Posted on 07/01/2008 10:40:58 AM PDT by wintertime
We must be willing to redefine education. What education looks like now is an artificial construct. It was not created by people who knew or understood children or teens. It was created by bureaucrats and special interests who wanted to control children and teens.
I talked with a young lady the other day – 14-years-old – who loves horses and aims to own stables and teach riding, among other things. She’s been working with horses since she was five. She’s good enough now that she “breaks” new ones and retrains ones facing changes in the use they’re being put to. She knows her stuff.
(snip)
Then there’s her other life – public school. She failed her end-of-year math exam by three points, so she’s going to summer school. She’ll have to pass the test to move on to the next grade. I’ve talked with her. She’s smart and highly competent – just not especially interested in algebra. She’s more accomplished than many adults (even ones who did pass algebra). But she has four more years of school to go, during which time she’ll have to pass endless tests and divert her efforts from what she knows she’ll devote her life to.
(snip) I get many calls a month from parents of teens who simply haven’t managed to fit into the school mold. They’re smart kids, often kids with serious interests they’re prevented from pursuing because so many adults in their lives are running them through the testing/counseling/therapy wringer.
(snip)
In order to redefine education, we will have to engage in some self-liberation, for most of us have a very hard time letting go (I mean really letting go) of the idea that the state knows some secret about education that we don’t and that if we defy their model we just might be sorry.
(snip)
Or even a “your primary plan will require a working knowledge of compound interest, like it or not” message and maybe a good grounding if she can’t get her priorities right.
JenB,
Here are two more examples the author uses from the same essay:
I knew a young man some years ago who was earning $25,000 a year working part time at his own business. He was in 10th grade. He felt silly, he said, sitting in a room full of kids who spent their lives studying for tests and playing video games. He succeeded in quitting in the 11th grade and is now a highly successful businessman.
Two years ago, I got a call from a 16-year-old girl who was miserable in school. She had a family situation that evoked daily mockery from her classmates. On her own, she collected motivational quotations and had mapped out plans to become a hair stylist and open her own shop, but of course, the system wouldn’t let her go..
I don’t know if this is still the case, but it used to be, in England you could legally leave school at age 14-1/2 if you had an apprenticeship. That has always made sense to me. Seems to me a law like that would help the young lady in the story. People can always go to adult school and get more education later if they change their minds about what they want to do with their lives.
I think there are a lot of people who are unaware that there is any other, legitimate way to go.
I recently spent time with a 17 year old neice. She tossed out a comment about a discussion she'd had with her friends about suicide. My 62 year old father was shocked and dismayed. I reminded him that when he was a teen he was allowed to be useful. He earned his own money, his older sibs had been truly useful to the family by cooking, cleaning and looking after younger ones while the parents worked. Sometimes they worked alongside the parents. My father knew that at 18, he would truly be an independent adult.
Our kids are allowed to do very little that is truly meaningful. We give them "chores" that don't really matter. Many are not allowed to work. They face years and years of being told, "Do this now and eventually it will be of some use to you." Yet, much of the actual material isn't what is important. We want to teach them to think, and to have discipline. They know that the major themes of Heart of Darkness don't matter a whit in the universe, unless they plan to be English teachers, so who cares?
The lucky kids find meaning in belonging to a team or playing a sport or instrument well. Some find meaning in art or are really motivated to perform well in school to meet higher education goals. But there are a whole lot of kids who aren't particularly athletic, musical, artistic or educationally motivated. Those kids are in BIG trouble.
All official tests are written by private organizations. Some of the state tests for lower grades - not end of course - are frequently written with significant state input. Tests such as the Stanford, Iowa, SAT/ACT's are not only professionally written, but are standardized to a specific age group and the testing data is available for anyone who wishes to analyze the data construct.
CLEP is written by the same folks who handle AP's and SAT's. It is a good option for kids with broad background knowledge, especially in the liberal arts and basic sciences. As with AP's, it is up to the colleges to decide how the tests are used within their organization. Thankfully, my daughter was able through AP's to satisfy her history, English, and cross-curricular requirements and is entering her college 3 credits shy of a second semester sophomore. She actually satisfied her basic science and math requirements, but is choosing to retake just to make sure she has the foundation the school requires.
