EDUCATION:

Oh boy, the education system! Firstly, I think it is more important to teach skills than facts. Come on now, when are we really going to need to know that The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776? I agree that it is important to learn these things because blahblahblah, you know, history repeats itself and whatever but think of how much more prepared high school graduates would be if you taught them communication skills, how to use Microsoft Office and similiar programs, how to manage a checkbook, how to file taxes, even proper etiquette, things that we will use when we leave high school.

Another thing I dislike about the school system is that, in its own way, it's oppressive. It tends to put more stress on your brain capacity rather than your intellect. I've always assosiated school with 'what can you can you remember?' and 'what can you memorize?'. Much less of 'how can you apply this?' or 'how can this be rationalized?'. I think schools need to advocate open-mindedness, controversy and thinking logically...coming to conclusions yourself...not being spoon fed biased facts and then denied credit for work when you deviate from the norm. A fantastic solution to this would be discussion/debate based classes! With grades derived from participation, not test taking. Oh sure, you'll get the quiet kid's parents complaining that you shouldn't put their shy kid on the spot because they can't handle it...well, guess what mommy!?!??! COMMUNICATION IS A PART OF LIFE. You're going to have to talk sometime, little Billy.

Test taking is crazy. It measures almost absolutely nothing important. It doesn't measure how much hard work you put into the class, how well you can reason, how you can influence or manipulate, or anything else that can be a tool for success. Now don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not one to leave circumstances completely unconsidered...yeah, there will be highly successful quiet kids who don't need to work hard all, but I'm talking about the majority of us who aren't going to get lucky and accidentally 'invent' youtube.

Getting down to curriculum specifics, I think history should be more well rounded, math should be more pratical and english should be more creativity-encouraging. I don't like that homeland history is always so much more emphasized when the rest of the world is just as important. I suppose it could instill patriotism but it also can account for a lot of intolerance and ethnocentrism. I'd like to know more about New Zealand, Sweden, Canada...we learn hardly anything about those countries because they have chosen to, for the most part, stay nuetral, so because they don't interfere, they are ignored. Math should be taught in branches, depending on personal choice. It should be manditory to learn some sort of personal finance, but after that, students should chose [according to later plans] whether they want to branch off into accounting, trig, calculus, ect. English should include more creative writing and also more self-concieved interpretations of the works we read.

Alrighty! That's what I think about education.