Is this a good idea?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jim..._b_712410.html
I believe in giving people more freedom over their education. I don't believe a student should be forced into any program.
Mod Edit: This thread is closed.
Is this a good idea?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jim..._b_712410.html
I believe in giving people more freedom over their education. I don't believe a student should be forced into any program.
Mod Edit: This thread is closed.
Last edited by Rozz; 2020-02-07 at 02:57 PM.
Multi track education systems are the way of the future. Every year we become a more creative based economy where we need critical thinkers in specialized rolls, not to mention the growing emphasis on employment that you can enjoy.
The old education system where everyone learns the same answers to the same questions and pumps out academic drones is outdated.
I hesitate to support this fully because I don't want a voting public that has even less of a grasp on government, economics, history and science. Granted we pretty much suck at creating an informed public, but I'd rather we not do even worse. Speaking as a mathematician, I'm willing to grant that most of the math taught won't be used at all if you're not going to college, so that's not really necessary. Probably literature as well.
The author seems to be pushing this 'either or' idea, but I don't see why we can't maintain a core liberal arts curriculum combined with trade classes. I mean, are we really going to have students doing 6 periods of shop class?
Many schools already offer an exceptional number of elective offerings. It's just a matter of allocating the resources and having a local populace large enough to handle it. Here is one category from my old high school:
"Architecture & Construction
____311000 Principles of Architecture & Construction*
____311150 Principles of Architecture & Construction DC*
____312010 Architectural Design
____313020 Advanced Architectural Design (2 periods)
____314030 Practicum in Architectural Design (2 periods)
____311040 Interior Design*
____312050 Advanced Interior Design
____313060 Practicum in Interior Design (2 periods)
____312070 Construction Management
____312080 Construction Technology (2 periods)
____312160 Construction Technology DC (2 periods)
____313090 Advanced Construction Technology DC (2 periods)
____314100 Practicum in Construction Management DC (2 periods)
____312110 Building Maintenance Technology (2 periods)
____313120 Advanced Building Maintenance Tech. (2 periods)
____313130 HVAC & Refrigeration Technology DC (2 periods)
____314140 Advanced HVAC & Refrig. Tech. DC (2 periods)"
http://www.txkisd.net/pdf/courseguides/THS.pdf
Last edited by Ahovv; 2016-03-06 at 08:22 AM.
An interesting article by Irving Wladawsky-Berger: How Dual-Track Education Could Help Students Gear Up for the Digital Economy
[Infraction]
Last edited by Rozz; 2020-02-07 at 02:54 PM. Reason: Thread Necromancy
This author, like other people who think that the point of education is to push people directly into vocations, is an idiot.
Yes, there should be far more in the way of options available. But calling liberal arts and the humanities "useless" is, funnily enough, the exact sort of mindset that encourages educational systems focused on numerical results rather than cultivating critical thinking ability. We got to the point of No Child Left Behind because there was a massive push in the educational system for creating 'job ready skillsets'.
Like let's not talk about the fact that school weeks are too long and classes too large, let's not talk about the continued existence of homework despite no evidence it actually does anything beneficial, let's not talk about the elimination of domestic skill classes because they aren't job applicable...No, the problem is apparently too many history classes.
Practical skillsets are necessary. But critical thinking is more important, because they better enable you to learn said practical skillsets.
Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
This is a terrifying idea. It's basically every dystopian sci-fi story about systems where "certain people" with "certain backgrounds" and "certain parentage" get pushed into one mode of learning or another. It's a terrific way to super-charge economic inequality and turn into into a class system. There are plenty of studies that show that college-educated folks are more likely to have kids who go to college, and the reverse is just as true.
The idea that existing "two track programs" in schools aren't accounting for the needs of students is missing the fundamental problem: schools aren't accounting for the needs of individual students.
We don't need a system with "tracks". We need smaller classrooms and more individualized learning. This idiot's article does nothing to solve the problem he complains about, it just does it in two different ways.
Human progress isn't measured by industry. It's measured by the value you place on a life.
Just, be kind.
So, has anybody noticed this is a necro and that the article itself wasn't exactly new even when it was posted?
With COVID-19 making its impact on our lives, I have decided that I shall hang in there for my remaining days, skip some meals, try to get children to experiment with making henna patterns on their skin, and plant some trees. You know -- live, fast, dye young, and leave a pretty copse. I feel like I may not have that quite right.
Further, if there "aren't enough seats in college" the solution is not to have less people go to college. That's insanity! It's also a self-perpetuating death spiral in a capitalist educational system, less demand, fewer colleges & seats, fewer seats, push more people into vocational careers, reduced demand for college...rinse & repeat.
It's not surprising this article comes from a middle-aged white academic. And that's not to insult academia, it's that in my studies as a political scientist, this sort of article was all over the place in various forms by middle-class-and-up Western (mainly American) white academics.
Human progress isn't measured by industry. It's measured by the value you place on a life.
Just, be kind.
Oh I well recall the slough of bad takes from people that defaulted into tenure, make no mistake.
I think quite a bit of it is a function of these chuds mostly only ever having taught at a collegiate level - i.e. an educational environment wherein most people are functional adults and the for-pay system means more difficult students often get vetted out. They don't have a current comprehension as to the state of K-12 in the US.
Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
Is this going to turn into an embarrassment like last time you said you studied something?
And then you bailed. Studied? When you say you've studied anything, I don't trust that for a second since you can't even do simple maths.
Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
That's nice, dear. I don't particularly give a shit about some poster's napkin math.
There are doubtless plenty of studies on the subject of the impacts of rainwater harvesting by domestic users that should probably be consulted first. But that aside, did you come into the thread to actually talk about two track education, or did you just want to take a cheap pot shot at a poster you dislike over something entirely unrelated?
Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi