I can't stand schools.

[Will H]

Today, I tried to catch up on a program called 'The Classroom Experiment', which is about new and radical ideas for teaching children in basic subjects at around GCSE level. Having gone through nearly the whole system, currently starting my first year at Aston University, I thought that it would be an interesting watch and a reflection on my past decade or so. After 15 minutes, I couldn't watch any more.

 

 

It wasn't the fault of the program, it was an interesting premise and the way it was being presented was of good quality, but it was myself. The thought of having gone though so many years forced to sit in a stuffy classroom listening to things that today I couldn't even start to remember was genuinely repulsive, and I felt physically sick about it. Years have been wasted, a huge proportion of my life kowtowing to the bureaucrats that I neither knew nor understood at the time. I have a capacity to learn, but also a capacity to forget about things that haven't been important to me. And after finishing my A2 exams, I think I've forgotten nearly everything that I learned in the classroom and remembered hundreds of orders of magnitudes of information I have learned outside it, be that through my own unaided studies in things that have interested me or through other life experiences. For me, classrooms, places where I was supposed to receive plenty of information, seems to me now as places completely devoid of it.

 

For example, I have terrible handwriting. But I've only ever needed handwriting for two things: Notes to myself where typing would be inappropriate, and school. In the first, I don't judge myself on my own handwriting so quality doesn't matter. The second isn't applicable in the outside world. On the other hand, I've taught myself to touch-type and spell with reasonable consistency because it's a faster and more reliable method of conveying text to other people. I've even asked at school if there is anything that I can do to improve on my typing techniques to only be rebuffed with 'Sorry, we don't teach typing because the GCSEs and A levels in IT aren't held in high regard by universities'. It just goes to show the mentality of those who tried to teach me.

 

I feel that thoughts of dropping out of the system were being repressed as I was constantly told how I'd never get anywhere in life if I dropped out. Even if I went further in school, I was only met by the same warning signs, strongly implying that my efforts of keeping in the system since I was last warned would be null and void. It was a deeply psychological intrusion on my ideas of leaving and doing what I wanted to do during those years. At no point do I think I was ever presented with a real choice to leave. None of this was worth it to me personally. I am not a material kind of person, all I want to do is learn about things I want to learn about, and discover more in the process. Getting a decent job is not important to me at all, and I only really see that now that I'm in the relative plateau of the first year of university. Only now I want to stay here because university is all about personal research instead of being told what to learn, I just wish I could have told myself about this 10 years earlier.

 

Does anybody feel the same way about this?

[Zierro]

Does anybody feel the same way about this?

 

Yes, completely. (Sorry for the not-so-constructive post, but you already covered everything I would've said. :-P)

[Surprise]

Off topic slightly but that school is a dumping ground, anybody who fails to get into a decent school in the surrounding area gets shipped there by the local council. They tried to send me there unfortunately they failed. :pray:

 

Onto topic. State education, like much of English public sector, is filled to the brim of bureaucracy. KS1 to KS4 is spoon fed learning, you can sit there for 13 years and not do an ounce of work and still end up with relatively, "respectable"GCSEs result much like I did and many other of my peer's. Personally I cannot comment on KS5 (AS/A2 level) as I have only just started it however it seems to distance it self slightly and towards more of a university still learning situation though still heavily spoon fed at times.

 

Though I feel more sorry for the teachers than I do us the students. They all have a great interest and knowledge of their subject and have then faced this brick wall of dumbed down tutoring which they cannot pass as the school see no "bonus" factor in it. However nothing will ever be changed as governments cannot see their own faults even if it is blatantly shoved in front of their pompous faces.

[Danqazmlp]

I too watched the program and it was very good. The different techniques did work. However, I think they would be less effective with pupils of an older age, such as in years 10 and 11. I myself have too gone through school and on to university, but when I look back I can appreciate what school did. Schooling isn't about making every pupil in the country a genius. The country would break if that were to happen. Its job is to get everybody up to a standard at which they can then springboard into their own route, whether it be further education or straight into jobs. I will admit that often many pupils do not get to that standard, but the blame cannot be wholly aimed a the schools.

 

This topic is much to broad to put into writing, but the factors include home life, parenting in early life and pre schools.

 

The problem with the program however is the TV cameras. The pupils were not themselves. If they had gone back a year later and seen the results, I would expect them to be different. The pupils would not have acted out, sworn, been as grumpy as they would have been if the cameras had not been on them and the results going on television.

 

 

I personally beleive that as with the program, learning needs different ways to engage pupils, but we do also need much much much more ability for teachers to punish pupils. Currently they have no power over shouting, which after a certain age does nothing. Without proper parenting and respect being taught at home, the only fall-back is at school, which now also cannot happen. This throws people out into the world after school who do not know how to respect others, do not know how to live in society with others and work.

 

 

Edit: On the handwriting, it is the only way currently for schools to go. During examinations/coursework, schools cannot possibly afford laptops and software which enables pupils to do work but nothing else (such as going on other programs during an exam). They need pupils to write exams as the only cost effective way. This then needs good handwriting for it to be legible for whoever marks it.

