why do we go to school? @$*%*#!) seriously

[ywhtptgtfo]

everything is on the internet nowadays...

want to understand how the brain works? there's a youtube video for it

want to study calculus? pirate a freakin' book

want to become a scientist? there's a how to guide on the web

why the heck do students have to go to some dumb institution called 'school'? it's so 19th century. now wonder why most colleges are now nothing but more than a sports facility.

I guess the question is on you - can you become a scientist just by reading up on the internet?

Just because you got little out of college and treated it as nothing more than a sports facility doesn't mean it's dumb or useless.

 

[cybrxkhan]

I guess the question is on you - can you become a scientist just by reading up on the internet?

Just because you got little out of college and treated it as nothing more than a sports facility doesn't mean it's dumb or useless.

Hmm. This is something I've found out so far in my college carrer. If I put some effort into it, I can learn a lot of things that aren't found easily elsewhere, be they simple facts, ways and modes of thinking and expressing myself, and life skills/experiences.

 

[ywhtptgtfo]

Because kids are dumb, and often times the parents aren't much brighter, especially in the area of child education.

School classes are taught by people who are experts at teaching children things. Be angry all you want about any number of things, but education by educators should be a no-brainer.

The "experts" at teaching children thing is probably overrated. Most of the peers I had back in university days who chose teaching as a job not because they were good at it but that it's a stable living and they couldn't hope to compete in their respective fields.

I also highly doubt that 1-2 years of training in a B. Ed degree would make them experts. It doesn't mean teachers are bad of course but it's not like they all did M. Ed or P. Eds which involved far more rigourous training selection.

 

[Narz]

Because kids are dumb, and often times the parents aren't much brighter, especially in the area of child education.

School classes are taught by people who are experts at teaching children things. Be angry all you want about any number of things, but education by educators should be a no-brainer.

Kind of a naive viewpoint (or maybe you just had really good teachers). Alot of teachers stopped caring years ago. Even the good ones are hampered by curriculum, standardized tests, catering to the lowest denominator (the stupidest kids in the class) etc. I learned math because I thought math was cool. I learned to love reading in spite of school because my mom always brought me books home that I wanted to read while other kids learned to hate it because they had to read with test answers & meaning (the meaning the teacher wanted to hear) in mind.

I've met quite a number of kids who overachieved in high school & college & thru it lost their lust for learning. I'm a college dropout, my ex graduated from an ivy league school, she barely picks up a book anymore, I read all the time.

Just because someone majored in education doesn't mean they're gonna be a good teacher anymore than someone who majored in nursing is gonna be good for your health. They might know how to administer drugs or tests by the books but that doesn't necessarily mean you should be so eager to put your health or your mind in their hands (at least not fully).

 

[sophie]

why the heck do students have to go to some dumb institution called 'school'? it's so 19th century. now wonder why most colleges are now nothing but more than a sports facility.

You are aware that the vast majority of "those papers and writings you "can easily find online" (which only represents a small fraction of what has been published) are mostly:

1) written by university professors
2) funded by universities and grants extended to universities
3) published via university presses

right? Complain all you want about college athletics (really: there is a lot to complain about) but don't for a second think that universities do nothing.

As to your larger point. To me education is about providing you with the tools, basic knowledge, and interest necessary to pursue your own further education. If High School encourages even one student to learn more about Picasso or study Chemistry or learn an instrument or acquire deeper knowledge about Literary criticism then it is a worthwhile institution, in my opinion.

 

[Tahuti]

Kind of a naive viewpoint (or maybe you just had really good teachers).

This alone already makes your post great. Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Narz]

The "experts" at teaching children thing is probably overrated. Most of the peers I had back in university days who chose teaching as a job not because they were good at it but that it's a stable living and they couldn't hope to compete in their respective fields.

Right. Teaching is a backup plan for many people. Musicians who can't play at a high enough level teach band, dancers who no one cares to pay to perform teach dance, English teachers might have preferred to write plays. I teach chess in after-school programs but I don't enjoy it much (private students moreso), I'd rather be a Grandmaster & get paid to play but that's not gonna happen. It's largely babysitting. "God" bless the good teachers, it's certainly not easy for them to shine, I've had really just one that stands out in all of grade school & one more from college.

This alone already makes your post great. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Thanks.

 

[Evie]

I still would rather learn music from the trained musician who couldn't make it than from the parent who never got music training or the self-proclaimed internet music genius.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

now wonder why most colleges are now nothing but more than a sports facility.

School can also teach people to form coherent sentences, and even to begin them with capital letters.

 

[ywhtptgtfo]

School can also teach people to form coherent sentences, and even to begin them with capital letters.

