The IDEAL Educational System

[sVerrine]

So, I stumbled yesterday on this video, please check it out:

and it made me take thoughts. So I was wondering guys, how would you build the ideal educational system?

[Saga]

|| Hmm. That's an interesting topic. To be honest, I also don't agree to some education programs and mainly what they include. Now, of course I don't mean the subjects. Geography, History, Math, Biology, Chemistry and so and on, they are important. After all, this way kids can truly head to the path they want to take on. Some are good at Biology, others are good at History and blah blah. I mean how they are managed. And teachers are 50% responsible how they will 'reach' the kid. Be it as an interesting lesson or as something irritating, it's all in the teacher's hands but not fully. You see, there are 50% more; and I will divide them as 30% would lay in the students' hands, 10% would lay in their parents' hands and the rest but yet most important 10% ..., after all it's up to the SYSTEM. You know that the ministry of education sets 'a goal' for each year. That goal actually is a criteria given as an order from above which teachers (and schools/universities) have to meet. And mind you, this is not a sci-fi fiction, orders really come from above. But yet, it's true that teachers have it hard. They have to follow that criteria and at same time make it interesting for the students.

 

Back then, when I was a stupid kid (lol), I really thought teachers are so damn narrow-minded. And sadly, it wasn't their fault (well, some are born narrow-minded, big deal). They were turned into narrow-minded. Of course, there were/and still are teachers that withstand. Meaning, they really make you want to learn in their classes; probably it's a matter of talent, spirit or...hell I know? Some teachers just naturally fit in the crowd of youth, no matter how old they get.

 

However, I don't think 'happiness' is something you can learn at school. Yes, they can include some stress-relieving classes. Though such are considered Arts, Music and P.E. . But some kids don't find themselves fit in these 'stress-relieving' classes. If we take what they offer as 'a way to reach happiness', some of the subjects can give birth to conflicts. One of the topics mentioned was 'religion'. You see, religion in my opinion is a way to manipulate. And because YO's rules forbid 'religious topics', I don't want to go in depth on that one. I just say, it can create conflicts.

 

I do agree that education has to be improved, for sure! But..., to speak of happiness even when you mention kids or adults, it's a bit..,how to put it, unrealistic. I don't say happiness doesn't exit. I hope I am not misunderstood. It can't be learned, nor taught. It can be only given as a feeling. Relaxation is a way to shake off the stress. But say, how do you shake the stress off some kid that has family issues? The problem doesn't lay in the school fully, but in the family/personal life as well. The stress is received once the kid gets out of school(hell even adults when get out of their work place), so it gets to be some fucked up cycle of their/our life, until they/we say 'enough'.

 

Some kids don't open themselves so easily. When I was a student, I was one of these..pretty mind-open kids, however I kept my own problems and say 'unhappiness' to myself. See? That's what I mean. You can't make everyone happy. And as far as I recall, some schools hire psychologists to lessen some of the students' burden. Mainly 'problematic kids' are sent to meet the school's psychologist. But how you tell one kid is more problematic than other? Only a matter of fist-fight, cursing or not meeting the school's criteria?

 

We speak of an institution with minds, not kids. I see people as 'minds'. Each mind is different, no matter how many similarities it can have with another mind-set. You can't deal with all the same way, but yet you gotta treat them equally. That's why it's unrealistic to make different minds happy with same approach. As long as there are opinions, feelings, lifestyle, personal beliefs (not a must to be connected to religion), there will be happiness and unhappiness. They go along. That's life.

 

So, in other words, the only way to lessen someone's burden once they step into the system is to cut off either their mind-set or feelings (that way you don't need to come up with different approach for each next kid, as it is requested, right?); do you say we gotta be like some managed robots? Probably, that came off too strong as an opinion. Heh. I think kids should learn to balance things. When there is balance, be it in their confidence (not getting too full of themselves, but yet not letting themselves blind to their own qualities), feelings (to control anger, pain, despair and all the rest), point of views (not being led like some brainless f*ck, yet not being narrow-minded), understandings (to avoid misunderstandings and yet to avoid manipulation of the mind; some minds are easily manipulated but I guess this is how the world goes forth..) and so on and forth.

 

I think there is one subject that can do that, but is often overlooked - Psychology (why not add Fun Shui to it?). It's not needed to make kids learn it, it can be practiced in school. You can let kids see real life, find themselves in others' story. No, I don't mean they gotta tell their stories at classes; I mean, psychology has all needed to reveal stress, make you see beyond the current state of yours, raise your chin and so on. Now, I suppose there are different ways to take what 'psychology' can offer. But I stand firm behind my opinion; kids gotta learn balance of mind, you can call it, inner peace.