[aeternitatis]

I agree. I'm so over high school, next year should be great.

[Surprise]

 

The problem with the program however is the TV cameras. The pupils were not themselves. If they had gone back a year later and seen the results, I would expect them to be different. The pupils would not have acted out, sworn, been as grumpy as they would have been if the cameras had not been on them and the results going on television.

 

 

Trust me, they will be worse.

 

Hertswood in the nicest way is a [cabbage]hole.

[Shiny]

For me, school is all about the skills you learn. Sure, in History you may cover black civil rights in the USA, and then go on to forget it, but the process of learning you undertook, and the skills of research you used in perhaps doing an assignment are what counts.

[i_love_burritos]

I liked my schooling.

 

Must be very different here in Australia to the UK and US. Maybe it's because I went to a good school and had good friends, but I really liked school. Especially my last 2 years. My teachers were mostly helpful but I do admit the work could get tedious - that's only because there was too much to do, not because I didn't find it interesting.

[Racheya]

School has always been crap for me. Crap schools. Crap kids. Just... crap.

 

I've breezed through things doing the minimum and never revising. Getting A's and A*'s at GCSE with no revision. I listened in class sometimes. I fell asleep in class sometimes. School will always be memorable, but what I actually learned won't be.

 

I don't remember very much about what I learned, I remember far more about the actual teachers that I liked, the places I used to hang around and the people I knew - be they friend or foe.

 

But if you take a bunch of kids like the sort that went to my crap school, you're NOT going to get very far with them. You can try and engage but there's so many other factors than just being a good teacher or having a good schooling system.

 

In my opinion, it's just something that you go through. You get through school and hope that you reach the other end relatively intact.

[tripsis]

I think maybe the only thing that school has helped me with is becoming a pretty good writer. Learning how to structure an essay and how to write an argument isn't something that can just be forgotten. But even then, I'd probably only give half of that credit to actual school and the other half to the fact that I read a lot. I did have some great writing teachers in high school with extremely high standards. But what seems silly is that now that I'm in university, the standards seem lower. So essays that I would write now in university would be deemed "terrific" whereas in high school they'd probably only be seen as "okay" or "pretty good." But looking beyond school, I can't see how being able to write an essay with an argument will ever help me. I can't imagine doing that in a setting outside of school.

 

I always do the minimum amount of work to get by. I have never had a class where I truly enjoyed the information that I was learning, and as a result, I have almost always forgotten it as soon as I finished the test. For me, school is really a means to an end. The process isn't important to me, it's just something I have to go through to get a decent job.

[Dizzle229]

I learn more useful information from The Daily show than from school. That said, I also hate how the school spends money. I don't get an Agenda book to write down my homework in this year, but completely redoing the locker rooms? THAT'S the priority.

[Stilev]

the main purpose of school is to discover what you enjoy in life, as a bio major i don't remember alot about history or English, but what i have learned in bio has been building and building. School isn't about the classes and the little stuff you forget, but about problem solving and learning to read certain kind of text efficiently. In my medical parasitology class we need read articles on certain parasites and find the important information and in class are given case studies. Although completely different the problem solving i use physic relates, and in toxicology the articles we have to read and discuss teach us what we need to learn to pick out that is important. will i remember these little details about what toxin dose what? no, but the problem solving i will use, i plan on going into medicine in a year so medical parasitology will be important. the lower grades are to give you a broad spectrum so that as we grow we can become specialized in what we want to do with our lives. Most people never understand these things in life, and just go on life ignoring the knowledge that we did learn in school, hell most people never understand, its something that comes with time just like we dont understand certain things our parents tell us as kids, we learn to understand as life goes on

[Skeptical]

Public schools, and the majority of private ones, I can assure everyone here, are entirely broken.

 

The system is sickened, corrupted, whatever you want to label it as, it is a destructive force.

[RpgGamer]

As humans, we are a curious species. We're supposed to go out of our way to be educated, because its supposed to entertain us. Schools take this biological quality away and make learning mundane, making us less likely to actually learn.

 

With 100% honesty I can say that I've learned more about history and culture by watching TV [more specifically The Simpsons] than I ever have from any classroom, even in a cumulative sense.

 

People simply learn better when they enjoy learning it. School takes that away, to the point where most people end up "unlearning" everything only a few months after they graduate. Who can honestly name all 50 states with their capitals and state mottos still? I could do it without blinking in 5th grade. Now...I'm lucky if I can remember all 50 states. Because I hated learning it, and it didn't seem like a very useful skill.

 

I think trade schools should be offered in place of middle school through highschool. Then we can have a foundation of simple learnings, and then have 6 years to truly master a skill that is actually enjoyable. Imagine the efficiency!

[Zierro]

I swear, TIF has just become a massive circlejerk where people reaffirm each other's opinions constantly...

 

I disagree.

[stevepole]

I learn more useful information from The Daily show than from school. That said, I also hate how the school spends money. I don't get an Agenda book to write down my homework in this year, but completely redoing the locker rooms? THAT'S the priority.

