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This philosophy - education mantra -- came out about 20 years
ago and has been tried in various ways since. Nothing
mentioned is new.

On 7/01/14, Hunter wrote:
> I hope I'm not the only person here that realizes the
current education system is
> useless and a TOTAL waste of time for all of our students.
Often the blame is put
> on the teachers (which in some cases is absolutely valid),
but have people ever
> thought that maybe it's the curriculum?
>
> Education is not just a delivery system (like it is now),
it's supposed to be about
> teaching kids how to apply the concepts of the subjects to
real life applications.
> It's not about trying to remember & repeat. Tell me how
long your memory can
> hold onto information you find boring? Exactly, not long at
all. The chance of a
> student actually 100% remembering the things taught to
him/her, is slim to
> nothing. Instead of trying to teach the technicals to them,
lets teach the
> technicals, but with an emphasis on how to apply these
CONCEPTS & the process
> to real world problems.
>
> Here are the current problems with the education system:
>
> 1) There is no creativity & does not allow for individual
uniqueness
>
> 2) We deal with conditioned learning, the students can not
think for themselves!
> They're being taught what to think, instead of them finding
the answers on their
> own.
>
> 3) It's BORING, students HATE going to school! Lets change
that! You're not
> going to make it into a place they love to go to, but at
least lets make it
> enjoyable!
>
> 4) There are no classes that apply to different problems in
the real world.
>
> 5) After freshman year in high school, a lot of the
information is recycled from
> previous years!
>
> 6) Tests are way too standardized and determine whether the
student passes or
> not. They should HELP with learning, not DETERMINE the
student's fate.
>
> 7) Kids are not taught how to fail, and how to take risks.
They are scared to fail!
>
> 8) We try to teach kids while they deal with temptation
from technology.
> EMBRACE the technology, allow it in the class rooms, use it
as a tool for learning!
> We live in the 21st century, we have to adapt to the social
changes!
>
> 9) We tell students how to live in a democracy, instead of
having them actually
> participate in a democracy.
>
> ---Solutions (Open to revision & advice)---
>
> 1) Allow kids to work from their own point of view. Let
them learn in their own
> unique way.
>
> 2) Have them do more hands-on learning, labs, and
exercises. Make them draw
> their own conclusions & interact with the exercise to find
the correct answer.
> Don't just tell them what they need to know, make them
figure out how to find
> out what they need to know. For example: In math, don't
just give them a
> problem to work out, give them a visual of a real world
problem (like filling up a
> glass of water), then ask them how long it takes to fill it
up. Make them ask
> questions, intrigue their curiosity, and make them think
about what they need to
> figure out in order to solve the problem. They need to
figure out the dimensions
> of the glass, how much water is coming out of the faucet
per second, etc.
>
> 3) Let them have classes that pertain to their interests.
Less standardization, and
> more personalization! Why do you think they're bored at
school? Because they're
> being force fead stuff they don't care about. Let them
expand on their passion,
> allow them to study what ever it is their motivated about,
embrace their curiosity
> & allow them to feed that curiosity. Curiosity is the #1
thing that will promote
> learning, why are we shunning it?! Allow the learning to be
open to their
> uniqueness, allow for them to learn in their own way.
>
> 4) Make classes that apply to the world they will live in,
in just a few years. Such
> as, a class on taxes, opening & maintaining a bank account,
job interviews,
> parenting from a psychological standpoint (how different
tactics impact the
> development of a child), managing money, nutrition &
physicality, etc.
>
> 5) Allow students to take classes that pertain to them &
what they want to do. In
> high school, they will be graduating in a few years, and
most kids have NO idea
> what they want to do. Why not allow for students to take a
path that will help
> them find what they want to do while still in high school,
such as them taking
> courses towards their future career (and will make up most
of their curriculum),
> again, feed that curiosity! If they change their mind on
what they want to do,
> fine! They're young and still learning, and they're still
under the roof of their
> parents, what better time than to change your mind instead
of when you're off to
> college? (Yes, there will always be exceptions to this).
