I’m interested in wedrifid’s response as well, but I share the disgust for forced schooling, at least as it’s currently practiced.
In particular it’s the extreme lack of freedom that bothers me. Students are constantly monitored, disciplined for minor infractions, and often can’t even go to the bathroom without permission.
Knowledge is dispensed in small units to the students as if they were all identical, without any individualization or recognition that students may be interested in different things or have different rates of learning.
Students are frequently discouraged from learning on their own or pursuing their own interests, or at the very least not given time to do so.
The practice of giving grades puts the emphasis on competition and guessing the teacher’s password rather than on creative thought or deep understanding. Students learn to get a grade, not out of intellectual curiosity.
Students are isolated in groups of students their own age, rather than interacting in the real world, with community members of all different ages. This creates an unnatural and unhealthy social environment that leads to cliques and bullying.
There are many schools that have made progress on some of these areas. Many cities have alternative or magnet schools that solve some of these problems, so I’m describing a worst-case scenario.
I’d suggest “The Teenage Liberation Handbook” by Grace Llewellyn for more on this, if you haven’t already read it.
I’m interested in wedrifid’s response as well, but I share the disgust for forced schooling, at least as it’s currently practiced.
In particular it’s the extreme lack of freedom that bothers me. Students are constantly monitored, disciplined for minor infractions, and often can’t even go to the bathroom without permission.
Knowledge is dispensed in small units to the students as if they were all identical, without any individualization or recognition that students may be interested in different things or have different rates of learning.
Students are frequently discouraged from learning on their own or pursuing their own interests, or at the very least not given time to do so.
The practice of giving grades puts the emphasis on competition and guessing the teacher’s password rather than on creative thought or deep understanding. Students learn to get a grade, not out of intellectual curiosity.
Students are isolated in groups of students their own age, rather than interacting in the real world, with community members of all different ages. This creates an unnatural and unhealthy social environment that leads to cliques and bullying.
There are many schools that have made progress on some of these areas. Many cities have alternative or magnet schools that solve some of these problems, so I’m describing a worst-case scenario.
I’d suggest “The Teenage Liberation Handbook” by Grace Llewellyn for more on this, if you haven’t already read it.
Students don’t get to see adults making decisions.