What is wrong with today's education system?

Question

i know its wrong, cause most of us don't like it. it should be fun, not forced, it should be about helping us lead a better life, not a business; this is all nice in theory, but can we really do something about it? if so, what? in detail pls, it would be very nice if someone dealing with education can answer

Answer 1

Lowered expectations

Answer 2

I think the persons deciding on education system fail to see the the student's point of view. While most other things are consumer centric, education system, study material and the way its delivered is far removed from reality, and has a lack of vision and objectives.

I'm an instructional designer with a company into online training courseware development (www.easygyan.com) and am surprised to see that the education system fails on most scientific parameters of good training material development and execution.

Answer 3

I think you've made a very sweeping, generalised statement. If all was wrong with the edu system, you wouldn't have been able to voice your thoughts & frustrations so well. so at least your english teacher has done Something right ;-)

I do agree that the teaching-learning process should be as interesting & enjoyable as possible - the classroom/lesson does not necessarily have to be a drag. It can happen when the teacher has a good command over her/his subject And is a good interpersonal communicator. S/he should be able to motivate the students to learn & participate. On the other hand, students should come with an open & positive attitude - willing to learn, to accept & respect the teacher ...

  

About being "forced" - there is a time & place for everything in life. the 2nd stage in life is being a "shishya". the 1st "force" comes from your own parents - can you convince them NOT to send you to school? Then why take out your frustrations on the teacher who's just doing the job. If no parent sent their kid to school, there wouldn't be any need for teachers or an education system.

Unfortunately, education has, to a large extent, become commercialized. But so has society in general. And if the staff was sufficiently paid, they wouldn't have to resort to other means to supplement their income - who wants to willingly work two jobs?!

About helping one "lead a better life", educational instituions hope to impart some basic skills, knowledge, processes, attitudes, aptitudes ...so that the child is equipped to deal with real-life situations later. It may not always be successful - theory removed from practice. However, it is again a 'joint' effort with the family, community & society also molding the child.

Students, especially in some classes, want Only the bare essentials so as to clear the boards - any teacher trying to give a holistic view & understanding is shunned/booed.

We tend to have very high expectations of an educational system/institution/personnel. Yet, we are not willing to pay due respect in terms of financial/infrastructural/motivational/a... support. Even parents today degrade the teacher in front of their kids - what, then, will the student take back to school ?! If you enter with an attitude of the school & school teacher knows nothing, only the tutorial classes are best (after all they are so expensive & anything expensive has to be good) then who is to blame? aren't you, then contributing to the decline in the edu sys. - it becomes a catch-22 situation.

Nothing is foolproof & ideal in life & nothing works in a vaccuum - not even the edu sys. Yet, over the decades, things keep changing & getting better. Now there are so many options a student has if s/he is really interested in learning.

the many faults cannot be overcome by a blame game. As a student, one can only strive to learn - be curious, ask questions, seek answers. yes, if not satisfied, approach the teacher, talk & sort things out. at this stage, as a student, there is nothing THAT wrong with current edu systems as to get mobilised into a revolution or anything. stay focused about your aims, age, stage, position, goals .....

hope i haven't miffed you ;-)

all the best

Answer 4

Schools have always been a business.

Aside from that... Parenting skills seem to have fallen off a 200 ft cliff.

That, there seems to be great difficulty in putting tenured teachers through a dismissal process or help them learn what they need to do to teach better. Teachers need support and when you have a b.s. administration, no support of parents, and sh*tty attitudes from kids.. it doesn't create an environment where teachers thrive or where kids thrive.

It also helps to have the funds necessary to deal with books, security.. etc.

Answer 5

The things that are wrong with the educational system are numerous, but they have only a few root causes.  The attempts by the federal government to legislate student performance by threatening teachers and schools is throwing a political solution at a non-political problem.  Student performance can be related to staff performance, but the greater factors are social, not educational.  From poor family environments to poor attitudes in the family toward education to just plain poverty, students come to school less prepared to learn than previous generations.

The attitude you have in your question where you state "it should be fun" is just one such example.  School is the job of students.  Learning is their line of work.  Students need to learn to work.  Students need to work to learn.  Schools are not meant to be entertaining.

The business model of education was the political attempt to divert attention from the failed system that was set up by ESEA (commonly and erroneously called NCLB).  No one runs as fast as a politician running for his political life.  And, who is left holding the bag?  The teachers and the students bear the brunt of this insanity.

Now, for the real question....

Can we do something about it?  Very little, I am afraid.  As long as the federal government threatens to withhold its funding from the states unless they comply, the states will comply.  Unlike the federal government, states have to have a balanced budget.  If cuts happen financially, cuts happen in services.  Most states cannot afford to lose federal funding.  States are required to educate all children.  Lost funding makes that more difficult.

So, what you can do is to go to school, work hard in school and on assignments, and have your fun outside of school just like children did years ago.  Work hard at home, too.  Then, get elected to Congress and show them what working is about and change what doesn't work.  Get the federal government out of education.  (Constitutionally, it isn't allowed to be in education.  That's why they can only threaten other funding.)

Tell your colleagues on the Hill that you want all children learning again insted of all children passing a test.  If they listen and do something about it, you may turn out to be the most important person in the free world.

This only scratches the surface, but it will give you a starting point.

Answer 6

The purpose of school is not to have fun. My job is not to entertain the students. The purpose of school is to impart knowledge. The attitude of the student is the problem with school. If students didn't fight so hard not to learn anything, it wouldn't be so bad. If they weren't so bent on having fun and more focused on learning something, it would be much better.

Answer 7

SCHOOLS IN INDIA SHOULD BE ONLY INTEREST ORIENTED . THE STUDENTS SHOULD BE  TAUGHT UP TO MIDDLE LEVEL BUT ALL ALONG WITH MANAGEMENT BASICS , PERSONALITY TIPS SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR , SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AND TEAM WORKING LEADING SKILLS ALONG WITH ACADEMICS. THEN ITS POSSIBLE TO MAKE SCHOOLING SPECIAL AND INTERESTING FOR CHILDREN THEN SHOULD SEND THEM FOR HIGHER STUDIES

Answer 8

I think John Gatto put it best in his speech entitled, "The Seven Lesson Schootteacher."  You can read it here:  http://hometown.aol.com/tma68/7lesson.ht...  

Answer 9

The biggest things wrong with the education system are as follows

1. Less parent support than ever before

2. Govt. and not teachers making educational policies

3. NCLB, enough said

4. Our education system is in essence the exact same one put into place back in the late 1700s early 1800s.  We have not revamped it near enough to compete with the changing world that we are in the middle of now.

5. Incompetent teachers who cannot be fired because of tenure.

6. Losing good teachers because apparently they are responsible for the children passing standardized tests, even though they cannot force them to study or do homework.  Tell a kid who has fought with the family that morning to do well on a test and see how they do!!!

7. Teaching to a test, it impedes the creative process

8. Students who have no respect for the teacher and have little to no interest in learning, usually because of my first reason.

I could go on and on listing things.  My personal opinion is getting some teachers from across the country to sit down and completely revamp the system.  I know that that idea is idealist but they would know what to do better than a bunch of politicians who have no training in education.

Answer 10

1) Take NCLB out of schools

2) Make the gov't get  out of schools,

3) Take out teachers unions and NEA that only lets BAD teachers stay in teaching and it's impossible to get rid of them

4) Pay teachers more for their work

5) FIRE a teacher on the spot when it's found out taht they are bad

6) Make parents actually CARE about their childs education and help the child with schoolwork

Answer 11

it's too educational

Answer 12

well, personally i think we can do a lot. but it's not really in our hands unless the system and the people involved relent a little.

the guys who make the books each wanna put their favorite things in, so we end up reading the equivalent of ten books each year.

Teachers bring their personal probs to class, and punish you if u point out a genuine mistake.

parents want you to do what everyone's doing.

colleges don't care if you're a topper unless you're from a backward class, or u can fill their pockets with bribes.

Do u think anything we do can get past these ********?