>
> 6) Tests should help the teachers know what the child is
having trouble with, not
> whether or not the student will advance to the next
grade/class. If they fail a test
> why is it that it fails them in the class, and makes them
scared to fail? Instead, if
> they fail a test, help them with their problems & get them
to figure out what they
> did wrong and to get them to think critically about how to
correct the mistakes.
> This is where you teach kids how to fail, how to mistakes,
and then how to be
> able to look at failures from a learning perspective in
order to make it better
> next time, not from a perspective of being scared to fail.
>
> 7) The above question pretty much answers this. Allow kids
to take risks & to
> fail without them being afraid of it. Look at all
entrepreneurs & people who have
> significantly impacted the world, do you think they were
scared to fail? Sure, but
> not to the point of where it inhibited them from trying.
How many of you have
> maybe wanted to pursue your passion, or a great idea, but
was scared to try?
> Probably many. Lets change that! Lets take that trait out
of our children and
> teach them how to embrace failing as a learning experience,
and not teach them
> to be scared of failing to the point they don't want to try
and take the risk. Teach
> kids how to fail, by getting them to fail.
>
> 8) Allow a trust between the teacher & the student to use
their cell phones
> during class. A trust that the student will use it
moderately in an adequate
> manner. When abusing of that trust starts to happen, THAT
is when disciplinary
> actions or compromises can take place. They suffer from
severe temptation from
> technology, just allow it! In other cases, use it as a
teaching tool! Have them get
> on their phones & find a way to incorporate it into the
lesson. Let them get on
> their favorite apps or websites, and find a way to
incorporate it into the lesson.
> We are in the 21st century, it's time to adapt.
>
> 9) Allow the school to be ran in a manner similar to a
democracy. Allow trust
> between the students and the governing body. You want to
teach kids how to be
> good members of society, and how to support a government of
democracy? This
> is how you do it. Make it adequate. Obviously they are
children and don't fully
> know how to behave correctly, but make it adequate to where
they have a say in
> their education and how things are ran. As they increase in
age from elementary
> to high school, increase the power they have. Why do we
feel we should run
> things that we think are best, when they are the students
that are actually the
> ones learning? They are not robots, we don't just program
to a
> schedule/curriculum that we think is best. They are humans
that need to have a
> say & make things better for themselves. They are the ones
in the learning
> process, they know how to make it work better than we do.
>
> --- What The Objectives of a School Should Be---
>
> Bring creativity back into schools. There need not be
punishment for failing &
> mistakes. Mistakes are simply just kids trying to do things
form their point of
> view, who are we to tell them why are wrong in doing that?
This allows to create
> leaders & innovators, instead of kids who are taught what
to think. They will now
> think for themselves and take advantage of their unique
abilities and creativity
> that they are born with. We need to recognize their talents
and let them expand
> on those talents.
>
> Create students that know how to think divergently, outside
the box, and how to
> recognize & solve problems. Education is not about just
remembering and
> regurgitating, it is about learning concepts of problem
solving, and being able to
> use concepts taught in school to apply in the real world.
Education is about
> inspiring one's mind, not just filling their head. The
objective is to intrigue
> students, get them curious, and to ask questions.
>
> Look at all majorly successful people and look at what they
have in common.
> Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines), Elon Musk (SpaceX,
PayPal, Tesla, & Solar City),
> Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Mark Zuckerburg
(Facebook), Henry
> Ford (Ford Motors), etc. What do these people have in
common? They all have the
> ability to recognize a problem, and think critically to
solve that problem. Do you
> think it matters what they got on their 12 grade calculus
test? No. They all were
> not afraid to fail nor to take the risk. They all ventured
into the darkness to try
> something new, and to take a chance at creating something
big. This, along with
> the general curriculum, is what we need to teach our
children.

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