JOEBIALEK

This is the second part to an earlier writing about education in the United States. As you may recall, I advocated for the privatization of all schools from kindergarten to graduate studies. This piece will focus on the curriculum that needs to be followed.

Everytime I encounter someone in the workplace, I am reminded of just how much we have failed to properly educate United States citizens in the fundamentals of communication: reading, writing and speaking. Few would argue that the time is long overdue for the United States to "get back to the basics" of a fully functional education system. We need to exclusively focus on the development of communication skills from kindergarten to eighth grade along with annual testing that measures apptitude and interest. Training in mathematics should be limited to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Unless communication skills are fully mastered, there is no need to advance to high school.

For those who graduate to high school, the emphasis could evolve into a curriculum of philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology, science and religious studies. Books such as "For Dummies" and "The Complete Idiot's Guide" could be used to foster an understanding of different religions. Athletic activity would be strictly confined to cardio vascular exercises and all sports would be eliminated. While there would still be an emphasis on communication skills, the focus would now be on developing a foundation of basic knowledge so as to be able to graduate to college. Testing for apptitude and interest would continue through high school increasing the chances of picking the right field of study . Those not continuing on to college would enter some type of apprenticeship training for the purpose of learning a trade. For those who do graduate to college, the student would continue to study an advanced version of the same curriculum as high school but only for the first two years then they would complete their education by strictly focusing on coursework designed to train them in their field of study. Nearing graduation, internships would be required to begin the transition to the working world. Think of how different our society would be if our education system could just teach the fundamentals of reading, writing and speaking.

Shek

Joe,

You failed to post your first part. A quick set of questions - where do you work, what are some examples of people who cannot communicate, what is their education level, where were they educated, and what success did they achieve? Does your workplace have set standards on communications? What is your medium for communication? Email? Written memo? Powerpoint? Are you in the exact job that you wanted to do in 8th grade? 12th grade?

__________________
"So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

dalem

In my opinion we should take all the socialization and mainstreaming and other politically correct crap out and just go back Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.

Eliminate team sports? Many kids love them and they are good for learning about, well, teams. You gonna have them them runnnig around clutching Little Red Books too? We're trying to raise kids with personalities, not a race of super-efficient robots.

The problem is the outlier kids who won't learn no matter what curriculum you shoehorn them into.

-dale

Shek

I had another thought. You want to privatize education, and yet it appears as if you are going to implement a very rigid curriculum. Can you reconcile this contradiction?

gilgamesh

//////Training in mathematics should be limited to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division./////////////

???????????

/////Unless communication skills are fully mastered, there is no need to advance to high school./////

You mean yakkity-yak types sould be picked up for further grooming?

/////////For those who graduate to high school, the emphasis could evolve into a curriculum of philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology, science and religious studies.///////////////

Would you like poets to design brakes in your car?

///////Books such as "For Dummies" and "The Complete Idiot's Guide" could be used to foster an understanding of different religions.///////

Is this supposed to be a tongue in cheek post?

///Athletic activity would be strictly confined to cardio vascular exercises and all sports would be eliminated.////

Yeah, like the new year's resolution we all make every year, gym membership and such.


/////For those who do graduate to college, the student would continue to study an advanced version of the same curriculum as high school but only for the first two years/////

More yakkity yak for next two years. Wonderful.

////then they would complete their education by strictly focusing on coursework designed to train them in their field of study.////

Lemme guess, Communications major!

////Nearing graduation, internships would be required to begin the transition to the working world. Think of how different our society would be if our education system could just teach the fundamentals of reading, writing and speaking./////

What would you do with 10 million fresh newspaper/TV reporters?

BanliochFear

Regarding background, I was lucky enough to have a great set of public elementary and middle schools down in Texas. I graduated from a Catholic high school in 2003 and now attend a public university, both in Kentucky.

I love the idea of privatizing education. Having graduated from a private high school, I can assure you that the experience is invaluable. It is a blessing that my parents valued it enough to pay more on top of the taxes supporting the public school.

