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Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

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Re: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

#171

Post by brlewis »

jff wrote: post #167
brlewis wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We have been teaching for two millenia" is no way to defend an educational system that developed during the industrial age. The Montessori method was published in 1912, and experience has shown its effectiveness. It is our current public education system, not its critics, that ignores experience. The nearest public Montessori school to me has a waiting list larger than its student body. As a result, I'm sending my k…

It wasn't the Montessori system that put men on the moon. I'm pretty sure it was bright young men sitting in high school math classes, learning to use their slide rules and practicing integration until they got it perfect, then going on to engineering school where they learned even more complex mathematics and physics. Have you ever looked at a math or physics book from the 50s? They lack the full-color illustrations…

Speculate about the moon landing all you want, but a lot of successful people, Google founders included, credit Montessori education as helpful to their success.

Re: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

#172

Post by tomjen3 »

barredo wrote: post #118
edw519 wrote: post #110

Oh come on now, Valedictorian, you can find plenty of important life skills to be learned in school if you only look hard enough: kindergarden - learn how to play nicely together first grade - learn how to read and write second grade - learn how to add, subtract, multiply, & divide third grade - learn how to spell fourth grade - learn how to play a musical instrument fifth grade - learn how to appreciate great litera…

If someone starts learning a foreign language at 7th grade something is wrong I think. Question: Is this the general case for US Education?

I started to learn my second foreign language in 7th grade, I started to learn the first in 4th grade.

To this day, I cannot play a musical instrument.

Re: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

#173

Post by kiba »

ars wrote: post #18

There's a lot of selection bias here - the majority (all?) of the readers of this site are far more intelligent than the majority. So all (most? many?) of us will probably agree with her (at least as regarding our own schooling). I know I do. But the trouble, the reality, is that most students can't do what she suggests, using our minds for creativity, and not rote work. There really is a difference in intelligence,…

I am not the brightest person on the block, but I probably know more than most people on something.

If you have curiosity, you will discover something.

Re: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

#174

Post by avani »

GVRV wrote: post #60
ars wrote: post #18

There's a lot of selection bias here - the majority (all?) of the readers of this site are far more intelligent than the majority. So all (most? many?) of us will probably agree with her (at least as regarding our own schooling). I know I do. But the trouble, the reality, is that most students can't do what she suggests, using our minds for creativity, and not rote work. There really is a difference in intelligence,…

I do not agree with her as well. Yes there are problems with the system. Yes, we can have a more liberal flexible system. But the system is designed for everyone. How many people in your class didn't know the capitals? How many couldn't write a formal letter? How many couldn't solve for x? I'm sure majority of HN thought this was trivial, but many others need this, and the only way they can learn it is through repeti…

"... but the fact is being a great artist and knowing differential calculus are mutually exclusive."

Either you missed a 'not', or you need to stop and think about the number of people you've just insulted with this statement. Math and art have been strongly intertwined for a very long time, from the Golden Ratio of the Greeks to Da Vinci to Escher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_and_art). Those who are good at math are frequently good at art partly because they can understand abstractions and separate them from 'icons' of objects and ideas. I would instead state that it is the rare great artist that doesn't have the ability to quickly pick up continuous math concepts.

Re: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

#175

Post by pmjordan »

eru wrote: post #165
JabavuAdams wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Er, if you can't read before you get to kindergarten your parents are fucking up. Either that or they're recognizing and embracing the uniqueness of your passion to not read.

Are you talking about the kind of Kindergarten that starts at the age of 3? (In Germany it would probably not be a good idea to teach your kids how to read before they go to enter school (at age 6 or 7). Schooling is mandatory in Germany, and elementary school is boring enough if you don't already know the stuff they are trying to teach you. If you have more choice for your kids, then reading earlier may or may not b…

I don't see why it would be a bad idea, many kids seem to fail to learn to read well if the task of teaching it is left to the school.

FWIW, I could read when I started school (at 6, in Austria [1]), as well as do simple maths; I was bored pretty much throughout my education, but at least I did well. Bored & lagging behind surely must be worse.

[1] homeschooling is permitted here but it's extremely rare as far as I know.

Re: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

#176

Post by Dove »

fendrak wrote: post #4

I think this is something many high school seniors realize at some point or another: had we known how easy it really was to game the system, we might have started playing the game earlier and earned more points. We aren't rewarded for interests, or how we approach things, or even for helping our fellow students; we're rewarded for scoring as many points as we can to the detriment of all other things.

I don't think the difficult thing is figuring out that it's an easy game, but rather figuring out that it's a game at all.

The system looks like reality when it's all you know. Setting your own goals is a hard concept.

Re: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

#177

Post by eru »

pmjordan wrote: post #175
eru wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you talking about the kind of Kindergarten that starts at the age of 3? (In Germany it would probably not be a good idea to teach your kids how to read before they go to enter school (at age 6 or 7). Schooling is mandatory in Germany, and elementary school is boring enough if you don't already know the stuff they are trying to teach you. If you have more choice for your kids, then reading earlier may or may not b…

I don't see why it would be a bad idea, many kids seem to fail to learn to read well if the task of teaching it is left to the school. FWIW, I could read when I started school (at 6, in Austria [1]), as well as do simple maths; I was bored pretty much throughout my education, but at least I did well. Bored & lagging behind surely must be worse. [1] homeschooling is permitted here but it's extremely rare as far as I k…

Yes, the best solution is getting better (un-)schooling, instead of having to work around and against the education system.

Re: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

#178

Post by AndyKelley »

moron4hire wrote: post #144
tiffani wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...it's a fitting metaphor. Meh.

then it's not literal.

I have an idea for a website.

literalpolice.com (I've already bought the domain name)

A community of people who care about preserving the power of the word "literally."

The site maintains a list of websites and people from the community who are assigned to them. When you are assigned to a website, your task is to have an account with as close to a variant as "LiteralPolice" as possible. You simply read the website as you normally do, and whenever someone abuses the word "literally," troll them for it.

With enough community members, we could have literal police on every website!

What do you think?

Re: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

#180

Post by jcdreads »

AndyKelley wrote: post #178
moron4hire wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

then it's not literal.

I have an idea for a website. literalpolice.com (I've already bought the domain name) A community of people who care about preserving the power of the word "literally." The site maintains a list of websites and people from the community who are assigned to them. When you are assigned to a website, your task is to have an account with as close to a variant as "LiteralPolice" as possible. You simply read the website as…

Check out the literal web log:

http://literally.barelyfitz.com/

Sadly, it seems to be dormant.

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