Understanding a teachers mind

[TrickyOne]

Well I am in grade 10, I must say that it is interesting to hear what teachers talk about, I shall have to show some of my friends this website.

Anyway, here is my question.

Compulsory Education..Do you agree with it?

I think that about 90% of things that you learn in school you will never actually use.

[wig]

Sure you will: Just off the top of my head:
You will

learn how to think about and analyze information you read and hear.
learn personal responsibility
see the world globally
learn how to overcome obstacles
be prepared for life's work whether it be a trade or professional
learn how to communicate intelligently

Those are just a few of my thoughts. I am sure others will come up with more ideas. You may not learn all of them. You may not realize that you are being taught these things. But all of the above and more come with the facts you are learning in school.

[MsCoffeeLover]

Now that I am a teacher, I see education everywhere. The first year, I taught remedial math, and started seeing that math was EVERYWHERE! I had never thought about that before until I became a teacher.

The second year, I taught three preps (math, science, and ss), and again, it is everywhere. Everyone seems to have the specific definition of our content areas and how to use them, when, in all actuality, we had to use all of them to be where we are today.

Give me something, and I can tell you where we use it. I do like wig's answers because they aren't standard answers. There is something to be said for problem solving and critical thinking and conflict resolution and all kinds of things.

We are using learned information from the moment we wake up forget to see it unless someone points it out. Instead of thinking that we don't use anything we are taught in school, begin thinking or asking yourself about the school that is all around you.

[irish223]

Sure you will: Just off the top of my head:
You will

learn how to think about and analyze information you read and hear.
learn personal responsibility
see the world globally
learn how to overcome obstacles
be prepared for life's work whether it be a trade or professional
learn how to communicate intelligently

Those are just a few of my thoughts. I am sure others will come up with more ideas. You may not learn all of them. You may not realize that you are being taught these things. But all of the above and more come with the facts you are learning in school.

I love this, too. In fact, if you don't mind wig, I will print this out and post it at school. It's the perfect answer to: "Why do I have to learn this?"
:)

[Chef Dave]

In the years before compulsory education existed, girls learned how to become homemakers from their mothers. Boys often followed their father's trade. In other words, if the father was a blacksmith, his son would often become a blacksmith. If the father was a farmer, his son would become a farmer.

Some children also learned new trades by apprenticing to a guild. Guild entry fees were usually quite steep.

Children who came from "good families" and who were reasonably clean and well spoken, could sometimes find entry level positions as servants.

Unless you came from a very well to do family, children did not have the option of staying home and doing nothing.

During the industrial revolution of the 19th century, child labor was quite extensive. Many of the children who worked in the factories never left their jobs. Without an education, there was nothing else they were qualified to do, so most of them spent their lives working 10+ hour days.

Compulsory education is regarded by the United Nations as a basic human right. It gives children the knowledge foundation they need to pursue nearly any career they might have an interest in.

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/empty.jpg
19th century textile factory

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/hughestown2.jpg
19th century coal miners

[TrickyOne]

Those are good points, But I think that if the student was actually able to choose what they want to learn then the system would be much better.

For example Science, Biology, Physics, if you are not thinking of going into a trade that uses any of these things then it is a waste of time learning them. Your time would be better spent learning something that will help you be able to do what you want in the future.

[wig]

I understand what you are saying. Math and Science were never my favorite subjects and I never went beyond the required classes

But TrickyOne: How do you know you know you won't need or end up wanting those subjects? My son did not want to learn a foreign language at all! It ended up opening many doors for him. He spent two years in Spain and semester in France and a semester in Quebec. He now teaches Spanish and French.

Exposure to many subject areas is important. Truthfully, I don't know too many high school students who really know what they want to do with their lives during the first couple years.

[wig]

I love this, too. In fact, if you don't mind wig, I will print this out and post it at school. It's the perfect answer to: "Why do I have to learn this?"
:)

Gee! I am honored! :D Help yourself! I'll copywrite this at a later date. :p

[anyalee]

I agree with Tricky. I think that we should have a large test at the end of 8th grade (like many European schools) to determine whether a student will go into an academic track or into a trades track....or perhaps to just quit school altogether and get to work. Students have a hard time understanding why school is important unless we are specifically studying the topic in my Geography class. A tiered school system like this would lead to better academic students and happier tech students.

[Bananas]

Why would a school system determine what grade of occupation a person will have to pursue for the duration of the lifetime? Plenty of people overcome obstacles to attend college. Others change their mind at some point and realize the value of education.

Why would a country want to peg a person to a slot with the projection of their entire future? Students sometimes have no clue what they really want to do until college. Just because a person has the intellect for specific professional occupations does not mean that their heart will be in that field. Some adults would make great scientists or doctors, but they love working with their hands in repairing cars.

[Bananas]

TrickyOne,

If you start to understand this teacher's mind, you might be able to clue in Mr. Bananas as he has been trying for over 33 years. :)

[MsCoffeeLover]

Education offers that "something more" that so many people are seeking.

It is great to have an idea or an interest, but we often don't really know unless we have a variety of classes. What may interest a person in high school may not interest them always. In college, you were supposed to pick a major after two years, and even then you can change your major.

What held my interest in college isn't at all the field I got a job in. Even then, I have changed careers a couple of times and returned to school a few more times.

With education, you have options--even if you don't always know what they are--education gives you more options!!

There is also a personal growth that goes along with life and education. I went into college one person and came out an entirely different person (but in a good way).

[wig]

I agree with Tricky. I think that we should have a large test at the end of 8th grade (like many European schools) to determine whether a student will go into an academic track or into a trades track....or perhaps to just quit school altogether and get to work. Students have a hard time understanding why school is important unless we are specifically studying the topic in my Geography class. A tiered school system like this would lead to better academic students and happier tech students.

I disagree. Maybe I have unusual children. But if my oldest had taken that test he would have ended up on a college track (which he would have hated) because he has an IQ of 137 and ALWAYS does well on tests. However, he has always loved working with his hands. He went into construction and now owns his own company building luxury mountain homes. To put a child on a track at the end of 8th grade is terrible IMO.

[TookieWilliam]

cumpulsory education is the best thing ever created for education in general, and the worst thing ever done.

Best thing ever done because of the pictures, worst thing because of the riots at the LA school