This. STEM subjects are a vital part of a well-rounded education, but they are only a part.
This. STEM subjects are a vital part of a well-rounded education, but they are only a part.Speaking as someone with several "STEM" degrees, that's a rather myopic view of what should be taught in school. STEM subjects are important, but so are subjects like English and history. These subjects also help develop critical thinking, writing, and communication skills. And there is the secondary benefit of these subjects enriching our lives while exploring the human condition. STEM isn't the be-all-end-all some people like to claim it is.
How do you feel when someone that knows nothing about your field of expertise tells you what the problem is and how to fix it? There are hard problems in education that even educators aren't certain how to fix. Teaching kids that have no support at home can be extremely difficult. That doesn't mean in any way that our best strategy is to just turn things over to those with no expertise at all. That would be like Intel laying off all their engineers after the pentium iv and hiring a bunch of music majors to take their place.
Not many. The handful I do know (a couple aunts, a more distant family member, a family friend) also teach/previously taught within middle-class school districts, where things like students graduating while barely literate is not a problem. Not sure what you're getting at with this question anyways, am I supposed to assume that because teachers believe method X is the correct method, I am supposed to take their word at it despite decades of failure to improve our worst schools?
This is why I question whether you really think about your positions, or just knee-jerk parrot today's GOP talking points. You rail against public schools' "indoctrination" of our children, yet you advocate for private schools. The great majority of private schools -- about 80% -- are religious schools whose very purpose is indoctrinating children. (Plus, as others have already shown, if your concern is a quality education, private religious schools overall don't do so well. Yes, there are some bad public schools, but there are also a lot of good ones; many are very, very good.)[ ... ]
Science, math, communication skills, finance, applied logic, history etc. Focus on teaching kids to think and understand, not trying to teach them morals, what is "fair", intelligent design (other than maybe in a class on religion) or other useless crap. Sprinkle in a little art, music and PE, but those should not be the focus.
Hey, I'm 100% opposed to that intelligent design crap as well. It's not science, it's religion. Religion doesn't need to be taught in school IMO.
It's sad, really. Taj 0.8.3.4 is a beta, Trump Apologist variant of the Java Messaging Appliance, Headless Autotroll Library (TA-JMAHAL) program. It was first released during the GOP primaries. Unfortunately, it is now abandonware. As with most Trump contractors, its Russian programmer was never paid, so he returned to stealing credit card numbers. Without further updates, poor beta Taj is doomed to loop forever, echoing the same tired trolls from its obsolete propaganda library. So sad, so beta.because you can't have both?
what's your major malfunction tajjy? all the bullshit spinning out of 1600 Pennsylvania ave making your head swim?
You know, if one had to explain Trump and his administration in just three panels, that's a pretty effective way to do it. Rather ironic considering its source is Scott Adams, a hard-core Trumpster. The main thing it lacks is showing the malice and naked self-interest behind PHB's directions.[ ... ]
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I worked in the ontario ministry of education for nine years on capital funding. I'd say I am more qualified than she is.
I don't pretend to have expertise and have never made an appeal to hiring people for their lack of expertise.
Not sure what you're getting at with this question anyways, am I supposed to assume that because teachers believe method X is the correct method, I am supposed to take their word at it despite decades of failure to improve our worst schools?
What are you doing here?
This sounds like an appeal for hiring someone without expertise in education.
No, it was just dismissing an irrelevant question asked about how many teachers I know. Further, I don't see how teachers are any more informed on improving bad schools than a fry cook is on how to boost McDonald's sales. It's anecdotal, doesn't require expertise in addressing greater education policy, and also potentially carries a conflict of interest if these teachers have an emotional connection to their students, including the problem ones. By analogy, I'm not a parent and can readily admit that parents are more experienced in parenting than I am; show me a family that produced a bunch of delinquent bastards and I have no problem telling them that they're doing something wrong, even if my own solutions are admittedly simplistic.
