RE: The Severely Limited Vocabulary of the Current Generation
March 18, 2013 at 4:14 pm
(This post was last modified: March 18, 2013 at 5:01 pm by thesummerqueen.)
...
Yeah, you're 14 and you think beating people is the right solution?
I'm into BDSM and I don't even advocate that sort of shit.
Public schools are the only safe haven for some people, and the only place some children get a decent meal. They are the only mode of elevation for people of limited means - education is one place where children can excel based on their own efforts, gaining scholarships if they apply themselves. While I think our education system needs a massive overhaul, you are looking at stereotypes instead of the root causes of the problem.
1) We used to hold education in a much higher regard. While there was always a sort of snide attitude towards the perceived snobbery of educated classes, because education cost money, and because it wasn't as widespread as it is today, it was still held with a certain amount of respect. Today, the media trend is two-fold: we hold the nerds in high regard (seriously - Avengers had two science-minded men trying to help save the world, Big Bang Theory, Neil deGrasse Tyson, the calling out of bullies who prey upon the nerds, etc), but we also have a rather vocal and idiotic portion of the country claiming that education is for elitists.
2) In order to get money from the government, schools are forced to play by the government's rules. Unfortunately, we have had some idiotic management. Standardized testing - and the granting of money based on those scores - has turned curriculums into prisons for teachers in which they must teach kids how to take multiple choice tests and for the most part only the material on those tests. It's bullshit. It leads to cheating if the teachers can't get the kids to pass with high enough grades. It leads to boring fact recitation instead of true understanding.
3) Many teachers lack the ability to make stories relevant to children of today. We're told certain novels and works of literature are valuable and important, but even my IB level teachers were pretty bad at explaining why. One of the better exercises we did was to act out certain material as if it were modern times. Did you know that the movies Bridget Jones and Clueless were retellings of Jane Austen? O Brother Where Art Thou was a retelling of The Odyssey? We put Shakespeare into a modern context in order to show how these themes are human themes and that's why it's important. With a little historical insight, and a connection to the humanity of the text, the whole world of literature opens. But teachers... a lot of them sort of suck at this.
There's no reason to say that Harry Potter shouldn't be used. The books are a delving into the Hero's Journey - they are the hero adventure of that generation... just like Star Wars was for our parents. They're actually quite brilliant - and rather secular, if you haven't noticed. The language may not be as old-fashioned as people want for their own ideas of what makes a legitimate course, but I have a friend - the defunct member "The Winter Prince" - who teaches english courses at college that include X-Men comics. It's about connecting to other people through their themes and conflicts, and exploring morality through the author's eyes. Not about knowing the most words. That said, you will learn more words if you read a wide amount of material.
To the point someone else made, it's true it isn't always about knowing all the words, but putting them together correctly in a simple fashion. Neil Gaiman is ace at this, I think. His prose is deceptively simple...and smooth as good scotch. Getting to this level requires practice, though, and how many of us need that? We merely need to know how to communicate effectively at work and home, and that doesn't require a stunning vocabulary.
What you also don't know is that some problems occur like this: in the black community, children and adults can be teased or scolded for speaking 'higher' than their perceived station. They don't sound "black enough" if they use proper grammar and vocabulary. True story.
Behavior problems don't need to be tended to by the school. The school is there to teach - not to parent. Corporal punishment should only exist where safe words are involved.
Yeah, you're 14 and you think beating people is the right solution?
I'm into BDSM and I don't even advocate that sort of shit.
Public schools are the only safe haven for some people, and the only place some children get a decent meal. They are the only mode of elevation for people of limited means - education is one place where children can excel based on their own efforts, gaining scholarships if they apply themselves. While I think our education system needs a massive overhaul, you are looking at stereotypes instead of the root causes of the problem.
1) We used to hold education in a much higher regard. While there was always a sort of snide attitude towards the perceived snobbery of educated classes, because education cost money, and because it wasn't as widespread as it is today, it was still held with a certain amount of respect. Today, the media trend is two-fold: we hold the nerds in high regard (seriously - Avengers had two science-minded men trying to help save the world, Big Bang Theory, Neil deGrasse Tyson, the calling out of bullies who prey upon the nerds, etc), but we also have a rather vocal and idiotic portion of the country claiming that education is for elitists.
2) In order to get money from the government, schools are forced to play by the government's rules. Unfortunately, we have had some idiotic management. Standardized testing - and the granting of money based on those scores - has turned curriculums into prisons for teachers in which they must teach kids how to take multiple choice tests and for the most part only the material on those tests. It's bullshit. It leads to cheating if the teachers can't get the kids to pass with high enough grades. It leads to boring fact recitation instead of true understanding.
3) Many teachers lack the ability to make stories relevant to children of today. We're told certain novels and works of literature are valuable and important, but even my IB level teachers were pretty bad at explaining why. One of the better exercises we did was to act out certain material as if it were modern times. Did you know that the movies Bridget Jones and Clueless were retellings of Jane Austen? O Brother Where Art Thou was a retelling of The Odyssey? We put Shakespeare into a modern context in order to show how these themes are human themes and that's why it's important. With a little historical insight, and a connection to the humanity of the text, the whole world of literature opens. But teachers... a lot of them sort of suck at this.
There's no reason to say that Harry Potter shouldn't be used. The books are a delving into the Hero's Journey - they are the hero adventure of that generation... just like Star Wars was for our parents. They're actually quite brilliant - and rather secular, if you haven't noticed. The language may not be as old-fashioned as people want for their own ideas of what makes a legitimate course, but I have a friend - the defunct member "The Winter Prince" - who teaches english courses at college that include X-Men comics. It's about connecting to other people through their themes and conflicts, and exploring morality through the author's eyes. Not about knowing the most words. That said, you will learn more words if you read a wide amount of material.
To the point someone else made, it's true it isn't always about knowing all the words, but putting them together correctly in a simple fashion. Neil Gaiman is ace at this, I think. His prose is deceptively simple...and smooth as good scotch. Getting to this level requires practice, though, and how many of us need that? We merely need to know how to communicate effectively at work and home, and that doesn't require a stunning vocabulary.
What you also don't know is that some problems occur like this: in the black community, children and adults can be teased or scolded for speaking 'higher' than their perceived station. They don't sound "black enough" if they use proper grammar and vocabulary. True story.
Behavior problems don't need to be tended to by the school. The school is there to teach - not to parent. Corporal punishment should only exist where safe words are involved.
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