 

I find this pretty sad. Your school shouldn't have to supply you daily planners for you to write down your own homework. It's your responsibility to remember your homework, not your school. Locker rooms are also very important for the entire school and are very vital for after school sports. You may not think they are important but think about what they'd do without them.

 

You also learn more useful information from The Daily Show? I don't see how watching news parodies is ultimately useful in today's society. All your taking away from that show is news that is satirically presented to it's audience. Only real benefit I see to that is, helping you wind up some sort of conversation. You probably aren't even looking into the actual events to acquire your own opinion.

 

I'm not really try to pick on you, but more make you aware of what's really important.

[Giordano]

Schools there more to introduce you to the world socially.

[Star_Fox]

 

Does anybody feel the same way about this?

 

I gotta agree too....Even though school and education is for my own good....It's also the most boring thing I've done in my life.

[Assume Nothing]

When I read the title, I was thinking "Not another idiot rant topics", but it was an interesting read, nonetheless. I agree with alot of the topic, as I'm studying AS and A2's right now and alot of the stuff I learnt in GCSE I would've forgotten. Hmmm

[Sam]

I think exactly the same as you, will_holmes.

 

But us, as individuals can't do much, you need a lot to force a change to bureaucracy.

[Hawks]

I have never found English class or History class useful, because I'm a grammar nazi who watches the history channel. My science classes were fun because I've learned reasons behind things (like grain elevator explosions and polarized sunglasses). Math is never fun, but I believe it's actually useful, even if it's only useful because it teaches you how to think (geometry sucks though).

 

Only reason I ever enjoy math/physics/science is because my teachers are good and I like them. Plus they don't care if you ask really random questions about things. Or do weird math in class.

 

My school seems only to focus on football, and our team sucks. I like the band (even though they're not great) much better and I think our soccer teams especially deserve credit. Our school recently bought netbooks for all the jr. high students, and this year they've also given them to the freshmen and sophomores. NOT THE JUNIORS OR SENIORS who are going out into the world next and are more likely to be responsible anyway, but to the 11 and 12 year olds who are going to break, drop, lose, do stupid things on them. And now since we have mixed classes of kids (ie juniors, seniors, and sophs in one class) the teacher can't even make use of them. And they're going to phase out the actual computer labs so those of us who won't get netbooks can't do any work at school.

 

Plus they got rid of my beloved German program. So I pretty much hate them.

 

So really I believe the administration [of the school district] is COMPLETELY at fault for pretty much every problem I've ever had. Plus the tech department sucks and we can't do anything with the computers. Can't even use Google or Bing, which are both default search providers in the school. I could run the tech department better than they can.

[xevanx]

I've always considered myself smarter than my teachers. All school was to me was simply reiterating facts thats I've already learned at a previous time. Whilst having to listen to a dragged out explanation of something that could be kept short and simple; of course this would require some common sense which average people lack on occasion. I'm not really trying to sound superior to everyone, but I am a huge believer in excelled learning and self research. I can honestly and legitimately tell everyone here that I have learned more from the internet and from my own reading than I EVER did while in High School.

 

To me, Public School(Kindergarten -> 8) were nothing more than facilities to build personality and to get a grasp on the basics. Basics is really all that is essential in daily life. High School is just about building upon useless information and facts that can be condensed into 2 month courses. This is why my grades suffered all through high school. I never gave a damn about what was in the curriculum, or about things that I already knew and had to write down on a piece of paper to prove to someone with 4 more years of education than myself. Sometimes I wish I did better and attempted to prove my knowingness to my teachers...But in the end I know what I was supposed to know. Infact I would almost guarantee I knew more about half of the subjects taught in my high school than any of the teachers teaching me did. I exclude math for obvious reasons; its completely and utterly useless past 8th grade.

 

.end rant.

[Sam]

I often think that English teachers often put more thought into books than the authors do.

[Giordano]

This is why my grades suffered all through high school. I never gave a damn about what was in the curriculum, or about things that I already knew and had to write down on a piece of paper to prove to someone with 4 more years of education than myself.

Look what we got here, a cliché! So you're not as smart as you say then. If you were really smart, you would of taken the oppotunity of easy HS courses and got the best grades ever for the best scholarships/colleges ever. But no, you were too elitist for that.

 

I exclude math for obvious reasons; its completely and utterly useless past 8th grade.

Another cliché amoung the self-proclaimed Einstiens.

[Will H]

This is why my grades suffered all through high school. I never gave a damn about what was in the curriculum, or about things that I already knew and had to write down on a piece of paper to prove to someone with 4 more years of education than myself.

Look what we got here, a cliché! So you're not as smart as you say then. If you were really smart, you would of taken the oppotunity of easy HS courses and got the best grades ever for the best scholarships/colleges ever. But no, you were too elitist for that.

 

I exclude math for obvious reasons; its completely and utterly useless past 8th grade.

Another cliché amoung the self-proclaimed Einstiens.

 

So it's a cliché, it just seems to show that people have been saying this for a long time and it's still not being heard. Useless information and the ability to parrot what you've just been told is being given a much larger value than what it is worth, and it's to the detriment of everyone.