Failures of the Education System

[dandecicco]

It is dreadful to make blank statements of such idiotic frivolity postulating that teachers are the failures of education.. For those that believe it, prove it. If you think you understand the educational system so well, give me some examples and explain how those help to illustrate your absurd assertion. Might I suggest that you follow a standard thesis. Or have you not taken responsibility to learn how to do that with your own education? Assertions that blame teachers for a student’s failure are typically from the ignorant and the fiascos of education that teachers have to deal with every day. Those choice behemoths blame everyone else for societal problems. It has become politically correct to blame teachers for this.

I will fall back on the old proverbial statement that “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”. Unless a person decides to learn, no matter what the teacher does, the system will fail because of the student not taking advantage of the information. It is the students responsibility to utilize education, not the teachers to make them use it. So before you go off on teachers, think about the students that sit in their classrooms everyday.

Most of the students cannot hold a train of thought for more than 10 minutes, let alone long enough to follow a lecture. Think of education like Darwin’s Theory. (For the uneducated, that means survival of the fittest.) If the student fails a class, it is like being eaten by a larger animal. A student that succeeds in class because they made the choice to succeed gets to reproduce and contribute to the gene pool (i.e. society). Unfortunately those that die off with this theory get to, in actuality, continue living and live off my dime through welfare.

But, I guess with your beliefs about teachers, it is safe to assume that you believe that teachers need to be circus clowns, therapists, surrogate parents, police, best friends, and intellectually equal companions to the students they teach. Your belief revolves around the social plague that a student’s self esteem is the most important job to maintain for the teacher. I cry foul! A teacher’s job is not to be a spiritual martyr to the student. The teacher’s job it to provide educational opportunities to students and it is the student’s responsibility to fail or succeed in this system. Self esteem comes from doing well on a test, not failing a test and feeling good about it.

You sir(s) are the primary reason education has failed. You fail to look at social responsibility as the culprit and assert the blame on teachers so you don’t have to look at yourself as the villain. Next time you blame teachers, try thinking about the term, “It takes a village to raise a child” that way you are included with educational failures and you can step of your liberal soap box for once.

Michael Savage said it best, “liberalism is a mental disorder”.

 

[ckh550]

Since I've already seen it spelled wrong about nine times on this thread and we're talking about writing skills, it's spelled "D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y". Not definAtely. There is no 'a'. Think of definite, finite, infinite. No 'a'.


I see that word spelled incorrectly every single day. Sorry, I was a 6th Grade Spelling Bee champion (read: nerd) and incorrect spelling is one thing that still annoys me.

Chris

 

[dmillion]

It is dreadful to make blank statements of such idiotic frivolity postulating that teachers are the failures of education.

Just as it is equally idiotic to assume that the teacher is NEVER the problem. Like it or not, there ARE some bad teachers out there, and some of our children HAVE been forced to sit through a semester with them.

By the way, no one is impressed with the flowery phrases and four-dollar words. Saying "it is a mistake to generalize by blaming the teachers" would have made your point better.

 

[dandecicco]

Just as it is equally idiotic to assume that the teacher is NEVER the problem. Like it or not, there ARE some bad teachers out there, and some of our children HAVE been forced to sit through a semester with them.

By the way, no one is impressed with the flowery phrases and four-dollar words. Saying "it is a mistake to generalize by blaming the teachers" would have made your point better.

Flowery? Those are not flowery words. Those are common words used everyday.

As for there being a few bad teachers, I cannot agree more. There are bad employees in every job, but that does not suggest that all employees are bad. The problem comes to pass when all teachers are lumped into a consortium of scapegoats for children and parents that do not take responsibility for themselves.

Dang I did it again. Change consortium into group, scapegoats into falsely accused.

I guess I use my education to help choose words from a large vocabulary pool that are more specific and appropriate for the task at hand. When I am speaking to someone, I usually do not use didactic language, I use the vernacular.

In other words, as is the case with many students, a person usually has not taken the time to learn how to use words that are more specific and clear. Flowery words, as you say, are usually identified with those that have chosen to use education as a tool, rather than as a punishment.

It is called academic discourse. But I guess “uppity speak” would do just as well.

 

[Ed A. Stevens]

Well, I am a college instructor and a high school English teacher and I can tell you, it started downhill way before the 12th grade. It all has to do with self esteem. Somewhere, someplace, some jack as# decided that we as educators could not hurt a students feelings. Instead of giving them a bad grade and telling them that they need to improve or fail, they are now told that since they tried, they get a cookie and get to move ahead. Liberalism has killed education and it is an intrepid disease spreading through the educational system like a malignant tumor.

A concept that has become more visible is granting credit where it's due, at the root cause of the value system leading to praise or blame. I have read that the "Greatest Generation" (the WWII team, pre-boomer, generation) became this way because of the values of their parents (and teachers). Has anyone tried to apply the same style of critical historical thinking to the current lack of high school graduate grammar skills? Has a researcher tried to identify the failures of some of the current crop of primary and secondary education English educators in respect to the values taught to them, or failed to be taught to them, with respect to education values?

Could the possibility exist to identify that current educators are teaching what they were educated to do, and no better, because the prior generation of teachers failed poorly and passed through the education system into academia and management? Is this validation of the adage, "if you can't do (if fail), teach, and if you cant teach (if fail again), administrate (poorly)?

