fair burden to place on minors.
I suppose where I'm going with that is that, as minors, prematurely withdrawing from secondary education is not a decision they should be allowed to make in the first place. The problem there of course is that if someone really wants to get out of the education, you can't practically stop them - they can simply get themselves expelled.
