UK education sixth in global ranking, Angry Birds nation takes first place - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Strider*;38614796]Not all unions are created equal. I'm no fan of them in general but I'm realistic enough to admit that most of them aren't even half as bad as that cesspool of sycophants.[/QUOTE] Oh I know, but just the way the Teacher's Union in the US has a strangle hold over the public education system is atrocious. You have to apply a shit load of paperwork in by January just to get an inquiry, and if you miss one of the deadlines, you have to start over, the next Fall.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;38614516] basically capitalists have said that the job of a capitalist is valuable and therefore they should pay themselves lots of money that they "earned"(stole) from workers who actually produce for society.[/QUOTE] If this was so preferable to workers why wouldn't they merge together, accumulate capital and open a factory to run themselves? It doesn't take much reasoning capacity to realize that almost any organization of production requires a hierarchy. The fact that this virtually never happens is a testament to the efficiency and effectiveness of our current system of production. If being a "capitalist" was so invaluable why aren't there hordes of workers applying for the job? There is only a scare portion of the population capable of fulfilling the role. This idea that business owners "steal" from workers is so evidently false that I don't know how anyone could suggest it with a straight face. There is nothing stopping these workers from formulating a business plan and seeking investors if it were just that easy to be one of those "exploiters". It's a real shame that people urge for more "equality" in a time of so much liberty and mobility. I think Friedman said it best: "A society that aims for equality before liberty will end up with neither equality nor liberty. And a society that aims first for liberty will not end up with equality, but it will end up with a closer approach to equality than any other kind of system that has ever been developed" [editline]27th November 2012[/editline] On a side note, I wish I was high but I have four papers due this week. [editline]27th November 2012[/editline] Also, the United States is actually surprisingly a lot higher than I expected it to be.

As a high school student in the us, we should probably be at the bottom from my experience. Half of Mg teachers dont really teach, like I'd learn more if I just googled what I needed to know. It's ridiculous.

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;38612059]what's so bad with Germany's? I think it's reasonably fine, no student gets out without being trained to do SOMETHING, And if the student really wants to he/she can change what he's doing.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/L7gfr.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=evilweazel;38615172]As a high school student in the us, we should probably be at the bottom from my experience. Half of Mg teachers dont really teach, like I'd learn more if I just googled what I needed to know. It's ridiculous.[/QUOTE] You also have to consider that we're a wide and diverse country though. Hell some of the differences between states are comparable to those between European countries. That's part of the reason I think we should get rid of the federal department of education. There seems to be a large difference between say schools in Washington state and those in Oklahoma.

Russian education is better than... Really?... I'm ashamed of my country :(

Not surprised that Sweden's not even on the list. Our education is just getting worse and worse.

According to the OECD, Norway is ranked above the UK, as is Sweden [url]https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AonYZs4MzlZbdEMzTjN5cHY1MmlJOHI3cmZCamRQWEE&hl=en#gid=1[/url]

Surprised Ireland is on the list, and higher than Germany. I was on an exchange to a German school before and everything we heard about their education system sounded great, continuous assessment rather than the massive exams at the end of school that are worth everything, different schools for people of different abilities.

[QUOTE=Hiccuper;38615652]Surprised Ireland is on the list, and higher than Germany. I was on an exchange to a German school before and everything we heard about their education system sounded great, continuous assessment rather than the massive exams at the end of school that are worth everything, [b]different schools for people of different abilities[/b].[/QUOTE] Even though this makes a lot of sense, I always found this a tad strange and disturbing for some reason. I think it'd be hard for people here to accept that early they aren't as smart as the rest. People that end up on the bottom here usually blame some externality but it'd be much harder to do it that early in one's life.

[QUOTE=Strider*;38615727]Even though this makes a lot of sense, I always found this a tad strange and disturbing for some reason. I think it'd be hard for people here to accept that early they aren't as smart as the rest. People that end up on the bottom here usually blame some externality but it'd be much harder to do it that early in one's life.[/QUOTE] nah, "society made me do it" is a relatively recent notion. assuming you implemented the policy right away it wouldn't take more than a generation for people to start to understand their station in life.

[QUOTE=Strider*;38615727]Even though this makes a lot of sense, I always found this a tad strange and disturbing for some reason. I think it'd be hard for people here to accept that early they aren't as smart as the rest. People that end up on the bottom here usually blame some externality but it'd be much harder to do it that early in one's life.[/QUOTE] Its more akin to going into a school that will teach computer science skills more closely since you show an aptitude for it. The US does something similar with vocational and college prep tracks.

[QUOTE=Nemisis116;38612540]Australia should be further down I've been to so many different schools here and the basic thing I have gathered from all of them is Learning is a fucking [B]joke[/B] here I just stroll up on monday and they waste my time until friday, repeat and repeat I left 1 school quite early because the place was a goddamn zoo, the teachers didn't even care, I feel like I have learnt the majority of my english and writing skills on the fucking internet.[/QUOTE] I had a Maths teacher this term who would chuck pages of math on the board, give a short explanation and tell you to do it, I had a go at him multiple times till one day he said I could talk shit but not take it (I shit you not) Interesting term it has been

[QUOTE=Swilly;38616177]Its more akin to going into a school that will teach computer science skills more closely since you show an aptitude for it. The US does something similar with vocational and college prep tracks.[/QUOTE] Yeah except I'm pretty sure most students want to attend the gymnasium.