My main point of contention with you is, like others have mentioned, the very strict curriculum you propose. The point of a private school system is that you could tailor a school to address the needs of a particular set of kids. You are putting sociology, economics and philosophy into these categories equal to just science. I would have hated that school and begged not to attend. I would rather go to a school with physics, chemistry, biology, calculus, and social science being the divisions. Yes, this is probably just playing around with semantics. However, I want to emphasize my point that the crux of private education is the freedom to provide the curriculum you desire as long as it meets basic government requirements. There can be an intensive science regimen for the students who want to pursue engineering or medicine and an intensive social science curriculum for those wanting a career in law or something else down that road. People who say that the book of Genesis is concrete can have that taught. People who think of a science/religion hybrid can have that. People who deny any effect of God can have the curriculum they want. When it comes to private education, you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Also, there is nothing wrong with organized sports. Comraderie and learning how to operate in a team structure are key lessons in life. The idea that all physical activity should be cardiovascular in nature is just ridiculous. A responsible physical fitness regimen does tend to include more aerobic than anaerobic exercise, but that strength training really makes a difference for your health.

Even more than restructuring the curriculum to insure the vital communications skills, an attitude change is in order. Schools want to keep their dropout rates low and move there kids along to look good. In order to do that, they worry about making the kids feel good about themselves. People need a wake-up call that they can't just fall back on the government or use a lowered bar to become complacent. Expectations should not be made lower as we progress as a society.

In this world, some people aren't going to make it in school. In that case, they need to be released at a certain age to pursue some vocational training. We keep wasting more money in education only to get a meager outcome. It's bad business. At my private school, the lack of hefty government grants made us watch what we did and cut the fat. The teachers at my school were paid much less than the public school teachers, but that insured that they loved what they did. Never before or since have I met such devoted educators who really believed in what they did. I'm only speaking from my own experiences. There are great public school teachers out there, too. Haha.

These are just a few of my scattered thoughts. Had a long day of classes and meetings not tired me out, I'd probably write more coherently. Let me know if anything was really offbase or poorly expressed.

BenRoethig

JOEBIALEK, As a former secondary education major, I can tell you that your ideas would reduce us to a third world country within a generation.

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Education Part ll
This is the second part to an earlier writing about education in the United States. "

I see a problem.

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Shek

Maybe this was a trick to demonstrate ineffective communications. He can now come back and say "point proven!"

pingingpuss

Last year i worked in a local primary school this one young lad only 11 years of age (which is grade 6 here on oz) could not read could not write and was diagnosed ADHD ( yet the school passed him again last year and now he is in years 7) His mother was an addict, he was lucky to attend school twice a week. I think it is unfair to say that outlier kids wont learn no matter what and i think that we should consider their family life- their socialisation when dealing with children like this.

In this case the education system has failed this boy, he is destined to become a no one and probably spend most of his life on the dole. Its a shame to see kids just like this boy but i dont think they should be blamed and that investigating the underlining causes would be more constructive.

For your comments on teams sport. I fully endorse it and try and encourage my own children to participate, It is good to keep an even balance with education and recreational activites. The skills they learn in both areas are valuable.

dalem

"Won't", "can't", whatever. If he's that much of an outlier, keep him out of the way of normal kids.

No, the education system didn't fail this boy. His mother and his father (wherever he is) failed this boy.

-dale

Leader

"In this case the education system has failed this boy"

A conclusion based on inadequate evidence.

Broken

I would have to agree with Dale's conclusion, the parents failed this boy.

However, reaching such a conclusion does not reduce the problem: such children are a burden on the rest of us. Yes, there are some such children who, despite all odds, overcome their crappy home environment and become productive adults. Many do not and have to be cared for or incarcerated the rest of their lives.

Overall, I would say that parental failure is the biggest problem with our education system. Parents who are involved in their kids education, promote the value of education, and set a good example generally have far more sucessful children than parents who do not.

This is compounded by the uniquely American culture where smart kids are labeled "nerds", "geeks", and are socially shunned. Competition is OK in sports, not in the classroom. The Europeans and Asians are not burdened by this bizarre form of political correctness.

Leader

"Parents who are involved in their kids education, promote the value of education, and set a good example generally have far more sucessful children than parents who do not."

I don't think it's a coincidence that parents that physically put up money to pay for their children’s education are more involved. It's all to easy to forget your paying for your child’s education when the government quietly slips the money out of your pay check.

"This is compounded by the uniquely American culture where smart kids are labeled "nerds", "geeks", and are socially shunned."

I don't think its the product of "American culture." Such environment exist almost exclusively in public elementary and high schools.

Broken

Perhaps I should have said "element" of American culture.