[sVerrine]

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

 

I was a bit skeptic about keeping Biology, Geography, Physics, History etc. in the 'ideal educational system' because, in my case for instance, all those subject are very difficult for the average students to comprehend, especially in high school where the demands are overly high - this causes the number of kids who graduate high school to be very low (like 50%). In my country, in high school no matter what specialization you choose (IT, Natural Science, Mathematics etc), the number of different subjects that you are obliged to learn remains 16. For example, even if you choose IT, you still have to learn History, Biology, Physics, Literature, Geography and so on, so it is a tremendous amount of information because every teacher insists on studying his/her subject. So you really start to wonder whether you do what you want or not. It is a big problem here, this is why I am still a bit conflicted on this matter.

 

Regarding the teachers, I believe that a good teacher is one who can adjust to any type of mentality and consider everyone's own opinion and not categorize it as 'good' or 'wrong'. Probably the easiest way to say this is... the ideal teacher is the one who can teach and be taught. So open-mindedness it's a key point.

 

I didn't know that an order is given every year for teachers to meet a certain goal... I mean, here, for instance, at schools where the demands are higher that the average, we don't even use textbooks or follow the curriculum ( e.g. I am in 10th grade, but in biology class I learn what is usually thought in 11th grade), so I am not sure that this applies to all countries.

 

I totally agree with you that happiness can't be thought in school, or thought at all. This is a matter that is connected to each specific individual, so yes, it depends on the person's background. But I think that some sort of happiness can be obtained in school if the kids are given the feeling of fulfillment, of being able to achieve something on their own ( or even by team-work). I think this will also help them build self-confidence. But otherwise, yes, it is unrealistic to say that an educational system can provide happiness. It is as you said, there are happy moments and unhappy moments, which go along .

 

Reading your post, I realize that you are right, balance is everything in life. If you know how to filter the information around you, to learn how to dose and interpret it, then yes, you are able to lead a good life. Psychology... I never considered it, but your words makes it look like a valuable subject if taught right. I study Psychology, among other subjects, but I've never looked at it as you've presented it, so yes, it really is a matter of how it is taught to you.

 

Thank you for sharing your opinion .

[Saga]

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

,

And so? (:

I also had 16 subjects in high-school and they were always a year forth than the current grade. I graduated from a certain school with really intense count of classes of Biology and French. Yes, it is true each teacher wants their subject to be your priority - homework/ well learned material.

 

However, if you take off the subjects you mentioned to be hard to get, what do you learn? I don't say you can't make a choice yourself about the school you want to go in, to specialize the thing you want to learn - however, I am sure you've met people with really low common knowledge. Tell me, if you drop Geography from the program, do you think that the 10% people that don't even know where the Great Wall of China is will stay impregnably 10%? The percentage will jump right away.

 

The subjects learned at school are partly for common sense/knowledge for people that don't want to be fully ignorant. Yeah, of course, we all get these days like 'sick of school' or 'I don't want to do my homework'. However, this is called 'lazying around' in university is called 'procrastinating' and later on in one adult's life is called 'tired of'. I am sure you can see the gradation shade of one's negative mind-set up about work that has to be done.

(I don't talk about people with some problems in personal aspect, so let's not pick that topic.)

 

You actually disagree with so many subjects, like I did in the past. And every other student will do - no exception. But once you hit your 20's/30's you will be happy that you studied 16 subjects. Why? Because people in countries where many subjects are dropped depending on your school choice, you will be like 16 steps ahead of them.

 

I agree about the team work at school though. (:

[sVerrine]

Please Register/ Sign In, in order to see the links.

 

I was not speaking of myself as I do not find it difficult to learn at 16 subject, because as the time passed, I learned how to organize my homework and study efficiently. I was actually speaking of the majority who finds it really difficult to keep up with all those subjects. Perhaps I wasn't clear... I am not against the diversity of subjects, I completely agree to have all those in school, however, I am against the quantity of information. For example, in 10th grade, in math class, I learn what in universities you usually learn in your 2nd or 3rd year; or in biology, in 11th grade you literally learn EVERYTHING about anatomy, like what a medical student should know before going to practice; or in Geography, we had to learn all the 194 states in this world, with their capitals and their precise location on a mute map. And imagine these three are just 3 out of 16 subjects. There are those who are capable of keeping up, but there are many more others who aren't.

 

I am really pro for diversity. There are so many people who lack general knowledge about the world ( especially history and geography, if you ask me:)) ), it is sad, really. But the curriculum which is basically functioning on the principle: transform those kinds in some sort of wikipedia.... this is also sad.

[Saga]

There is actually this saying, 'you've got enough on your plate, to worry about someone else's plate'. I assume you don't need explanation. (:

 

This is what life is about. Not saying you can't worry about others, but after all their plate is theirs - your plate is yours.