Public Education
It's My Opinion...
Public education seems to be missing the boat when it comes to educating our children. We are so consumed with the idea of SAT scores, reading levels, and math skills that we have failed to see the purpose in all this.
The real purpose in education is two-fold: to impart knowledge to the mind and train in the practical use of a particular skill in order to make a living.
Education is more than attending twelve, fourteen or more years and graduating with a diploma or a degree. At the end of those years, what can one do with a high school diploma? What can one do with a BA degree?
One of the main reasons young people get into trouble is that they have nothing to do. Many of the inmates in prison are there because they have no skills with which to make a living. Many prisons are now making it mandatory that the prisoner have some skill, some way to make a living, before being released to the public.
One of the reasons many students are bored, uninterested and become a drop-out, is that they see no connection or meaning between learning and making a living.
What is the purpose with all this math when little of it is used in practical life? What is the purpose of learning grammar when you don't plan to do any writing? Why learn geography if you don't plan to travel? Who cares about what happened two hundred years ago if you are having trouble getting along with your friends today? This is not to say that these subjects are unimportant. They are very important. But they should lead to a purpose in life. When a student links courses of study to a purpose in life, he becomes motivated to learn.
Every student should have a skill upon graduating from high school. The last two years of high school should be used to teach some skill that will prepare him or her for a job. Our society, and most societies, need carpenters, plumbers, auto mechanics, electricians, electronic repairmen, landscaper, service people, business managers and on and on we could go. When you try to get your car repaired or get a plumber, you usually get the answer, "maybe tomorrow." Yet we hear again and again, "there are no jobs." There are plenty of jobs, just unskilled workers.
For all high school graduates, let's place an emphasis upon training for a job, as well as imparting information to the mind.
(To be continued)
Public education seems to be missing the boat when it comes to educating our children. We are so consumed with the idea of SAT scores, reading levels, and math skills that we have failed to see the purpose in all this.
The real purpose in education is two-fold: to impart knowledge to the mind and train in the practical use of a particular skill in order to make a living.
Education is more than attending twelve, fourteen or more years and graduating with a diploma or a degree. At the end of those years, what can one do with a high school diploma? What can one do with a BA degree?
One of the main reasons young people get into trouble is that they have nothing to do. Many of the inmates in prison are there because they have no skills with which to make a living. Many prisons are now making it mandatory that the prisoner have some skill, some way to make a living, before being released to the public.
One of the reasons many students are bored, uninterested and become a drop-out, is that they see no connection or meaning between learning and making a living.
What is the purpose with all this math when little of it is used in practical life? What is the purpose of learning grammar when you don't plan to do any writing? Why learn geography if you don't plan to travel? Who cares about what happened two hundred years ago if you are having trouble getting along with your friends today? This is not to say that these subjects are unimportant. They are very important. But they should lead to a purpose in life. When a student links courses of study to a purpose in life, he becomes motivated to learn.
Every student should have a skill upon graduating from high school. The last two years of high school should be used to teach some skill that will prepare him or her for a job. Our society, and most societies, need carpenters, plumbers, auto mechanics, electricians, electronic repairmen, landscaper, service people, business managers and on and on we could go. When you try to get your car repaired or get a plumber, you usually get the answer, "maybe tomorrow." Yet we hear again and again, "there are no jobs." There are plenty of jobs, just unskilled workers.
For all high school graduates, let's place an emphasis upon training for a job, as well as imparting information to the mind.
(To be continued)
posted by Mannon's Cogitations at 8:31 PM
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