Maybe the schools he went to were little more than sports facilities.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Some school are not great; some teachers shouldn't be teachers; testing and grades need an overhaul; education in many places is crap. But it is the best system we have for providing a basic (and not so basic) education to millions of people. Your education is yours to throw away and you will be the poorer for doing so. Learn to read. Learn to write well. Learn to think and understand the broad sweep of history. Learn as much as you can and then teach what you know to others.

 

[Joecoolyo]

As to your larger point. To me education is about providing you with the tools, basic knowledge, and interest necessary to pursue your own further education. If High School encourages even one student to learn more about Picasso or study Chemistry or learn an instrument or acquire deeper knowledge about Literary criticism then it is a worthwhile institution, in my opinion.

Aye, this.

Education is not about you just learning random factoids and memorizing them, the OP is right, that's what the internet excels at. Rather, you are being taught how to do things, how to produce things. You take those random factoids on the internet, stuff you can either memorize or not, and produce something completely different with them. Schools are there to arm you with the tools to do that, as Owen said.

Basically, schools exist to mold you into a productive human being, whatever that production might entail.

 

[Borachio]

Learn as much as you can and then teach what you know to others.

That's good advice.

The tragedy is that the education systems which could promise so much deliver so little, and too easily alienate those who they should instead inspire.

 

[civver_764]

You really think 12 year olds are going to want to sit down and learn things on their own?

Why are we trying to force people to do things they don't want to do?

I dropped out of college so I could learn whatever I wanted without all the artificial stress and without putting myself thousands of dollars in debt. I feel like it was the right decision, I've always been my own best (and favorite) teacher.

Being educated is not that important. Our society has kind of forgotten that but it's true, humans lived happily for thousands of years without knowing any of the things we learn in school today. For those who genuinely like to learn (like me), we don't need to be forced. As for the others - seriously who cares? Let them do what they want.

I think Universities still serve an awesome purpose as centers of research, but there's no reason we should be telling kids they need to go there. Some people just aren't into that stuff, and it's ok.

 

[Kyriakos]

[...]

Basically, schools exist to mold you into a productive human being, whatever that production might entail.

Schools are good at molding.

 

[Hygro]

I was 2/3s unschooled in high school, spent my time on civfanatics and learned more than most of my peers in the areas I cared about in one of our state's districts, but I missed out on some cool stuff like calculus and being practiced at algebra... School's pretty over rated but it's far from worthless. And a good university experience is a godsend.

 

[Goodfella]

I don't understand why people keep bringing up this whole "good students demonstrate a love for learning early on" stuff when it's been addressed so throughly as is. It doesn't matter if some kids demonstrate a love for math early on; I hated it in elementary and middle school but started to really like it in high school especially after taking physics and calculus. Mandating that I take geometry and algebra made that happen.

Also, by honing in on Cheezy's "experts in teaching" remark you guys are missing the point which was that children need to learn and they can do so better from a teacher than on their own or from their parents.

 

[Perfection]

I love learning, I friggin' hated school.

 

[ywhtptgtfo]

For those who genuinely like to learn (like me), we don't need to be forced. As for the others - seriously who cares? Let them do what they want.

And you are sure those who opt out know what they are doing and that they wouldn't just hang in the streets or ghettos to cause trouble?

I don't understand why people keep bringing up this whole "good students demonstrate a love for learning early on" stuff when it's been addressed so throughly as is. It doesn't matter if some kids demonstrate a love for math early on; I hated it in elementary and middle school but started to really like it in high school especially after taking physics and calculus. Mandating that I take geometry and algebra made that happen.

Also, by honing in on Cheezy's "experts in teaching" remark you guys are missing the point which was that children need to learn and they can do so better from a teacher than on their own or from their parents.

I guess one thing to add to this is that even though teachers are not necessarily experts in teaching, they should, on average, be much more capable of teaching their subject of specialty than an average parent. Aside from the training, they have a full arsenal of resources at their disposal and they are paid to do this as a full time job.

 

[Hygro]

I don't understand why people keep bringing up this whole "good students demonstrate a love for learning early on" stuff when it's been addressed so throughly as is. It doesn't matter if some kids demonstrate a love for math early on; I hated it in elementary and middle school but started to really like it in high school especially after taking physics and calculus. Mandating that I take geometry and algebra made that happen.

Also, by honing in on Cheezy's "experts in teaching" remark you guys are missing the point which was that children need to learn and they can do so better from a teacher than on their own or from their parents.

And some students will do better, sure, with a teacher, but will find better teachers in their environment than school can provide. Much of school showed me how the system is run by more inept people than I need to be comfortable with the world, and that in itself was both motivating and demotivating to achieve within the system. Demotivating to achieve within the K-12 system for its own sake, but motivating to get to a place of higher learning where I could get vested with the tools of social change.