Posted by Chris R on March 03, 2003 at 15:45:05:
In Reply to: Re: new thread - old topic ( NOT BBb vs. CC) posted by Rick Denney on March 03, 2003 at 14:04:05:
Great post Rick. I totally agree with you. I'm particulary interested in
'Rick "who thinks schools reflect culture not instill it" Denney', this is very true. Schools today are seen as cultures within themselves. They try to get children ready for the "outside" world. Yet, the children don't really gain the experience they need in today's culture because the education system stresses "academics" not "practical learning". This stressing of academics sets schools apart from the rest of the world, thus creating a culture within itself. Children are taught by teachers who are the superior and they do very little learning by experimenting and experience. The teachers lecture the children on what they need to learn and there's little deviance from this philosophy of learning. Children need to be able to work things out for themselves and gain that independence that they will need once they grow older.
I'd like to point out also there are numerous sub-cultures in schools. These sub-cultures probably form out of common interests. For example, kids in band/choir, the athletes, the "brainiacs" etc. I know that in high school all of my best friends were in band. We played in numerous groups together from concert band to jazz ensemble. I didn't have many friends outside of the "band culture". I think the band culture in schools is the most cut off from other cultures. How often do you hear concert band/wind ensemble music on the radio? Music played in band is almost always cut off from so-called "real" music, popular music. I think what I'm driving at is that the school system as a whole should be tied closely with our culture. The education system should be focused more on getting children prepared for the real world, not necessarily teaching what is "academically correct". Not everyone is going to need to know the integral of:
Cos(Ln(Arctan(x)))
------------------- dx
1+x^2
-I do, of course, being a math nerd along with being a band geek :-)
Learning life experiences in schools could go a long way for our future.
Sorry for that long rant.
Chris "Yes, I do like Calculus" Rubenacker