Problems
·It’s not practical. For example, in a health class you will memorize the vocabulary terms, but you won’t apply the material to everyday things. What’s the point of knowing the vocabulary terms if you can’t apply them?
· You’re not learning—you’re memorizing. Learning is about being able to recall the information months or years later and being able to apply it to something. Memorizing is just knowing the material for the test and only knowing what’s in your notes. You won't be able to apply it to a real life situation. What’s the point of doing all of the work and spending so much money on it, if it’s irrelevant to your major and you’re not learning anything?
· A lot of the classwork and homework is busy work. They’re just giving you stuff to do. Schools need to make the assignments more useful—in other words more relevant to the class/material that you’re learning.
· School tells you what to do each step of the way. In other words, they’re guiding you. In order to see if you’re truly intelligent, the school has to do scaffolding, which is when the teacher or professor lets you work on problems by yourself and then if you need assistance or they notice that you need help, then they will help you. A great example of this would be a course syllabus.
· School mostly consists of lecture based classes. Most people like discussion based classes, so the student can apply the topics and hear more perspectives.
· Each class is different. You can have the same class, but one teacher might be a tough grader, not offer extra credit, play favoritism, and have a lot of tough assignments while another teacher may be the exact opposite. Therefore you could take a class that you hate and get a good grade or take a class that you like and get a poor grade just because of the teacher or professor.
· School doesn’t determine if you’re going to be successful—you do. If you’re hard working and create tremendous pieces of work, then you’ll most likely get the job.
· It’s expensive. Taxpayers are the ones who contribute to the wealth of a school. College tuition is thousands of dollars; leaving students with a lot debt after they graduate, especially if they can’t find jobs. If you file for bankruptcy, then you still have to pay your students loans. If you don't have a job, then this is virtually impossible to pay off.
· It takes a lot of time. Everyone has to attend school at least until they’re 16-years-old. Most people graduate high school two years later. Right now, it’s pretty common for people to attend community colleges (2 years) or universities (4 years). If you get a Ph. D, then that’s a whopping 21 years of going to school.
· Teachers and professors aren't being paid according to their performance. Some teachers and professors will slack off and just give their students worksheets or refuse to answer questions.
· We need to stop using grades and being performance goal oriented. We've used grades since school started. They don't tell much about the student. It doesn't tell whether the student did well in what they were majoring in or of it was a general education course. Society puts so much pressure on students and stresses their GPA, so they're not learning. They're just doing things so their grades are high. This is known as performance goal oriented. In order to be successful, you need to be master goal oriented. This means that you've learned the material. A master goal oriented person knows the concept and can apply what they've learned. This means that we should change the curriculum and attitudes of everyone. Students, teachers/professors, parents, and school admission offices (to get into colleges) stress test scores and GPA's, which need to stop. This stresses kids out and forces them to memorize the material.
· Teachers and professors don't tell you why the answer is wrong and put the right answer. If students don't know why it's wrong, then they won't learn from their mistakes.
· The last day shouldn't be finals. If the last days are finals, then the student won't be able to see their results and ask questions about why they got things wrong.
· Teachers and professors always tell you how long your work should be--essays, speeches, movies, and the list goes on. Quality should be more important than quantity.
· Teachers use textbooks to teach the class instead of using it as reinforcement. They also rely on answer keys. This shouldn't be the case. Teachers should rely on the knowledge that they have.
· Some academic advisers are telling students to take classes that they don't need and they don't know that much information about a class. They don't know if a lot of people drop out of that class or thought that it was too easy.
· You’re not learning—you’re memorizing. Learning is about being able to recall the information months or years later and being able to apply it to something. Memorizing is just knowing the material for the test and only knowing what’s in your notes. You won't be able to apply it to a real life situation. What’s the point of doing all of the work and spending so much money on it, if it’s irrelevant to your major and you’re not learning anything?
· A lot of the classwork and homework is busy work. They’re just giving you stuff to do. Schools need to make the assignments more useful—in other words more relevant to the class/material that you’re learning.
· School tells you what to do each step of the way. In other words, they’re guiding you. In order to see if you’re truly intelligent, the school has to do scaffolding, which is when the teacher or professor lets you work on problems by yourself and then if you need assistance or they notice that you need help, then they will help you. A great example of this would be a course syllabus.
· School mostly consists of lecture based classes. Most people like discussion based classes, so the student can apply the topics and hear more perspectives.
· Each class is different. You can have the same class, but one teacher might be a tough grader, not offer extra credit, play favoritism, and have a lot of tough assignments while another teacher may be the exact opposite. Therefore you could take a class that you hate and get a good grade or take a class that you like and get a poor grade just because of the teacher or professor.
· School doesn’t determine if you’re going to be successful—you do. If you’re hard working and create tremendous pieces of work, then you’ll most likely get the job.
· It’s expensive. Taxpayers are the ones who contribute to the wealth of a school. College tuition is thousands of dollars; leaving students with a lot debt after they graduate, especially if they can’t find jobs. If you file for bankruptcy, then you still have to pay your students loans. If you don't have a job, then this is virtually impossible to pay off.
· It takes a lot of time. Everyone has to attend school at least until they’re 16-years-old. Most people graduate high school two years later. Right now, it’s pretty common for people to attend community colleges (2 years) or universities (4 years). If you get a Ph. D, then that’s a whopping 21 years of going to school.
· Teachers and professors aren't being paid according to their performance. Some teachers and professors will slack off and just give their students worksheets or refuse to answer questions.
· We need to stop using grades and being performance goal oriented. We've used grades since school started. They don't tell much about the student. It doesn't tell whether the student did well in what they were majoring in or of it was a general education course. Society puts so much pressure on students and stresses their GPA, so they're not learning. They're just doing things so their grades are high. This is known as performance goal oriented. In order to be successful, you need to be master goal oriented. This means that you've learned the material. A master goal oriented person knows the concept and can apply what they've learned. This means that we should change the curriculum and attitudes of everyone. Students, teachers/professors, parents, and school admission offices (to get into colleges) stress test scores and GPA's, which need to stop. This stresses kids out and forces them to memorize the material.
· Teachers and professors don't tell you why the answer is wrong and put the right answer. If students don't know why it's wrong, then they won't learn from their mistakes.
· The last day shouldn't be finals. If the last days are finals, then the student won't be able to see their results and ask questions about why they got things wrong.
· Teachers and professors always tell you how long your work should be--essays, speeches, movies, and the list goes on. Quality should be more important than quantity.
· Teachers use textbooks to teach the class instead of using it as reinforcement. They also rely on answer keys. This shouldn't be the case. Teachers should rely on the knowledge that they have.
· Some academic advisers are telling students to take classes that they don't need and they don't know that much information about a class. They don't know if a lot of people drop out of that class or thought that it was too easy.
Restoring the Meaning of Education ©2011