Im currently in year 11 at my public school in Queensland Australia and I am still astonished at the poor work ethic both the teachers and the students have toward the study. Today in graphic design we spent a majority of the lesson doing nothing cause the teacher had no idea what she was teaching us and most of the kids where conversing to themselves, the task was to go onto some internet website and follow a set of instructions to pretty much teach ourselves. I am yet to figure out why we need a teacher in the first place when we could just as easily do it at home in less that 10 minutes.
Another problem are the general learning teachers that do maths, English and social studies. Now these teachers should all be either educated towards the subject they are doing, fired or replaced. As they were becoming teachers around 10-20 years ago when the unemployment rates were high they got jobs instantly with little qualifications. Now all they seem to do is get a text book (which mind you every student has) and read it to the class, then they go on the internet print off a couple of documents for us to do while they sit back drinking their coffee and counting the $200 or so that they made that day for doing little to nothing.
Anyhoo I had this idea of cutting out high school so once you have finished the primary studies of years 1 through 8 you can head off onto university or another tertiary school to study what you want straight away. For this to be achieved the education system will have to bump up what is being taught in primary schools in order for the kids to have at least an idea about how to cope in university with all the exams and extra curricular studying.
Another idea would be to continue to have high school but have it be allowed for students to drop out and continue they educational career in a university with their own knowledge of what they want to do. Students can drop out anytime they wish to get an apprenticeship so I think it is only fair students should also be able to drop out to get a degree at a university.
Perhaps it is the fact I go to a public school or perhaps it is because Australian education systems are flawed (most likely both) but all I know is that I hate high school and I just want to go to university to start studying real courses.
What are your thoughts on this?
Cheers
Well you dont exclusively pay for High School to learn you stuff like graphic design in a professional way.
Well, in the Netherlands we get a diploma for completing High School, which has some value when looking for a job, in case you don't succeed at a university.
And high school is to orientate yourself so you know what you want to do when you grow up. I doubt you know what you want to do when you are 11-13.
Western Australian here, went to a public school and I didn't really have any of those problems except for the rare relief teacher cases. All of my teachers were qualified in their subject and knew what they were talking about.
Also, for my uni course at least, you needed at least year 12 level mathematics, specialist mathematics, physics, chemistry, english, all that mumbo-jumbo to even be considered. And yes we have used all of these. For courses without these requirements, I could see it working, but it would require large changes to account for the lack of highschool level knowledge.
Sounds more likely you just had a shit teacher honestly. Moving university to high school wouldn't make a difference at all, you would just be giving high school a different name then.
I think you're completely right that there's a lot to be said about High Schools. I myself do not recognize the ones you talk about specifically, but I notice a bunch of different ones where I go to school.
For one, there's a constant focus on random group tasks, no matter the subject or the task, groups are always there. I figure if you think learning to work in groups is that important, then teach it as a subject.
Then the teaching itself is often flawed in many ways. The teachers are bad and do things in completely their own way whatever they think seems good. The work ethics of students is also severely fucked. We have percentages of absence to keep track of, which means that there is a natural focus on avoiding absence rather than achieving anything.
Then there's the subjects themselves. Almost everything we're taught is stuff we will never need. I think I heard in some TED talk, someone said it very elegantly: We're basically being taught to be teachers.
You might not agree with my complaints here, and I'm not sure they're the real problems. But I do know that there [I]are[/I] problems, and school systems could definitely use a revolution of sorts.
[QUOTE=eternalflamez;35147055]Well, in the Netherlands we get a diploma for completing High School, which has some value when looking for a job, in case you don't succeed at a university.[/QUOTE]
In America a high school diploma doesn't mean anything, everyone wants college grads even when the job doesn't require it.
[QUOTE=eternalflamez;35147055]And high school is to orientate yourself so you know what you want to do when you grow up. I doubt you know what you want to do when you are 11-13.[/QUOTE]
I still don't know what I want to be, nothing out there sounds good, and anything that does is out of reach.
