Admiral Rockwell Tory
Diamond Member
Any year we went to school is important.I stopped gong to school twice in the 9th grade because they couldn't keep me interested.This was circa 1962-63 in rural schools in Texas. I took a GED test in the Navy, in 1965, and scored at 11th grade level except in math.
After the military I enrolled at a Jr College for a couple of things that interested me, Sociology and American History.
The Sociology instructor was too stuck on herself to suit my tastes and the History instructor was boring. I've learned more, about both subjects, in the last 12 years I've frequented political message boards than my kids learned in High School and college- mostly because I *wanted* to and I can read. My professional life allowed me to work with some pretty sharp people and lay a foundation of looking at situations objectively by researching ALL available evidence before rendering a conclusion.
Education is merely a passing on of knowledge, good, bad and/or indifferent.
What should school do today? Teach how to find answers not what answers are to pass a test. Teach respect through example using the Declaration of Independence as it's foundation, especially the phrase- all men are created equal and have certain unalienable rights. Teach individual effort creates the greater good Naturally. Teach individualism is not conformity.
Reading, writing and arithmetic are really all that's required to accomplish any assigned task. Engage the creativity a sponge for a brain has naturally. Encourage creativity not conformity to test standards. Stop the alleged self esteem building crap.
Self esteem is achieved with accomplishing a task. Period. Respect is earned when respect is given, which builds self respect. Creativity encourages innovation, innovation can create wealth, wealth comes in more than monetary acquisition.
Standardized conformity is a *one size fits all* mandate- it ain't working.
Got any examples from this century?
No, because you are talking about schools NOW, not 50 years ago.