tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post7276257416021395351..comments2023-10-20T06:48:04.662-05:00Comments on Lord of the Green Dragons: "The Public School Nightmare...": John Taylor GattoRob Kuntzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17648200357715492214noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post-87661198948399216612010-08-29T20:53:40.030-05:002010-08-29T20:53:40.030-05:00Could not agree more, Netherworks. My list of sch...Could not agree more, Netherworks. My list of school-born idiocy under the current form would fill pages.<br /><br />There is a lot in this and other essays and articles by Gatto and others of his mind and philosophy worth taking note of. Neva Boyd's theories as I have posted links to here as well as quoted are worth studying in light of this, as are supporting links and articles I've pointed to in the past year. The essence of all of these is basically to promote healthy individualism in people from an early age and teach the basic tools for self-motivation and self-education.<br /><br />As my college Economics professor said the very first day with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face, "You are all here because you are too lazy to go to the library," and then after that said, "Your most important education will come the moment you walk out these doors," thus in life, and by participating at as many levels within it as possible. He knew that too many student especially in the Business College were mostly exchanging money for jobs, only to learn that 50% of all MBAs were not being hired at the corporate level. Why? Because they couldn't write well enough and could not effectively verbally communicate thoughts, so he added, "Do not forsake your liberal arts education while in college."<br /><br />Unfortunately most people I have met over so many years can tell me nothing of what they learned and for the most part viewed their "education" as a way to a job and thus forsook the very essence of why one should be educated to begin with, which is to effectively hone thinking skills/tools which are then applicable to any subject in or out of the class room.Rob Kuntzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17648200357715492214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post-82986735486344544522010-08-29T16:56:59.070-05:002010-08-29T16:56:59.070-05:00School sucks. It always has, always will, no matt...School sucks. It always has, always will, no matter who is teaching or what they teach--it requires discipline, compassion and attention coupled with effort. These things are in short supply amongst most adults, let alone their overly precious spawn.<br /><br />Pink Floyd's The Wall might have become obsolete and unfathomable...instead it endures.<br /><br />Whether we scrap the existing system or adopt a radical New and Improved one...we still need to deal with whomever is already In The Current System and who all has already come out of it. There are no Blank Slates here. Just muddled, bungled, botched and confused people looking for answers in the midst of rhetoric and ideologies.<br /><br />Screw the ideology. Let's approach things from the viewpoint that every kid matters. Let's have more self-reliant, self-teaching troublemakers and fewer passive drones. These troublemakers will solve the problem for themselves. Sure beats despair, idiocy, illiterate gangsters and suicide, doesn't it?netherwerkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08361800925618339097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post-84132064339663439302010-08-28T14:53:21.549-05:002010-08-28T14:53:21.549-05:00Since I live in Sweden, I can tell you that I find...Since I live in Sweden, I can tell you that I find it extremely unlikely that anyone considered the idea to start school at 7 an act of saving a few bucks. Also fairly unlikely was it any idea bout having the kinds learn from "their best teachers at home".<br /><br />This odd love story between home schooling and America is something I find slightly odd. <br /><br /><i>word verification: abides</i> Hmmm.AndreasDavourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17170806742393291962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post-69717064881685302722010-08-28T10:23:05.170-05:002010-08-28T10:23:05.170-05:00I gave up on it about a paragraph in, with the dis...I gave up on it about a paragraph in, with the discussion of IBM's vice-president. I've handled some aspects of technology instruction at the college level and talked extensively with colleagues who did the same. The "they'll figure it out through experimentation" approach leads to students who are great at Facebook, Google, and texting, but who have little skills at word processing, creating presentations, databases, etc. If we had a similar approach to education, half the students in college wouldn't know basic math or how to write a paper.MXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02839750340785203625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post-24314189511581176432010-08-28T08:00:33.013-05:002010-08-28T08:00:33.013-05:00I should add, though on a decidedly more cynical n...I should add, though on a decidedly more cynical note, that for all too many children these days, "home" is the last place they need to spend any more time at.Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01682401446176099294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post-75676302822329072052010-08-28T07:57:09.465-05:002010-08-28T07:57:09.465-05:00This may have been an interesting concept in the 5...This may have been an interesting concept in the 50's. In the 21st century however, life is expensive, and both parents usually work. 7 (or 10, or 13 if you have 3 kids) at half the family income is no way to provide your children with travel, music lessons, exposure to the fine arts, college, etc.<br /><br />Furthermore, the idea that tax money saved by cutting a few grades out of the educational system would be used for public works or saving homes from foreclosure is ludicrous! Any "extra" funds (if you can call it "extra" in a nation with a multi-trillion dollar deficit) would, of course, go to paying our debts or funding our wars.Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01682401446176099294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post-17731629471710739392010-08-28T02:55:51.822-05:002010-08-28T02:55:51.822-05:00Well funded public schools do their job better, th...Well funded public schools do their job better, there is no argument on this. That public schools are meant to socialize individuals is also widely accepted and cannot be refuted. In fact this is one reason that is often cited in criticism of home schooling; that home schooled children would not be well socialized. The debate is on whether the socialization agenda of public schools detract from its function to educate and how much more importance socialization has over education in ensuring that children get access to opportunities. That depends on the contemporary social values and home schooled children effective belong to parents who reject those values which is why in some countries, home schooling is a criminal offence.<br /><br />A pertinent question to ask then would be who determines what constitutes the values of the society that the children are socialized into and whether these values serve only the elite class or society in general. It would be ideal if the answers to these questions be as we hoped for but sometimes and in some countries, this is not so. If a skeptic's opinion of whether schools should be better or worse funded counts for anything, then that is a sign that his opinion still matters and so funding should be conditional on this or that implementation, which one would hope improves the balance between socialization and education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post-20197387315952950592010-08-27T23:50:32.572-05:002010-08-27T23:50:32.572-05:00Incisive commentary welcomed...Incisive commentary welcomed...Rob Kuntzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17648200357715492214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1016645013375966173.post-83665182518027277172010-08-27T23:41:42.908-05:002010-08-27T23:41:42.908-05:00What a load of crap.
Oh, and a citation?
Someone...What a load of crap.<br /><br />Oh, and a citation?<br /><br />Someone "self-taught" usually has no idea about the importance of accurate citations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com