[QUOTE=Mettrone;35146995]Anyhoo I had this idea of cutting out high school so once you have finished the primary studies of years 1 through 8 you can head off onto university or [B]another tertiary school to study what you want straight away.[/B] For this to be achieved the education system will have to bump up what is being taught in primary schools in order for the kids to have at least an idea about how to cope in university with all the exams and extra curricular studying. [/QUOTE]
From the bolded part: this school system is present in many countries around europe, including mine
and yes, it does indeed work
[editline]15th March 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=eternalflamez;35147055]Well, in the Netherlands we get a diploma for completing High School, which has some value when looking for a job, in case you don't succeed at a university.
And high school is to orientate yourself so you know what you want to do when you grow up. [B]I doubt you know what you want to do when you are 11-13[/B].[/QUOTE]
In germany, kids end their primary school at 13 and choose a more narrow field, I think that part lasts four years. Machinists, Seamstresses and other such fields start their practical learning straight away. It's hit and miss, one problem is that for example, in Austria there are barely any seamstresses and because of that you can't do practical teaching, which means that the textile industry decreases more and more. The other problem is that indeed not many people choose a profession at 13, and even if they do there's a high chance they'll change their minds.
These are my last 2/3 months in high school and honestly - I hate it. I've got subjects like physics, chemistry, latvian literature and biology, which I've got no use at all. I can't wait until I get into uni and can learn stuff I'll actually need in a work environment.
Amurrica's education system as a whole sucks, you'd have to change more than high school.
New South Wales here,
I actually reckon the education system is fine. You can only drop out of school once your 17, but by then you would (hopefully) be well educated. I also don't like your idea of school being only Years one to eight, I found Year 11 and 12 to be incredibly helpful with determining the career I'd end up doing (my love for Business Studies had convinced me to do a Bachelor of Business and Commerce at uni after school). If students aren't able to explore different careers (which is why you usually have four such subjects not including English and Maths) then they might end up making stupid decisons and going nowhere in life. Senior school definitely needs to stay because of its relevance.
I also don't really have shit teachers though, except for my 2U Maths teacher. However I compromise by studying for Maths and I end up being above average in the class. You can't really complain about the teachers, sure they are necessary but in the end you need to guide yourself, you can't rely on your hand being held.
[QUOTE=eternalflamez;35147055]Well, in the Netherlands we get a diploma for completing High School, which has some value when looking for a job, in case you don't succeed at a university.
And high school is to orientate yourself so you know what you want to do when you grow up. I doubt you know what you want to do when you are 11-13.[/QUOTE]
I'm the exception to that. Known I've wanted to be an Archeologist since I was 12. And more recently, A WWI Archeologist :3
I quite like your idea, it seems it would also apply to the meh system here in America.
There is no way they can squeeze all the learning of High School into primary school, and a lot of people don't have the money for Tertiary school. And if they were told to learn at home, most kids just wouldn't do it.
[QUOTE=eternalflamez;35147055]
And high school is to orientate yourself so you know what you want to do when you grow up. I doubt you know what you want to do when you are 11-13.[/QUOTE]
This is very true. Most kids don't even think about it till High School.
[editline]15th March 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Paravin;35148937]These are my last 2/3 months in high school and honestly - I hate it. I've got subjects like physics, chemistry, latvian literature and biology, which I've got no use at all. I can't wait until I get into uni and can learn stuff I'll actually need in a work environment.[/QUOTE]
From what I've heard, University doesn't give you training for a "work environment", except maybe if you are a science or liberal arts major, which I doubt you will be after reading your post.
[editline]15th March 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Super_Noodle;35149450]Amurrica's education system as a whole sucks, you'd have to change more than high school.[/QUOTE]
where do you live? I think your education depends a lot on what you make of it.
Read books on history,philosophy.Watch imdb's top 250.
Education should not be only in the confinement space of the school and not untill you reach adulthood. It should last forever and you should learn each day new things!
You could skip school and nothing bad will happen. if you have smart parents they will understand.
Setting off a bunch of immature kids into the wild that doesn't know how the world functions, great idea!
High school is where you actually learn things that sets you off for your adulthood, or at least the beginning of it. Teaching materials that are in high school to kids in elementary schools are simply unfitting. It will impose too much pressure on them, and often they may not understand the material at all. Just because schools have horrible teachers doesn't make it unnessesary. University courses requires these fundamentals taught at high schools. You simply cannot expect yourself to be able to blend in without it.
You can always attend a private school if you are seeking better education.
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