What are some flaws you see in the school system that should be fixed?

[Titans08Mariota 763]

It's pretty apparent that for a lot of people, the traditional school system just doesn't work. What are some things you'd like to see be implemented into the schools?

[Feather Scribbles 194]

Imagine if you have two kids. One is much more interested in (and excels at) mathematics, and the other excels at English and History. And yet, both kids are taught both subjects equally. (With most of the info not being relevant...) Why not have the kid who excels at mathematics be taught more of that subject and the kid who excels at English be taught more in that particular field?

Also, I was reading an amazing book, and one part talks about the ideal class size, if anyone wants to hear it. It's gonna take me FOREVER to type, so I want to know if anyone is interested.

It's 18-19 students. If you want to know why, just ask.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Feather Scribbles

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

If I got started on this subject I would never stop. Needless to say... a lot.

To keep on topic though and post something, the number one thing they need to do is listen to the teachers actually dealing with the class rooms more instead of ignoring them and letting boardrooms with people who have not seen a class room since the Mayflower sailed do all the thinking, talking and making all the decisions.

[Feather Scribbles 194]

And here is the reason the traditional school system does not work:

Centuries ago, the education system was smart enough to plan ahead and begin teaching future generations less about agriculture, and move them into the inevitable future of manufacturing. And it worked beautifully. Only decades ago however, it was realized that we are now moving into an age of innovation. However, instead of planning ahead and changing the school system to fit this innovative period that we are now in (then again, how could they predict the gadgets we have today?), they doubled down on the traditional method of teaching kids how to work in a manufacturing business, which isn't as efficient today.

TED Talks talk a lot about this issue.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Feather Scribbles

[Mystic Brush 102]

the "no tolerance bullying thing" they preach and preach about it but, in reality they do absolutely nothing about it.

when i was a kid, i was literally pushes out of my chair because some guy wanted it. nothing was done about it.

[Feather Scribbles 194]

This video covers a lot:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BnC6IABJXOI

Oh, and judging our kids intelligence and skill by their grades. Why not measure their learning by the amount of things they learned that is relevant?

Edited March 28, 2018 by Feather Scribbles

[Scrubbed user 3,415]

They need to get rid of standardized testing. You don't learn anything, only what's going to be on some state test that determines whether or not the school is going to get money next year. Every year for me was the same thing was "taught" with only one or two new things. A lot of it I haven't used since graduating.

[Prospekt 10,984]

Teachers' voices aren't listened to. They can have brilliant lesson ideas but that'll all get thrown out the window when the state gives them a Common Core book and makes it authoritative. Students are no longer taught for learning or competence. They are taught for standardized tests that are relics of No Child Left Behind. Basically, what @GrimGrimoire and @Vulon Bii said. Oh, and have you noticed how much the United States has continued to lag behind other nations in subjects like science and math? Clearly, these reforms across the board haven't worked.

7 minutes ago, Mystic Brush said:

the "no tolerance bullying thing" they preach and preach about it but, in reality they do absolutely nothing about it.

when i was a kid, i was literally pushes out of my chair because some guy wanted it. nothing was done about it.

Amen. I was bullied too, not so much physically, but emotionally. Nobody cared. They had all these "anti-bullying" programs that were all talk and no action. My little brother nearly killed himself last year because of the bullying. And because private schools are expensive, he can't leave the public school district that seems to implement the same failing policies in every school. He's trapped and the most the district can provide for his emotional issues is an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that barely changes anything for him.

Sorry, I kinda went into rant mode there.

[Feather Scribbles 194]

6 minutes ago, Vulon Bii said:

They need to get rid of standardized testing. You don't learn anything, only what's going to be on some state test that determines whether or not the school is going to get money next year. Every year for me was the same thing was "taught" with only one or two new things. A lot of it I haven't used since graduating.

Even the person who invented standardized testing said, "These standardized tests are too crude to be used!"

Just now, Everyone said:

Teachers' voices aren't listened to. They can have brilliant lesson ideas but that'll all get thrown out the window when the state gives them a Common Core book and makes it authoritative. Students are no longer taught for learning or competence. They are taught for standardized tests that are relics of No Child Left Behind. Basically, what @GrimGrimoire and @Vulon Bii said. Oh, and have you noticed how much the United States has continued to lag behind other nations in subjects like science and math? Clearly, these reforms across the board haven't worked.

Amen. I was bullied too, not so much physically, but emotionally. Nobody cared. They had all these "anti-bullying" programs that were all talk and no action. My little brother nearly killed himself last year because of the bullying. And because private schools are expensive, he can't leave the public school district that seems to implement the same failing policies in every school. He's trapped and the most the district can provide for his emotional issues is an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that barely changes anything for him.

Sorry, I kinda went into rant mode there.

And then there is Pink Shirt Day. Sorry, but that isn't helping.

Look, bullying will never stop, as differences in opinion is one thing that makes us human. But by doing the talk and not doing the walk, we have made Pink Shirt Day an excuse to just sell merchandise. It has become like Valentines Day.

[Star Petal 215]

Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump are some flaws in our school system we need to get fixed. Maybe after that, emulate a lot of what they are doing in Finland and other countries. 

[Titans08Mariota 763]

Will someone please tell me how often they have used things like 4x + 65 = 93 in day to day life?

[Pr0m4NV14 837]

The sexism of dress codes.

[Titans08Mariota 763]

3 minutes ago, Pr0m4NV14 said:

The sexism of dress codes.

I wouldn't call it sexism, just standardization. But I get where you're coming from.