I think there's some merit in your point that a teacher isn't necessarily qualified to address broad education issues. I think your analogy about parenting misses the mark, however. It is easy in parenting (or most things) for a novice to point out problems. Problems are often quite obvious. Very few non-parents really have a clue how to solve parenting problems, however. That's why someone with great public education experience, and a record of success in public education, is far, far more likely to be able to develop effective solutions to education's problems. A rank novice like DeVos, with no experience or successes, can squawk about the obvious problems, but she cannot solve them.No, it was just dismissing an irrelevant question asked about how many teachers I know. Further, I don't see how teachers are any more informed on improving bad schools than a fry cook is on how to boost McDonald's sales. It's anecdotal, doesn't require expertise in addressing greater education policy, and also potentially carries a conflict of interest if these teachers have an emotional connection to their students, including the problem ones. By analogy, I'm not a parent and can readily admit that parents are more experienced in parenting than I am; show me a family that produced a bunch of delinquent bastards and I have no problem telling them that they're doing something wrong, even if my own solutions are admittedly simplistic.
Terrible analogy. You were making a suggestion for how to deal with disruptive students, something teachers have direct experience with and something that's integral to their job. It's like asking a fry cook how to put the fries in the basket.
The question of if you know any teachers is also super relevant because since you don't it's unlikely that you have any understanding of how an urban school classroom operates and what challenges there are outside of what you've seen on movies and TV. Your ability to diagnose the problem and craft an effective solution is basically zero.
While I have much, much more experience in this area than you do I'm also not sufficiently qualified to come up with a good answer. It's an incredibly hard issue to navigate, which is a further indication that arresting students routinely is probably a bad idea.
I think there's some merit in your point that a teacher isn't necessarily qualified to address broad education issues. I think your analogy about parenting misses the mark, however. It is easy in parenting (or most things) for a novice to point out problems. Problems are often quite obvious. Very few non-parents really have a clue how to solve parenting problems, however. That's why someone with great public education experience, and a record of success in public education, is far, far more likely to be able to develop effective solutions to education's problems. A rank novice like DeVos, with no experience or successes, can squawk about the obvious problems, but she cannot solve them.
Is their way of dealing with disruptive students working? What is the current gold standard of improving student performance within the classroom?
My opinions on urban school classrooms certainly don't come from personal experience, but I'm getting it from easily viewed cell phone videos all over the internet of actual classrooms, not Hollywood. That's me viewing worst-case scenarios, I'll admit, I'm not saying every time a student tosses a paper airplane or makes a joke that they need to be booted, but when civility is gone, so is any hope of a decent education. I know I saw at least one news feature (maybe documentary) where kids were totally accustomed to police presence on campus and many just wanted to keep their heads down, avoid the worst problems, and graduate in one piece. That kind of environment will ruin even the best kids.
Until I see convincing reason that arresting the worst problem students will do more damage than it helps, I don't have any problem proposing it.
I don't really disagree with any of that. Good solutions are hard to come by, and I don't think anything proposed by the current administration is an effective solution either.
Since you quoted what I would've responded to.This. STEM subjects are a vital part of a well-rounded education, but they are only a part.
You're just mad because you still ride the school bus.So the fact that you're a big enough douche to put other people lives at risk with your reckless driving and behavior is somehow proof of racism? Nope, it's proof you're an asshole.
This is why I question whether you really think about your positions, or just knee-jerk parrot today's GOP talking points. You rail against public schools' "indoctrination" of our children, yet you advocate for private schools. The great majority of private schools -- about 80% -- are religious schools whose very purpose is indoctrinating children. (Plus, as others have already shown, if your concern is a quality education, private religious schools overall don't do so well. Yes, there are some bad public schools, but there are also a lot of good ones; many are very, very good.)
The shortest of the school busses is what taj rides.You're just mad because you still ride the school bus.
The point is that I have the choice to decide what the appropriate educational institution is for my kids. Those advocating against private schools (and against vouchers etc) are essentially just saying they want to make sure people have no choice but to accept their local public school, no matter how crappy or full of indoctrination it might be. It's funny that you say the religious schools are indoctrinating but of course fail to realize that many public schools are indoctrinating -- just with a different set of lib beliefs. Private schools in general do very well compared to public schools, and you apparently have in your head that all private schools are essentially madrassas, which is complete BS of course. I'm sure there are some hard core fundy private religious schools that are like that, but most are good.
Why should tax dollars go to private institutions?
Still with the liberal indoctrination bullsh*t, lol....what a crock. I have a 10 yo and a 6 yo, there's no time in their day to be indoctrinated. The struggle to meet state objectives is real.
So to you, teaching things like science, math, ELA, history, are indoctrination? Or maybe it's art, gym, or music that indoctrinates them?