111–120 of 276 posts
This doesn’t ring true to me. I don’t feel like I really got to peak “raw brainpower” until about 22-23 years old.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, don't we all hate it when people come into our job and tell us how to do it? Parents love to think that because they have had one child (or maybe a couple), they know how to educate children writ large. Compounding that, most people went through the education system as students, so they believe they have insider knowledge as to how the system works. Usually their advice on how to fix the system is geared toward…
Teaching is not nearly as hard as you lay it out to be. The problem is teaching is los pay and low status in most places, and as such mostly attracts people who are terrible teachers. Our kids are in private school now because our public school is a dumpster fire of bad teachers and admins. The private school teachers don’t get paid a lot but they are valued and highly motivated to actually reach kids. The difference…
If I were to speculate, I suspect the differences are:
1. Modestly higher pay in the private school, attracting better teachers
2. More selective student body in the private school, making the school environment more conducive to learning for average and above-average students, and more attractive to teachers
3. No public-sector union in the private school, leading to more accountability for teachers
The second point is important. Private schools exclude all the kids whose parents lack the motivation, time, or resources to place their child in an exclusive institution. They exclude the children who didn't learn the behavioral skills to conform to the expectations of a private school. They exclude many children with disabilities even if they can't explicitly discriminate. Meanwhile, public schools are required to include children with disabilities (often involving disruptive behavior) in class with other students to the extent practical.
Public schools are charged with upholding the social contract that all children are entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education regardless of their social status, wealth, disability, or the financial or emotional capacity of their parents. It's a heavy burden to carry, but it's one that we as a society have decided is worth the cost. Your children's private school doesn't carry that burden.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, don't we all hate it when people come into our job and tell us how to do it? Parents love to think that because they have had one child (or maybe a couple), they know how to educate children writ large. Compounding that, most people went through the education system as students, so they believe they have insider knowledge as to how the system works. Usually their advice on how to fix the system is geared toward…
Teaching is not nearly as hard as you lay it out to be. The problem is teaching is los pay and low status in most places, and as such mostly attracts people who are terrible teachers. Our kids are in private school now because our public school is a dumpster fire of bad teachers and admins. The private school teachers don’t get paid a lot but they are valued and highly motivated to actually reach kids. The difference…
> Our kids are in private school now because our public school is a dumpster fire of bad teachers and admins. The private school teachers don’t get paid a lot but they are valued and highly motivated to actually reach kids. The difference is astounding.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. You have N=1 child, and you extrapolate everything from that one child, especially how to teach all children. Your fifth grader is in fifth grader for a single year, and so your experience on fifth graders is limited to that. The teacher teaches 20-30+ new fifth graders every year, for decades, and has a wide range of experience.
I'm sure your fifth grader is very smart and talented. To be learning Latin in 5th grade, they must be. And so what has happened to their old classroom at public school? That classroom is now absent one of the brightest, most engaged members of that community. I'm not saying you were wrong to change schools, that was a good move for you. But for the teacher, you made their job actually harder. And think about what happens when all the top students sort themselves into the top private schools. Where does that leave the public classroom?
This is why your experience was night and day. Take all the top students and put them in a room together, and the learning happens almost automatically. It's like magic. Take all the bottom performers and put them in a room together, and it's like pulling teeth. It's torture.
So yeah, in some sense you're right. Teaching people who want to learn isn't all that hard. It's actually a lot of fun! But that's not all there is to teaching, and so I would implore you to maybe adjust your perspective to account for this.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Teaching is not nearly as hard as you lay it out to be. The problem is teaching is los pay and low status in most places, and as such mostly attracts people who are terrible teachers. Our kids are in private school now because our public school is a dumpster fire of bad teachers and admins. The private school teachers don’t get paid a lot but they are valued and highly motivated to actually reach kids. The difference…
Your comment is self-contradictory. You say the problem is low teacher pay and status, but then point out the private school teachers aren't highly paid, but are motivated. If I were to speculate, I suspect the differences are: 1. Modestly higher pay in the private school, attracting better teachers 2. More selective student body in the private school, making the school environment more conducive to learning for aver…
Our private school teachers are treasured, and are honored to be part of the long tradition of this particular school.
My children are also the same children they were in public school, but they are learning more now because they have better teachers. The knowledge gap of them transitioning from public to private school was considerable.
Intrinsic motivation is a factor, I agree with that. But it is more than that. Public schools (as a rule) are not getting our best and brightest, they’re more getting those who are settling for it for their job.
* Editing to add I agree on lack of unions in private schools. Our public school teachers in NJ at least have no real accountability at all.
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My parents do not speak fluent English, they have zero grasp of the sciences or even basic math (they still have trouble grasping percentages and fractions), and are very susceptible to scams by cult leaders from their country of origin. Same for almost all of my aunts and uncles, who lives hundreds or thousands of miles away. I would have been doomed without an external setting where I got to interact with much more…
Well, yes, the adage that "It takes a village to raise a child" still holds.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Teaching is not nearly as hard as you lay it out to be. The problem is teaching is los pay and low status in most places, and as such mostly attracts people who are terrible teachers. Our kids are in private school now because our public school is a dumpster fire of bad teachers and admins. The private school teachers don’t get paid a lot but they are valued and highly motivated to actually reach kids. The difference…
> Teaching is not nearly as hard as you lay it out to be. > Our kids are in private school now because our public school is a dumpster fire of bad teachers and admins. The private school teachers don’t get paid a lot but they are valued and highly motivated to actually reach kids. The difference is astounding. This is exactly what I'm talking about. You have N=1 child, and you extrapolate everything from that one chi…
They both got “B”s in public school, despite their standardized tests showing them in the 15-20th percentile.
They both struggled with their knowledge deficit transitioning into the private school.
They are doing very well now. Not straight A’s, but they are learning what they need to learn and flourishing as people.
I have seen this repeated for many other families. A lot of public schools are simply awful.
Personally, I’ve always felt that schooling is a waste of time, money, and resources. The default model of civilization is that children are absent from life. This means that kids are missing out on seeing adults interact, so they mature more slowly, and it also means that their life experiences are limited to what happens in a building. Importantly, after 18 years, people in the USA leave school in debt and are no b…
I’m confused. Are you suggesting children should be working?
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If the "people who have spent their lives studying education" are using learning styles it isn't hard to be smarter than them, it has been roundly debunked. https://www.educationnext.org/stubborn-myth-learning-styles-...
The article you cite doesn't actually provide any data for their claims, and only links to another article on the same site which, again, doesn't actually provide any data. In fact, even checking the articles in their "Research" section, there is no information about the actual data provided, and all links I've seen were only to other articles on the same site. It leads me to believe that the people behind the site h…
Here is a Tedx Talk about those studies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs
This is one of the studies (that with citations to many dubunking studies) that I was assigned in my M.Ed program:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1539-6053.20...
I strongly disagree with this. I don't know if it is genuinely true in a biological sense, but in my life experience it is not even close to true. There are lots of things I do that are so far beyond my abilities as a teenager. It could be due to other factors, but my gut suggests those other factors are much more important than this comment about mere brain power leads us to believe.