[Here No Longer 5,270]

• Sexist Dress Codes should not be a thing. Period. I know this is a school-by-school issue, but nonetheless it had to be addressed.
• Teachers should be able to actually discipline children instead of giving them a slap on the hand. Bullies need to actually get reprimanded for their actions.
• Standardized Testing. All it does is teach children to parrot everything. Also, the only reason you're taking them is so the school can make money. That's messed up.
• Betsy DeVos, because I'm basically 100% sure she has no idea what she's even doing there.
• Common Core, ESPECIALLY Math. It teaches children nothing and in fact holds back smart kids. I know because I've had to deal with it. I got C's in Algebra because of the crud. Yes, the same guy who got into Calculus and had  A's only could get C's in Algebra. Probably why US children perform below the OECD average in Math.
• Economics and History Textbooks SUCK. They're biased towards neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism (especially bad in Economics textbooks).

Edited March 28, 2018 by Whomst'd've

[Twiggy 2,965]

Talking specifically about America here, it is a large country. As such, there is no one American culture or way of life. Ones culture affects how one goes about their daily lives, including education. Having a federal standard, and in some cases even a state standard, on how a child should be educated is harmful imo. Educational standards should be set by local government, as the local government would have a better understanding of the specific children they are educating, and would likely have a better chance at giving them the education that they need.

Also schools should offer classes to help prepare students for when the real world kicks them right in the crotch. A class that teaches how to prepare a resume, conducts mock interviews, teaches you how to file taxes, ect. would go a long way.

And everything that @Whomst'd've said as well.

 

Edited March 29, 2018 by Twiggy

[Kaidyn 212]

Start times. Getting up early to go to school was honestly rough for someone like me who's not a morning person. It's a more minor thing compared to what has already been mentioned but studies have shown that even starting an hour later could potentially help with student performance.

[Appley Hooves 136]

Gifted kids being "adopted" by teachers who then neglect the rest of the class that kid's in. Had that happen so many times. Put them in a different school that's suited to their skills, the rest of us might suck compared to them but not being taught stuff to further one person and a teacher's ego? No thanks.

[TBD 17,228]

Removing  the old teaching style and replace it with an  "open minded" teaching skills. That can cover various way students can enhance informations and enjoy learning. 

Edited March 29, 2018 by TBD

[Once In A Blue Moon 894]

On 28/03/2018 at 5:31 AM, Titans08Mariota said:

Will someone please tell me how often they have used things like 4x + 65 = 93 in day to day life?

Most people solve problems like that every day - just in a rather hazy way, as they don't understand how to structure the problem. Certainly such skills are vital to perform even the most rudimentary analysis of one's finances (concepts such as compound interest, linear depreciation and so on are all applied using mathematical methods as 'common sense' is poorly suited to such problems.) A lot of foundation-level maths is to provide the tools to work in a structured environment that humans are not naturally inclined towards - what is often missing is the context and the guidance on how to apply these tools in the real world. 

 

Anyway, I can't speak for the US system, and as someone who was well-suited to conventional modern methods I will naturally be inclined to favour existing systems, so with those points in mind my defence of at least the concept of the current system is predictable and not worth much to those that take issue with it. Having a measure by which all students can be measured is incredibly useful, and in a world in which STEM* is king having everyone taught a minimum level of mathematics and sciences (and, I would argue, coding) as well as English (or local language - and ideally at least one more) means that everyone can interact with modern systems in an efficient manner - and their grades indicate how well they can do so. It's a bit 'one-size-fits-all', but if there's one thing that I would say that I have learnt from 'life experience' rather than academia it's that 'one-size-fits-all' is often the best solution at scale (you can have any colour so long as it's black) and that standardisation is a wonderful thing. CAVEAT that I have very limited experience of education from the teaching side of things and no official training in how to teach. So pinch of salt and all that.

To move on to the main question regarding the flaws, I would say that teachers need (and currently lack) is the space to adapt - enough freedom to tailor the education to the class, but not so much that they get a radically different education or that a bad teacher can run the whole thing off the rails. The other, which kind of ties into it, would be how standardisation is applied - there is almost certainly a better way to ensure that children all receive a given level benefit from education, and the emphasis on outcome, although (probably) a necessary evil, could be scaled back.  

 

18 hours ago, Twiggy said:

Also schools should offer classes to help prepare students for when the real world kicks them right in the crotch. A class that teaches how to prepare a resume, conducts mock interviews, teaches you how to file taxes, ect. would go a long way.

It's a good idea, but I've never seen it done well. I can remember classes (thankfully they were fairly infrequent) in which a teacher tried to teach constructing a CV, understand the difference between a debit card and a credit card, understanding body language and so on. Whilst the debit / credit card thing would have been useful if I didn't already know it, most of it boiled down to being told about things but not really understanding them - which is exactly the problem that a lot of people complain about. Personally I think that that sort of thing falls more on the family than the education system (I was learning to cook from the moment I was able to understand the concept of following instructions) although if there were a way to provide a consistent level of education in such matters then it would be an excellent idea.

 

If at any point you have mistaken my vague collection of thoughts on the matter as 'well-informed' or 'educated' then please apply a heaped tablespoon of salt to any suggestion I've made. I'm a mathematician, not a teacher or an education analyst.

*Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics

[Anonymous Old User Who Has Left 599]

Two things:

Stop discriminating against those who are different (girls with "boyish" haircuts, boys with long hair, girls who wear hijab, etc.)

Stop pandering to LGBT crybabies. You a transgender boy and the teacher says "Good job girls?" Deal with it by kindly and politely asking to be addressed as a boy. You don't need to get the teacher fired through complaining to the headmaster about "misgendering".

I can assure you these are not jokes THEY ARE REAL. Watch:

 

 

Edited March 30, 2018 by Shabb3r

[碇 シンジン 27,427]

i think the education system here is pretty decent though in america i've heard its pretty awful