I agree (if I read your thesis statement correct), the discouragement of "self-esteem for quality" and the elevation of "self-esteem for effort" seriously altered the reward system that placed value on correct grammar (and most basic written communication and manipulation skills), but it has partners in this crime against our students.

We cannot expect teachers to be idealistic about education quality unless we allow them to maintain a standard, and to be gatekeepers to restrict those who fail to perform. We, as parents and employers, fail to support teachers in this regard. We fail to demand the school administration (the School Board) to empower teachers to maintain an effective performance standard (even with Standardized Test performance criteria), because the educational system's rewards are not tied to performance. Unfortunately, student performance is not how the "education industry" is rewarded

The practice of teaching to a Standardized Test has only one justification, to exploit the funding link between test performance and revenue/income. We have placed funding over comprehension in our education system list of priority. This is the one aspect of regional and national testing I disagree with, funding should not be tied to test performance. This is the part of 'No Child Left behind" I have a major disagreement with (low performance => low funding), and I share disagreement when the reverse is applied (low performance => high funding). The generic emphasis on test scores as the reported cause of blame for general poor student performance, is a dodge to hide the industries true emphasis on funding (the true reason the education system is failing to teach students). The quest to maximize funding is degrading the performance standards that we hold of students accountable to be, proficient as high school graduates, and the standards that were our former generations ideals for achievement awards.

ADA funding is another example of the education systems abuse of funding over quality. The tie between attendance and school revenue discourages expulsion of troublemakers, and promotes the reward of passing grades to failing students. Why do we perpetuate the administrative management of students based on the funding reward, rather than the development of students? When a high school teacher claims the damage to student development began long before their personal classroom experience, they are correct in the assumption when students fail to exhibit basic skills and are not prepared to learn "critical thinking" as the priority.

When was the last time a student's standard test score or good attendance was recognized (good or bad) in the teachers lounge without an offhand mention of the reward to fund the education system? How long has this exploitation of funds over performance as a value existed to penetrate our education system deep enough to become a casual inside joke?

 

[dandecicco]

QUOTE]


HERE, HERE!

 

[d10shun]

Yes there are bad teachers! An unnamed teacher that I work with basically teaches nothing. He sits at his desk, plays music or allows students to plug their mp3 in his speakers. He puts up notes on powerpoints but does not talk about the slides most likely because he doesn't know it. Students are allowed cuss, eat, drink, chew gum, hold his pet snakes, sit on desks and do nothing all period. One period I heard them sind "John, Jacob, Jingleheimer Schmidt" at the top of their lungs. They use his laptop and school computer to play games. The administration knows about the problem but does not do anything. I am a 7th grade teacher and he is an 8th grade teacher. I hate having my well-behaved students scheduled for his class next year. All my hard work goes down the drain.

 

[CheapXJ]

Absolutely. Having come from a background with a decent roof over my head but not much else, I do everything opposite of what my parents did. That's the twisted way I consider my father a mentor. Nonetheless, having witnessed both sides of the fence, I am confident that I am raising a child that will be prepared to thrive when he leaves the nest. I've always felt that if I can teach him to make life a continual learning journey and to have the courage and discipline to overcome life's obstacles and challenges, than I will have been a success as a father. As far as I can tell I am on my way.

bravo!

there's a HUGE chunk of the education problem, too many kids with scumbag dads

 

[againstherwill]

I haven't seen anyone mention it so I will offer my two cents. Why the hell do we have an expectation that the public school system can educate our children. I do not expect the government to take care of me why would I expect them to educate my child. This sort of reasoning is pure idiocy. I don't expect the government to take care of my family if I die, my health if I am sick or my retirement (ha ha). Why would I expect them to know how to educate my child. There maybe the odd public school out in the hinterlands but I have not seen it.

I graduated from the best public school in the large metroplis where I lived (the Eighties). The attention to the teaching of proper english grammar and spelling was terrible. I Graduated with honors in AP classes, including AP English. When I got to college I failed my first general education class due to poor writing skills. My advisor said I should take the remedial writing class to help. IT was the best thing that ever happen for my college career.

I have also lived in a smaller city (Nineties) for 6 years; during which time I had the opportunity to see the education offered. Atrocious is the only word that discribes the abilities of the educators who were charged with teaching the children.

I now live in the most affluent school distric in Indianapolis. I will never send my child to the schools here. The staff here is worse than the other places I have lived.

I am not against public schools; if they did the job I would be all for them. But they don't do the job. Why don't they make the grade? Is it because the wages that are available due to the taxes that are assessed are barely above a living wage; thereby only attracting the new blood that really wants to teach (later to realize how naive they were to think they could make a difference) or those who can't so they must teach? Is it because no sane person wants to be involved in the bullsh*t they have heard of in the public schools? I don't know. I feel sorry for the smart people who thought they could make a difference in a failing system then realize they can't and are stuck.

I have seen friends make sure their very smart child is on top of his school work, go to every parent/teacher conference and help out with PTA and school events; yet they still notice that their child can not preform at levels of students at the private schools.

You are responsible for your childs education not the state. Public education in this country is just like a Renix engine on an XJ; it needs to be completely ripped out and replaced.

 

[Darky]

I don't know, I think I received a decent edjmacation...
My college proffessor said I wrote very well, and on my placement exams for college I scored very highly in English.