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Ireland's big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives

theguardian.com

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Re: Ireland's big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives

#101

Post by left-struck »

roenxi wrote: post #99
h_tbob wrote: post #98

Everybody mocks me when I say this. But the most productive people in the world spent their time doing what they thought was fun. It’s like our biology is smarter than us. If it’s fun our brains are telling us there’s something about it we need. It’s like when you think a girl is cute for the first time. There’s no logic in it to you, but it’s the most logical thing in the world, that’s why it’s fun. Hans Zimmer used…

You haven't accounted for selection bias there. It is quite likely most people don't find a productive activity fun and it is a much better plan to try and be somewhat wealthy doing something that inspires a neutral feeling rather than poor. Much like the girl you find cute on first glance, if you change your mind later then it'd have been a real mistake to over-commit on first impressions. If there are 10 people who…

More succinctly, yes, most successful people do what they love but that doesn’t mean that most people who do what they love will be successful.

Re: Ireland's big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives

#102

Post by Filligree »

wiredfool wrote: post #23
Filligree wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which seems fair enough. There’s already a year difference between the youngest and oldest student in any given class; if you want your children to do well, make sure they’re among the oldest. The problem is it might come too late to change their self-perception. A year is a lot of time when you’re nine

TY is typically at 15ish.

That's the problem — it might well be far too late.

Re: Ireland's big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives

#103

Post by musicale »

This seems to disprove the idea that a year off from school will necessarily be a serious setback.

Closing schools during covid might seem to support it, but there was also a global pandemic going on at the time.

It would be interesting to compare TY during the pandemic vs. non-pandemic years.

Re: Ireland's big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives

#105

Post by asdasdsddd »

justonenote wrote: post #75
acjohnson55 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, why do you think that's a problem for boys, in particular?

can't answer for GP but most likely because he is male himself and so speaking to what he knows. Your question sounds like you are baiting, like you are pretending to be so naive that you are not aware that men and women face different expectations and circumstances growing up, and moreso there is something wrong with expressing concern for boys without also including girls. Maybe, hopefully, I'm reading you wrong.

Thank you, leftist universalism is really annoying to engage with. You could say, "its important to wash your hands" and they will ask you why you are being ableist and excluding people without hands.

Re: Ireland's big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives

#106

Post by TinkersW »

squigz wrote: post #52
Eumenes wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say someone who taught in NYC public schools for 30 years and won teacher of the year award is a good resource to learn from? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_Gatto

So biased toward American public education, in New York City of all places. For what it's worth, I look back on my time in school with relative fondness. Certainly I don't agree with anything like it 'being a cage' or feeling isolated from other people (????)

I very much found it to be a cage.

Re: Ireland's big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives

#107

Post by marcus_holmes »

giobox wrote: post #94
marcus_holmes wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Britain used to have "Ordinary level" (O levels) at age ~16 and "Advanced level" exams (A levels) at ~18. Students usually studied 5-8 O levels and then either left school to pursue a career or went on to study (usually) 3 A levels and go to university. O levels got replaced back in the 80's. A levels never got renamed.

This was certainly the case in most of Britain. Scotland has a separate education system from England and has today and historically offered different high school level qualifications ("Highers" etc).

Sorry, yes, my bad. Thank your for the correction

Re: Ireland's big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives

#108

Post by [deleted] »

spywaregorilla wrote: post #91
SoftTalker wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> tests, tests and more tests Same in the USA. The old student question "will this be on the test?" is now also asked by teachers and administrators. If the answer is "no" they skip it.

That's not unreasonable if you have good tests that hit the right elements. My experience about 10 years ago with the AP exams were very positive. The tests were good, and even though the classes were taught to the test, they were some of the best classes I ever took.

[deleted]

Re: Ireland's big school secret: how a year off-curriculum changes teenage lives

#109

Post by MattPalmer1086 »

spywaregorilla wrote: post #91
SoftTalker wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> tests, tests and more tests Same in the USA. The old student question "will this be on the test?" is now also asked by teachers and administrators. If the answer is "no" they skip it.

That's not unreasonable if you have good tests that hit the right elements. My experience about 10 years ago with the AP exams were very positive. The tests were good, and even though the classes were taught to the test, they were some of the best classes I ever took.

Education should be about more than just passing standardised tests.

I always remember my history teacher taking an entire term on the battles of the second world war. He brought in videos, old shell casings, all kinds of stuff. Everyone was into it, even kids who normally wouldn't pay attention.

At the end of term he apologised to us, since none of that would be in the test, and now we would have to work harder to get through the exam material. We didn't mind; he had hooked us on the subject.

But that is now rare. Increasingly teachers just teach to the test. And the number of tests the kids have to take keeps rising.

The best you can say about it is everyone gets the same tedious and stressful introduction to everything, which only proves their ability to remember lots of stuff under time pressure.

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