> That said, how do we provide for the free education, while > recognizing not everyone learns in a formal setting and not > everyone wants to learn book knowledge (and information on > computers is still 'book' knowledge)? I think people will always > torture those people who are different than they are. That's > part of learning to be a responsible adult, or at least it is > hoped the lesson is learned. > > As a society, we have a responsibility to the majority, while > not excluding the minority. Unfortunately, the majorities and > minorities are made up of individuals. One of the questions that > will be asked of school board candidates at the Oct. 25 forum, > and which was given to them in advance, is how would they > provide for the majority, while still allowing individual needs > to be met.
First of all, the system as it stands, apparently, tries to aim for the "average" student. The "average" student doesn't exist. Averages are a mathematical myth that are useful in a remarkably narrow scope of existence. Therefore, I conclude (albeit speciously) that the a system which intends to serve the "average" student will fail all students. While my logic is incomplete the idea is correct, that the paradigm itself is flawed. If you have not read the book Harrison Bergeron (or at least seen the movie) I suggest you do so. It paints a horrible picture of a society striving to be "average." There are many things I would do, I can list some here but I can't take the time to expound on most of them - get the corporations out of the classroom, get the psychologists out of the classroom, let competition back into the classroom, to name a few. The main ideas I will expound are self-paced learning, and self-chosen learning style. Self-paced learning, with appropriate support, allows each child to excel in their talents while getting the support they need for weaker areas. Class levels should be abolished so that children can work together and compete together at similar levels. This might mean that children from 2,3 or 4 different years in school will be working together on any particular subject. If segregation of race, gender or ability are supposedly wrong, why do we segregate by age? IQ itself is supposedly a measure of intellectual maturity, as I understand it. Thus a 10 year old child with an IQ of 120 is able to think at the same level as a 12 yr old with an IQ of 100. As for learning style, there are many ways to learn - visually, aurally and tactally, theoretically, or practically. Every person learns differently. I, for example, learn best with practical application followed by theoretical explanation. Other learn better the other way around. I also learn better with a hands-on approach. Sometimes I learn better by using visual aids and sometimes better with audible aids. For example, I can visualize a physics problem and use that visual to solve it, but I can't read music to save my life. A self-paced system would allow children to gravitate toward their best learning style while simultaneously alerting teachers to identify their weakest style (which should then be worked on as well.) Now, I can hear the arguments forming already... And where are you going to get the money for this? Our teachers are already overworked. I answer thus - Raise my taxes. Raise teachers' salaries. Get rid of corporate welfare. I'm sure I can find the money in budget. In fact, I was looking Dubya's tax cut and figured out that the 3% cut he wanted to give the top earners in this country was enough to TRIPLE the number of teachers in this country and still give them all a raise. If we can afford that kind of tax cut, we can afford more teachers with less stress. Robert Schmid Ward 8 _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
