Don't stay in school

missbiggles1

Flyonthewall wrote: »

No, I went to an excellent school

From everything you've said - you really didn't!

Flyonthewall

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I'd've thought they were pretty adult subjects!

Well yeah, they are, but not one I've had to deal with and it would have been good to be taught other things rather than the same two things year after year. The first year of it was more than enough, I didn't need to hear it again and again and again. Being taught things everyone will deal with and can't avoid (like taxes and finances) would have been better.

lincroft1710 wrote: »

But it didn't have washing as an extra!

I'm very glad about that! We did textiles and people who did that to GSCE level may well have washed things.

We did a tie-dye thing, that includes washing normally. Maybe the teacher did that? I can't remember now how we did it other than I think I remember tying elastic bands around the material and I remember sewing and lots of needles lol.

missbiggles1 wrote: »

From everything you've said - you really didn't!

I hated school, but every school I went to is very highly rated and by far the best for many miles. They're the schools everyone wants to get into.

theoretica

Flyonthewall wrote: »

I hated school, but every school I went to is very highly rated and by far the best for many miles. They're the schools everyone wants to get into.

But you clearly didn't go to an excellent school for you. And are they the schools everyone wants to get into, or the school everyone wants to get their children into? Not always the same thing.

Flyonthewall

theoretica wrote: »

But you clearly didn't go to an excellent school for you. And are they the schools everyone wants to get into, or the school everyone wants to get their children into? Not always the same thing.

No, but I just wasn't happy going to a school so...

The school everyone wants to get their children into. I doubt the kids cared much, but given the choice of the school they went to over the next nearest I'm pretty certain they'd all have chosen the school they were at.

jm2926

In defence of Pythagoras, it is pretty useful if measuring out decking/patio/other groundwork to make sure it is square. I've never found a use for all that time I spent on dinosaurs though

I certainly learned about voting and governments, it was covered in modern studies. I actually took part in an inter schools mock EU parliament where each school was assigned a country. Interestingly we were Yugoslavia, and the news broke that morning that they were splitting into parts, so we spent the time negotiating new deals as our fellow schools were pretty wary about the news.

coolcait

Flyonthewall wrote: »

...

The amount of times I've seen something and just though "ugh, not that again". I notice what it's about, but not what that specific post or news story says because I've ignored. I've scrolled past it, clicked on another window, walked past the paper stand and focused on something else, turned the TV channel over, zoned out and got lost in my own thoughts or whatever.

Even when things are everywhere it's surprisingly easy to completely ignore them.

....

And therein lies the problem.


Schools could teach all of those things - but if the students have no will to learn about them, nothing will improve.


You also stated in a later post that -


"If we did anything else it must have been just a lesson or two but I seriously don't remember them ever being about anything else."


Maybe the lessons happened, but you "zoned out and got lost in [your] own thoughts or whatever"?

Flyonthewall

coolcait wrote: »

And therein lies the problem.

Schools could teach all of those things - but if the students have no will to learn about them, nothing will improve.

You also stated in a later post that -

"If we did anything else it must have been just a lesson or two but I seriously don't remember them ever being about anything else."

Maybe the lessons happened, but you "zoned out and got lost in [your] own thoughts or whatever"?

Then why bother teaching them anything then? If they just have no will to learn or no will to learn certain subjects now why bother? Surely it's all pointless.

They, by law, have to go to school. May as well try and teach them the important things in life because they have to go there and be taught something. When they grow up and have to do them things something in the back of their mind might go "ooh, wait, I do know this". If they never did it there's no chance of that so nothing stands a chance of changing and possibly improving.

No, if we did anything else I don't remember it because the focus was on the other two things so that's stuck in my head. I'd have known at the time, but one or two possible lessons within 5 years many years ago is, oddly enough, quite easy to forget. If they never happened it's no wonder I don't remember them.

I always used to listen to everything, do the work then, sometimes, just get a bit lost in my own thoughts, although I was always well aware of everything going on around me. I don't remember every single lesson I ever had, I doubt anyone does.

The quote you took was when I'm trying to ignore something though and more so based on now. I didn't try to ignore things at school.

pickledonionspaceraider

The video is spot on, in my opinion.

My experience of school was:-

They confuse memory with intelligence.

pickledonionspaceraider

These days too, going to Uni is not the be all and end all. A degree is not the guarantee of a job these days

Kid A leaves school and starts up bottom rung of ladder in a company, works hard, spends 3 years working his way up the ladder so by 21 he could easy be earning more than:-

Kid b leaves school and goes to Uni for three years, and in tens of thousands in debt, and goes to the same company as kid A, and starts on bottom rung of ladder as has no experience- if he can get a job having no work experience at age 21

Anatidaephobia

Flyonthewall wrote: »

May as well try and teach them the important things in life because they have to go there and be taught something. When they grow up and have to do them things something in the back of their mind might go "ooh, wait, I do know this". If they never did it there's no chance of that so nothing stands a chance of changing and possibly improving.

Ultimately though (and I think this point was made more articulately very early on in the thread), the most important thing is to teach them how to learn, how to problem solve, how to apply themselves, how to work things out for themselves etc. If they can do that, they can work out how to deal with any future problem they encounter. They might not immediately know the answer - so they're not going to think "ooh, wait, I do know this" - but they'll have the skills to work it out for themselves.

Or you could just choose the three most important things and teach them those and they'll be able to deal with those situations perfectly but how does that help them with the rest of life?