nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Mar-19-09 12:57 AM
Original message
The real problem with education... in the US
No, it is not the teachers, (mostly), no it is not the administrators (mostly), yes part of the problem is NCLB, and part of the problem are parents and kids who could give a **** about it. (And some teachers and administrators who couldn't give a **** either)
The problem goes deeper than this and it is reflected in the attitudes of many a kid.... (Hey EGGHEAD, care to join us in football? That's where the real cool kids hang out)
Or the attitudes of parents... (Ranging from the very honest, three jobs can't spend time with kid, no time, and am exhausted... to the I could not care how you do it, but I want my kid to pass. See he \ she has self esteem problems... what do you mean fifty kids in the class are too much?)
To the attitude of the general society... what do you mean you want MY TAXES to go to little Suzies schooling? I have no kids in school, or what do you mean you need MORE money in it? You've heard them...
Those are symptoms of the problem.... which is cultural. The high religiosity in the country has led to a deep sense of anti intellectualism, and schools (science in particular) are seen as a threat. They are also a threat to the good social order.
This is not a recent problem either, before anybody screams BUSH... it is a deep problem though. We have seen it come up with a vengeance in things like the Scopes Trial, but we have seen it also go down... after the ruskies launched a satellite and we saw this as a science gap. But it's been there, in the background. And until this changes in the general culture, and we come into the 21st century, from the 14th where we are currently stuck... don't expect schools to be funded. Those who know stuff are a threat to the general culture.
So the question is how you change it? And you and I, who dare to ask this question, are in damn good company... the few, the happy few, who'd like this country to join the rest of the world, and leave this provincial attitudes behind. I don't expect to see this in my lifetime, and I suspect that will be one of the reasons the US Empire (if not outright the country) collapses
Chew on this... as you discuss the problems with education and try to lay blame... for blame is all of us, or at least the general culture
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5285948
This is a somewhat new take on the problems with the educational system.
It's all caused by those fundies and their anti intellectualism.
I swear these people are trying to dig the proverbial bottomless pit of stupidity.
Orrex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Mar-19-09 01:01 AM
Response to Original message
1. Anti-intellectualism underlies a great many problems in our society
Edited on Thu Mar-19-09 01:07 AM by Orrex
You're absolutely right about its effect upon education, and it also curtails inquiry--or even the skills of inquiry--in just about every aspect of life.
nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Mar-19-09 01:11 AM
Response to Reply #5
6. So tell me, the Scopes Monkey trial had nothing to do with
the anti intellectualism in the US?
By the way, the US is the most religious of WESTERN democracies
You chew on that
dysfunctional press Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Mar-19-09 03:25 AM
Response to Reply #34
42. for the most part, i think that was for the best...
Edited on Thu Mar-19-09 03:26 AM by dysfunctional press
i'm not too good being under authority- and i generally have to know WHY i'm doing something...
my main goal in life was to get to a point where i didn't have to have a boss or BE a boss.
and luckily, permanent disability due to a crippling congenital spinal arthritis and the chronic pain that accompanies it have made that all possible!
how many people do you know who achieve their dream by age 38?
and that was 10 years ago.
You didn't ever want to have to work so you consider yourself
lucky to have a crippling genetic disease ?!
hfojvt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Mar-19-09 03:12 AM
Response to Reply #33
41. but formal education is not the same as education
and if you agree we have the wrong kind of formal education, then merely having more of it would not be a good thing.
What would you consider a quality education? One that stamped out religious beliefs? One that taught Latin? One that required more work?
I cannot say what is or isn't being taught in schools. I no longer teach or even substitute, have no kids and my nieces are kinda far away. Whatever may be the zeitgeist of my republic, my family was certainly not anti-intellectual. My grandmother and uncle were teachers, my dad is a scientist and I was taught to expect a college education from a very early age as well as buying my own telescope at age 14 or so.
Education, is not the same as formal education ? WTH ?
