Comments on: A Glance at Public Education Today

By: dood2020

dood2020 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:33:51 +0000

It’s ironic for a teacher to write an article about the failing educational system, and, from experience, the attitude of students is pretty much the same in the USA as well as in Europe. Kids sleep, go to school high, stoned or drunk, don’t do any work, have no respect at all, etc.
Disregarding that, less people have trouble getting through school in the states as in some european countries, could be interpreted as: it’s harder/better in Europe. Or just too complicated.
What i do have a really big problem with, with the US educational system is its self-centeredness. Many many people have no idea about our planet. General knowledge is pretty much evolving around the states, not the world. Not only geography-wise, but also language wise….

By: burned out teacher

burned out teacher — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:50:04 +0000

I, too, am disappointed in our school system(s). I’ve taught for about 8 years and have also taught in Japan. I do not agree that the system in Japan is better—just different. There, students were also sleeping in class, and they did not tend to ask questions because of cultural implications that would suggest the teacher did not explain the materially well. Anyway, despite my efforts, class there was far from dynamic and engaging (because I was teaching conversational English in an academic setting which placed great emphasis on writing skills). However, I did appreciate the fact that students tended to take more responsibility for their learning. And they also spent 10 minutes at the end of every day cleaning their classrooms, hallways, etc. This, if implemented in the U.S., might give more of a sense of ownership in the school. We do, as suggested above, need to learn from other places to try to get our schools up to snuff.

By: Surautomatism

Surautomatism — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:03:52 +0000

What people need to do is not only visit an American school but to visit a foreign school. Anybody who’s been to a school in France, China, Japan, and most of Western Europe knows how much better their education system is than ours.

By: Rask Balavoine

Rask Balavoine — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:59:50 +0000

Scary stuff. The rot hasn’t set in that much in Ireland, just in some few schools and it probably won’t get too much further, but a form of parent contracts certainly helps, holding parents responsible for children’s behaviour etc.