Mohammed the Persian

Is it fair to see that modern day education, I refer to high school and above, is obsolete in the fact that the ideas are not changing. Instead of giving students useful ideas and theories and the sort, most students are often forced to simply "memorize the facts and get it over with".
I for one think that the educational system should be reformed, generally speaking around the world, the 20th century method may seem quite obsolete nowadays given the fact that new technologies have emerged.

So once again, I ask: is the education system (be it in your respective country or globally) obsolete, too old ? In need of a chance?

I say it does.

Salah

I'm strongly of the opinion that a child should not be taught what to think, but how to think. The system disagrees with me.

Richard Stanbery

The system may not agree with you, Sala, but I do.

The Alani Dragon Rising

Education should be based on the good of the people and the country. Everything else are extra activities.

tjadams

Exactly and I'm with you. But, here's the problem(s)
So much of education is tied to money and all its tentacles.
Students have to have some kind of motivation and not all kids think
the same. That leaves the teacher hard pressed to grade papers
when only he/she is the answer key.
Kids see school as a social hub, not a place to learn. It's their happy
hunting ground to meet others their age and critical thinking, way behind sports, is not why they attend schools.
There are so many different ways students learn and the subject varies.
I'm with you about changing the education system, but sadly, it is a
beast as high and wide as the Andes Mts. and reform is a paper sword.

blacksmit049

I have, maybe thrice?, watched Ken Robinson's TED talks.

This is how I summarize it...

That education system for the modern times made us think that we wanted to graduate to get a job, not to learned and be taught how to think.

That education system sucks away our creative thoughts. Like how the children can think that a boa constrictors can swallow an elephant while the grown-ups can't (The little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

That education system is like a candy factory shipping trained people for the rising economy to become slaves of capitalism (irony: free market and slavery)

That education system is modeled during the 19th century where the industrial revolution takes place. To supply that demand, an institution should train the apprentices new practices on science, industrialization and mathematics.

That education system constrain us from making mistakes; hence experience, which is an excellent teacher.

That education system gives us not freedom to do the things we really wanted to learn but to force us to do home chores related to what we are not really interested to.

That education system is primarily on science and mathematics, and arts is not considered important (and, yes this is somehow true in highschool and elementary)

That education system is a vital part of the economy of capitalism, not freedom of speech. Those who loose themselves from the shackles of education are sometimes the ones that are successful (just to give an example; Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Bob Dylan) and this statement is not absolutely true, just to mind you.

philhellene

The problem with education is that there are too many people who think they are experts in education. The same people wonder why teachers have unions and won't lift a finger to keep them from getting fired---and then wonder why 20% of the population doesn't know that the Earth goes around the sun.

Twenty Percent of Americans Think the Sun Revolves Around Earth | NutritionResearchCenter.org

If you are serious about education then support teachers and think of the children first. Let the professionals do their jobs and make sure that children arent getting jumped on their way to school. If I lived in a crappy neighborhood, my last concern is a good grade, I am in survival mode first.

Man Who Killed 12 Brazilian Schoolchildren Left Video Before Attack - FoxNews.com

Luckily my father watched over me like a hawk, put me in a good school, and took education seriously. Result?

Qymaen

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U]YouTube - RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms[/ame]

philhellene

I'm sorry, that video is precisely the sort of thing I was talking about. He first admitted that he's not an expert in ADHD, and not qualified to discuss it, and then went on the weave a conspiratorial net about how it may just be some sort of emergent fact of the modern age.

ADHD can be tested, it is genetically inheritable, and if there were so many distracting factors that could cause it then why are only a small percentage of children diagnosed with it?

You could test the crackpot theory by finding children in the developing word, who do not have access to a Nintendo DS or Wii, and try to diagnose them as well.

There is a controversy about ADHD, but now its no longer about whether its a real disorder. Now the debate is over how to find it or what the causes are. If anyone doesnt believe its real just come to my school and visit a special needs class, put your money where your mouth is and we'll see how long it takes you to throw in the towel.

Richard Stanbery

Many of us may not understand that there is really a difference between true ADHD and just a normal, rambunctious, mischeivious boy that is into everything from setting the woods on fire with firecrackers, to taping the cats feet with tape, or carrying around a pocket full of garden snakes and BBs for his Daisy Red Rider.

As you can see, I was quite the active boy, and sometimes did things for which I deservedly received "the rod of correction". Boys are just like that.

But true ADHD is not just boys being boys. It is a true disorder, and those who suffer from it need the help they deserve. And their families do to. And that is probably what needs to be learned from all of this, is that ADHD is a very real thing.

The difficulty may be in diagnosing routinely mischeivious boys from ADHD, and that may be hard to identify by the lay person. A consortium of honest and knowledgeable doctors needs to be used in diagnosing who needs medication for ADHD, and who just needs "the rod of correction". The professionals need to be the ones to decide these cases.

I dont think the public truly understands ADHD. I wouldnt feel comfortable in deciding this in a boy. I would have to rely upon the doctors to get it right.