Heard about this a few days ago, didn't think we would of been that high on the list.

[QUOTE=jertan;38612380]depressing how low the us is[/QUOTE] The only three letters they need to know are U, S and A.

[QUOTE=Nitro836;38614458] No idea why, despite being finnish and having gone basic schools. Anyone smarter than me got anything on that?[/QUOTE] Compared to US for an example, we spend less time at school, do less homework, do less tests. Total yearly education costs are roughly 6% of yearly median income, while in USA it's over 50% of median income. The government still spends 30% less on each student compared to USA. The difference between weakest and strongest students is the smallest in the World. Elementary school students get 2.5 times more recess than kids in the USA. And still get better grades. However our system isn't perfect either.

[QUOTE=Nemisis116;38612540]Australia should be further down I've been to so many different schools here and the basic thing I have gathered from all of them is Learning is a fucking [B]joke[/B] here I just stroll up on monday and they waste my time until friday, repeat and repeat I left 1 school quite early because the place was a goddamn zoo, the teachers didn't even care, I feel like I have learnt the majority of my english and writing skills on the fucking internet.[/QUOTE] you have, you learn english or any language better in use and example than a class. Public education as a whole is a deeply flawed system. Progress is left to the slowest in the class, everyone is at different levels, and it isn't personalized at all, it can't be. But not much of a better system out there unless you're able to somehow afford a personal tutor for every single student.

[QUOTE=Nemisis116;38612540]Australia should be further down I've been to so many different schools here and the basic thing I have gathered from all of them is Learning is a fucking [B]joke[/B] here I just stroll up on monday and they waste my time until friday, repeat and repeat I left 1 school quite early because the place was a goddamn zoo, the teachers didn't even care, I feel like I have learnt the majority of my english and writing skills on the fucking internet.[/QUOTE] Such a bad post, experience at a few schools in one state means nothing. You really can't judge an entire education system based on a few schools, especially when you don't even have any experience with the education system beyond the secondary level. Have you even gotten into senior secondary years yet, where shit actually starts to really matter?

[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;38620627]Am I late for the Finland, woo party?[/QUOTE] Keep it up y'all I just wish the threat of foreign competition would light a fire under the ass of some students here.

I'm pretty surprised at us (the UK) being 6th, I thought we would be lower

[QUOTE=Marbalo;38611955]Also it seems Finland is always in top ranking in almost all the positive rankings worldwide. General happiness, health, education, pay... It literally sounds like paradise.[/QUOTE] If high prices and taxes up the ass don't matter to you AND you're a white man born and raised in Finland, it's all good!

[QUOTE=deltasquid;38613138]I'm kinda surprised at how Belgium ranks just above the USA. Our courses are very hard if you're in any moderately decent school, and our universities are top-notch. (I'm just assuming this because loads of Dutch and German students come over here, even though those two nations are ranked higher) EDIT: I forgot about how Wallonia is also part of Belgium and how absolutely SHIT the schools are down there.[/QUOTE] Pretty sure a lot of Dutch students study in Belgium because it's a lot cheaper.

Australia is on there? Shit's fucking rigged, our schools are fucking terrible.

[QUOTE=Strider*;38620680]Keep it up y'all I just wish the threat of foreign competition would light a fire under the ass of some students here.[/QUOTE] Most don't care. One of the biggest problems in the US is that we don't capture their attention to learning early enough.

[QUOTE=Doozle;38611920]I'm surprised the UK was that high to be honest. And would've expected other Scandinavian nations to be higher.[/QUOTE] We don't train for PISA tests here in Denmark - pretty much. Some of my old teachers went to Finland multiple times to different schools, and their system is [I]very[/I] different from ours. I won't be talking for finnish people, but from what I've gathered, it's much more focused on "paper performance" than speaking and debating.

[QUOTE=fruxodaily;38611905]Little surprised at Australia's position[/QUOTE] Is being in the top 20 bad though? Isn't that like the top 10%?

Finland seems like a great place to study at, and it's only just across the pond from the UK. Shame about the language barrier and the costs, though [IMG]http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-smith.gif[/IMG]

Ha! Isänmaallisuuden aika! [IMG]http://madjaarienmailla.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/lippu_pieni.jpg[/IMG] Now only if the supposed snowstorm would hurry it up and get us a winter already damnit

[QUOTE=sparky28000;38623028]Pretty sure a lot of Dutch students study in Belgium because it's a lot cheaper.[/QUOTE] It's cheaper because the Belgians pay cold, hard cash and taxes to keep it cheap. And none of those will come back into our economy when the Dutch go back to the Netherlands with their diplomas But we still allow them to. And we like them. Because we're chill like that. [editline]28th November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Yahnich;38616405]yeah i think wallonia is dragging us down massively; they have like only have like two unis (charleroi and lieges i think) and highschool is a joke, especially when it comes to maths, science and dutch. french and history are p much the only things that are taught well there[/QUOTE] My cousins study in Liège. I tried talking to one of them in Dutch and I'm surprised she passed with 65% in high school. Like holy shit, she could barely speak it. And now at the university they party hard and finish their exams "cum laude". No idea how, I'm working my ass off and barely get the minimum grades at uni.