The GED is written by the American Council of Education, which is an organization of about 2000 colleges and universities. The only problem with GED's is the fraud that is prevalent. There are quite a few organizations that claim to represent the ACE, and offer an on-line version of the GED, and that is a huge red flag. Unfortunately, I know about a dozen or so kids that after bragging how easy the GED was, found out they were defrauded and a couple of them just gave up in disgust and never completed the GED program or earned a diploma.
Young people should focus more on math and science today, imho. But, in going through one son's algebra book, I do have to admit, I don't think the average person will use all of it.
Instead of requiring Algebra, Geometry, etc., I'd like to see the same math covered but organized according to: Financial Investments, Real Estate, Business, Building & Construction, etc. If this girl (and many other students) were given examples of how math applies to her life, she might become interested.
There are real-life math programs available, but so far they're not very thorough, at least not the books I've found.
Applied mathematics should be a REQUIREMENT from grade school on up. Personal finance should be taught at least from 7th on up.
1) One one level do we **personally** feel this 14 year old should study algebra? I **personally** insisted that **my** children learned algebra. I **personally** think that those children who learn algebra have more options open to them in life.
But.....
2) Do we think the government should force this 14 year old to sit in a prison-like government building for four more years, strictly confined behind a desk, when this is against the will of her parents and the 14 year old herself?
“domineering metrosexual”
Oxymoron
You are so right. When kids are not pushed to be something beyond their sphere and to respect worldly authorities, and have ample idle time on their hands, trouble has a chance to follow.
My friends told me I was cruel (yep, direct quote) when I MADE both of mine start working at 14 (Dominoes, answering phones) because they were too young, or might be exposed to bad elements. Well, maybe, but I wanted them to learn very young the value of a dollar, the dignity of hard work, and how to put aside your own immediate needs for someone who doesn't really care about "you" and "your" needs, but the needs of the company.
You are right - kids need to feel useful and either infantalizing or worshiping teens does nothing to help them, only hurt.
That's the crux of the issue right there. I didn't see your post before I posted #26, but that one line says it all.
No, but if her parents choose to have her schooled by the government they can darn well make sure she takes her algebra seriously. If they want to homeschool and eliminate the algebra that’s their choice. Otherwise she needs to shut up and do her homework. And complain to her parents, not a journalist. Even if the system is reformed it won’t be in time to help her so she’d better find an individual solution.
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That was my thought. And Rush was perplexed by that as well.
Probably just a typical smug, arrogant liberal who thinks looking effeminate makes him look smarter. He probably treats his new wife in the same arrogant condescending manner that he treats everyone else.
Why a father would allow this crap is beyond me.
It makes plenty of sense to me.
Seems to me a law like that would help the young lady in the story. People can always go to adult school and get more education later if they change their minds about what they want to do with their lives.
Exactly! There is always the community college route if they wish to further their education as an adult.
I have an idea!
If they leave school after 8th grade, they will not have used 4 years of their government K-12 education. If they decide to return to school at age 30 how about giving those 4 years of unused K-12 money in the form of community or regular college scholarships?
Against the will of her parents? Oh, come on! If the parents wanted something different, they'd find something different.
Thanks for all the information. I didn’t know about the GED frauds. I’ll be sure to watch out for them.
Parents should be doing the pushing, **not** a government with a gun.
You are right - kids need to feel useful and either infantalizing or worshiping teens does nothing to help them, only hurt.
Feel? Feel?
Kids "feel" useful when they actually ARE DOING useful things. Simply attempting to create an environment where the child merely "feels" useful is an educational fairyland and the child **knows** this. High school for this child is a Potemkin village.
For a child who needs a college education for his career goals, then algebra and the other college prep courses mean the child really is **doing** something **useful** that will further his goals. Should the government **force** the other children to behave like hamsters on an educational exercise wheel? I don't think so.
Solution: Begin the process of privatizing universal K-12 education. Let parents, teachers, and principals quietly and privately decide these matters. Get government out of the education business.
You are right! The parents could **ransom** their child from the government school indoctrination buildings.
The parents could **ransom** her by paying a **freedom of conscience tax** by paying extra (in addition to government school taxes) for the religious, political, and cultural privilege of home or private school expenses.
You honestly expect us to believe that your son received an offer to work at a bank at age 15. I was born at night , but not last night.
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