A quickie post with a loaded question to be further explored.
This is such a loaded question, but I'm serious.
A mandatory school without options where kids have to go to a place, sit obediently and subject themselves to a cookie cutter schooling seems so mid evil. I could argue it isn't even education.
The meme points out a real problem too. I know plenty of people suffering from being pushed into this debt hell. Society norms seem to say, "You have to."
With all the high-quality options available today, I think the end of this paradigm is near. There is no way it will be able to continue competing with an open market. There will be a lot of gnashing of the teeth from the establishment. There will also be a lot of confusion from people that don't even know they have options as they watch others who use the tools available blow right by them.
I plan to continue exploring this in the future. What do you think?
A good resource: School Sucks Project
Scrolling through my twitter feed, I see this FEE article: Thirteen Other Reasons Why Schools Are Creating a Lost Generation. This is becoming a hot topic.
Schools should be like Finland. I think they are number 1 in education
I wonder what makes them number 1? I had some Finnish friends when I was in high school. Of course it never came up back then. All I remember is that they thought 'mericans were prudes.
In Finland, the day is only 60% as long, they get long breaks, there is no homework or tests until Grade 11. The children are asked a question rather than told an answer. The teaching method is very different. They don't learn individual subjects separately, but rather all subjects (reading, math, science, socials, etc) are mixed together in one topic being looked at. The same teacher stays with them for several years usually.
Also children don't start school until age 7.
All this, and when they finally write there first exams in Grade 11, they score #1 in the world!
That sounds far superior. I had friends from Findland while in high school. They were friends of the family that let us board our horses at their place. Very interesting people. I have lots of stories and anectodes about cultural differences, but I can tell you also that the boys I went to school with seemed way ahead of me/ us. For one thing, they all knew several languages as a matter of course. I miss them.
Doh, I already said that. I'm on mobile, so I didn't see the whole thread. ;)