The Purpose of Schooling

Thats strange, I've read countless amounts of times that he was homeschooled!

 

My account of Einstein is completely different. I recall him never finishing school. Or perhaps it was just that he hated school.

 

The impressionistic are easily duped.

 

It was the other way around. No evidence he was home-schooled, but also coupled with the information Meagain provided. I think that information also goes on to say he taught for a couple of years.
http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/einstein/section1.rhtml
Reading up, it seems the idea he was home-schooled came from the fact he started school late. He probably was given help at home - given his supposed late development.

 

My cousin homeschools her children. She doesn't use a curriculum at all. She "unschools." I actually think its really great in a way, because she injects learning into literally everything in her kids' lives and she's shaping their minds in a really great way- but I wonder how her kids will do later in life. It will be difficult for them to get into college without any kind of formal education. If they did pursue higher learning I'm sure they'll have problems with it because they've never been exposed to any kind of structured learning.

I do think structure in learning is a good thing to a certain extent. Rote memory is bad, but building upon what you've learned before is good. Not that her kids aren't building upon what they've already learned, but they learn little tidbits of information about different subjects every day. They might learn a fact about the Vietnam War one day, for example, because it somehow comes up. They might learn something about WWII another day because it comes up. They never really study anything in depth or get a good grasp on the big picture, however.

Some parents ARE idiots. There are plenty of parents that are more than capable of giving their children a good, well-rounded education but some parents just don't give a shit and some parents are so uneducated/small-minded themselves there is absolutely no hope they could ever provide their children with a decent education.

Public, compulsary education was put into place in a time when rich children were privately educated by tutors and poor children had to work in the fields all day. Say what you will about public education, it has always been an equalizer and it has provided learning opportunities to countless children who would never get the opportunity to learn at home.

 

I don't think there is one choice that is right for everyone. People are different and need different things. I do think that public school is good because it is allows someone with no opportunity to be homeschooled or other things because of financial or familial reasons to get an education.

 

Aren't people supposed to be a combination of nurture and nature - with a predominance on nature? If the public school system doesn't fully nurture a child's nature, perhaps the child would prefer home-schooling, and vice versa.
As has been said, the purpose of public education is to ensure a reasonable opportunity to all children to be exposed to a planned learning environment. Public education has existed since 1642 in the U.S (The oldest state school in England is Beverley Grammar School, which was founded in 700 AD.)
There must be something to it - it's by far produced some of the greatest people on the planet (ok, maybe they had something to do with it, too/nature)
It's where the child is most happy, imho. I would't force my child either way because of my own prejudices.

 

I think this simple fact really is the key to the issue. Just because the public school system wasn't right for me, doesn't mean that I don't realise that it is a very good thing for a lot of other children. My real problem isn't that the public school system exists, it's the fact that it's compulsory. In the UK (where I live and was brought up), parents can be jailed for not sending their kids to school, which I think is very wrong. The public school system is fine, but it shouldn't be compulsory. It's a good thing for a lot of children, but it can be a bad thing for some others.

All children are different, and have different needs. And for some, public school is simply inefficient in catering for their needs.

 

Technically the public school system isn't compulsary, only education between the ages of 5 and 16 (in the UK) is compulsary, which can be public, private, waldorf, homeschool etc. I think we would have serious problems if it wasn't. I'm also a UK citizen and I think that our schooling is too hard on kids, basically if you dont pass your GCSEs then your almost certain to end up in a dead end job if you are lucky enough to actually find one. Plus our university fees are really high meaning many kids from poorer backgrounds dont get much chance of a higher education, who wants to be in 40k debt at 21 without a garenteed job at the end of it? This is part of the reason I didnt go to uni, because they brought the fees up from 3k to 9k a year when I was looking to go.

Its the after school problems too, you leave school with no qualifications because you didnt pass and then what? Even the supermarket till jobs require some sort of qualification. You can retake, which costs money, no job = no money. My math teacher even said she felt bad for us all, when she was my age she was able to hold two jobs with no qualifications, same as my parents. This also brings up the fact that, in the long run, education has become less about educating young minds and more about getting young people out of school and into work, when there is a real lack of jobs and most kids need to study for a further 5-6 years for a shot at a decent paying/high worth job that they might actually enjoy.

Without education we would have no choice but go back to the dark ages where children as young as 6 were forced to work in dirty and dangerous environments for little to nothing. But right now, too many kids are stacking shelves and are under qualified for anything more than that rather than starting buisnesses, working in scientific/medical research or doing things to help the world, things that could be a benefit to many people and even save lives. I think if schools were much more student focused and allowed kids to learn on less of a standard curriculum and more of a flexible pathway, then those who are interested in nuero biology could focus on that, those who are interested in the environment could focus on that because at the moment (and from recent experience, having only left school 4 years ago myself) there are 5 lessons a day, followed by 5 lots of homework, no time to research or study on subjects you want to in your own time, because your own time is consumed.

Schools are pushing out 200+ students a year out into the world, one maybe two of those will really succeed in the field they like, a minority will get good jobs that they enjoy if they work hard enough in higher ed, but the majority will be stuck in supermarkets, as shop assistants and barely earning enough to get by....

 

Minus tuition fees - how much more would you say it costs to go to Uni' (from say, 5 years ago)?

 

Well on top of tuition (which would have been only 9k altogether before, but is now around 27k for a standard bachelors degree course, more if you go on to do a masters, phd etc), you have 3-4 (could be more depending how long you stay on) years worth of housing to sort out, then there is the bills to pay with that, plus general living costs, food costs, travel costs for those who go to uni in a different area and travel back home on the holidays. Its very expensive and many do travel to another area to get the course they want.

 

I said minus the tuition fee's because you don't pay them back until you earn a certain amount (I thought). I understand they will eventually be a burden further down the line. I meant, apart from tuition fees, would you say it is MORE expensive now than it was say five years ago. Has there been a marked increase in the cost, would you say? I understand the prospect of tuition fees has put some people off, I just wondered if you knew if there were any other reasons - such as a significant increase in other associated costs (that you mention).

 

Rent constantly rises, as does the cost of living, in cities especially which is where most big/popular universities are located, so yes. Bills rise too. I just got my yearly water bill through and its more expensive than last year..

 

MamaPeace

I'm tryin' to get my younger brother to put some money aside for his son for Uni' - but he prefers to buy him Nike RetroIII instead : /

 

i tink skoling iz pritty youslus

 

Its a good idea.. my family favouritse my little sister, she has a uni fund set up, I never got one lol, because my schooling experience was bad and they didnt think I would pass school or college and get to the point where uni was my next option, which I did to their surprise. Not that it completely bothers me as I have little interest in most of the degree subjects and would rather train up at work (which I'm doing) to gain a skill that I can use everywhere within the industry I am in. Apprenticeships are really good, I'm not doing one right now, I am literally just working and gaining skills/experience, but with apprenticeships you are getting paid, learning a skill which ultimately turns into a qualification if you succeed and there is a major chance of a permanent job at the end of the training period

 

Perhaps they could have called it an 'undefined nest egg,' and allowed you to use it for something else instead, if the need arose.
My parents didn't do either for any of us - but that's another story.

Apprenticeships are good, well the end results can be. They do seem to pay very little, so you have a large shortfall if you have nothing or nobody to help out - such as staying at home. I would have liked to have done that - but's that's another story, too.

The main thing, imho, is not to lavish money on a child when they really couldn't care less.
They just want some hugs and a story at night.
Perhaps a trip out from time to time.
I can't see my brother not supporting my nephew, though.
I just think a lot of money is being frittered away.
It's better to save while you can afford to, who knows what the future brings.