Views On School/Standard Education System

[Zerb Games]

TL;DR also I am sick...

Hey guys! I am currently in high school, and I am both hating and loving it. Here's the thing I am really good at all academic classes really, there's nothing that I don't have somewhat of a strong suit in. However, I don't find I learn anything from these classes, It's almost as if the SmartBoard is the teacher sometimes, and all we do is regurgitate information onto a piece of paper and never learn the practicality of that.

Another thing that I dislike about school is the grading system, being from a game development/engineering background (kinda) I don't really ever think of anything as a failure, I only think of it as a way to learn, the process of trial and error, that's truly what life is. In school they seem to think life is more about 25/30, or 22/25 it's not it's trial and error. There's nothing bad about getting things wrong, yet they make it seem so bad, and forbidden, yet never teach us how to properly learn from that, only put us down because we got a good grade.

What do you guys think about school?

 

[Mercerenies]

You should probably specify your country, as education systems vary greatly from country to country.

Over here in the United States, I felt the same way in high school. The reason our high schools tend to falter is something called the No Child Left Behind Act, which essentially incentivizes easier coursework in public schools in order to make sure every student passes, since schools are measured based on failing students. Now, for struggling students, that's great. But most of us on this forum are reasonably intelligent individuals who will find the easier work stifling. It's worth noting (as that article mentions) that NCLB was replaced last year, so it's possible things are getting better, but many schools are still configured for the era where "make sure everyone passes", not critical thinking or actual learning, was the primary motivator in designing the curriculum.

 

[Jabbers]

I am pretty cynical about traditional school systems. It isn't true that everybody learns in the same way, and a lot of schooling in the west is still derived from a factory model that has been mercilessly criticised. Students have ended up learning how to try and pass exams instead of being involved more passionately in the material, and sometimes that means that they appear academically successful but struggle to demonstrate the knowledge in practical application. I also think exams are an incredibly unnatural way to try and assess knowledge, and some people test poorly and can never prove themselves that way, but I suppose there are few alternatives to assessing mass groups of people.

In the past few years I've learned of alternate school models and seen more pop up where I live, that favour open plan classes, mixed age groups, and letting students work in their own way with the assistance of teachers instead of being dictated, and allow students to pick courses much like at a university instead of being prescribed a rigid learning plan. There are primary school versions or this, and secondary school versions with more flexibility, and I attended a form of the latter at the end of the 2000s which I can only describe as being like a Google headquarters of schools. You were allowed to work on individual projects too, and I spent a couple hours a day using GameMaker at school and finding ways to have it assessed e.g writing a design plan for English credit or getting IT credits for demonstrating how to use a sound editor or something.

I think there is probably still work to be done to perfect a model that favours greater freedom and nurtures individualistic needs, but once you experience a modern school model you realise how poor and out of date the old one is. I think it is unlikely that the way children are schooled today will last much longer.

 

[Alex Lyons]

There's a lot of issues with the public school system in America. Here's my issues:

Attendance:
There's a lot of students who want to be farmers, as it runs in the family. Why are they being fed unrelated stuff when all they want to do is grow crops? If school is not for them, then they shouldn't be required by the law to have school. It's not easy to homeschool your children here and so little people are actually doing it. There should be more options for schooling based on that child's learning ability and mindset.
Standardized Tests:
Ban the hell out of them! A number does not determine success, but that's what so many students today believe based on these things. They also are a way for the government to keep an "evil eye" on the schools, which requires teachers to cram in information the week before the tests so they don't lose necessary funding.
Math:
Instead of solving random formulas and being taught, "this symbol means this, do this when you see it", we should be taught how to make equations and how mathematics shapes our world. Students hate math only hate it because we're forced to cram all this random information in, do long assignments, and hopefully pass the class. Students feel like they're forced to learn it. Students should go to class wanting to learn math. Grades should be based on understanding the concept, not getting everything perfect.
Science:
Memorizing the periodic table, being able to balance formulas, and understanding the laws of motion: we should learn why we're supposed to know this, not just how. What's being taught in Science and Mathematics is crucial in today's world, but students today never understand that. Labs also should be done just as much as lectures and worksheets, as hands-on experience is the driving force of education.
English:
Knowledge is passed on through literature and research. The issue is that we don't want to read that book or read that article. Students should be encouraged to do that, but not forced. Students shouldn't be taught to comprehend literature the same way. They should also be encouraged to think, feel, and create in their own way. Mr. Keating from Dead Poet's Society is a marvelous example of how to properly do an English class. Everyone expresses their views and passions in different ways, but too often English classes only focus on one medium.
History:
Learning history is important. As George Santayana said, "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." We learn all this stuff, whether it be the Roman Empire, or the American Revolution, or the Fall of the Berlin Wall, but we're so little often told why we're supposed to know this. History is also something that can easily be altered to suit political correctness, and that is dangerous. The government should not interfere with what history is being taught.
Life Skills:
Remember taking a class in high school that taught you how to cook, garden, do taxes, handle insurance, use a mortgage to acquire a house, and survive in the event of an emergency? ME NEITHER! The closest thing to this kind of class in my high school was "Consumer Math", but it wouldn't fit in my computer-automated schedule when "Child Development" did! A year-long class that teaches these very things should be required!

These videos really hit the nail on the head.

 

[HammerOn]

You should probably specify your country, as education systems vary greatly from country to country.

Statistics are the only thing that vary in traditional education systems.

Standard education and this system that prioritize tests turned students in memorization machines. Their main goal isn't learning anymore and what parents and society expects are good scores. This is also the most daunting and uninteresting task in their school life thus it's avoided, handled inefficiently, cause of stress, and most of the information acquired is quickly forgotten.
There is a lot of research in better learning but traditional school refuses to chance. In my country when the subject is education system, it always end in "more resources and policies to help school and students" throughout the path of that misled goal.
It can get investment from the government, fancy devices, and structure but the most import aspects and starting point to develop a person, mindset and methods, never change.

An example is how people are unable to learn other languages although it's a common subject. The study of foreign languages is rigid and inefficiently. I had 7 years of English classes from elementary to high school and all I learned was verb to be, translation and basic robotic speech. Even at this level, it was just a superficial rote memorized information used to fill out my English tests. I and most of our colleagues never thought we would be able to get to a proficient level.
I only started to learn it after I graduated and looked for better, natural, and efficient ways. It didn't take long to get to a good level and I'm studying other languages was well. It didn't take buckets of money or stressful long study section but a change in mindset and good methods.
Humans are no good with numbers but math classes focus on calculation and exact results. It only takes a few decimal places to slow down and confuses you with the most basic operations. It's something that only machines are good, fast, and created for. They should instead focus in concepts and visualization. For example, the knowledge that cosine and sine are functions that can map an circle and a circle have an infinite seamless surface is a more useful than recalling that cos(pi/3) = 0.5. This concept is what enable you to create and resolve a wide range of things while letting a machine handle calculations.

No information is given about what the purpose of what is being learned which helps your brain rank it as useless and disposable. Even assignments are theoretical instead of practical.

So much time spent with it and so little result.
Thanks to all these points and much more, I can't help but think the mandatory school is incredibly inefficient as a learning system.