Education means a thinking that can develop our mental as well as physical level. Education of a child starts from his family. A child learns his first education from his parents. His parents are the backbone of his education.  What he learns in his childhood days will remains in his mind and accordingly he starts to live his life. He learns a lot from his parents or we can say that family is his first school.

Then he will go to the school where teachers teaching him the lesson according to the syllabus. In the school he is getting the opportunity to participate in the sports. He has a lot of opportunity to shape himself and get success. But with the same time there is a lot of drawbacks in our education system.

The really critical aspect of Indian public education system is its low quality. The actual quantity of schooling that children experience and the quality of teaching they receive are extremely insufficient in government schools. A common feature in all government schools is the poor quality of education, with weak infrastructure and inadequate pedagogic attention.

What the government is not realizing right now is that education which is a source of human capital can create wide income inequalities. It will be surprising to see how income inequalities are created within the same group of educated people. 

The government has done the privatization of the education. A lot of private schools and colleges are opened and govt. has no control over them. To get the education is become so difficult because of their high fee structure. 

Another reason for poor quality of education is the poor quality of teachers in government schools. Government schools are unable to attract good quality teachers due to inadequate teaching facilities. To improve the quality of education, the government needs to spend more money from its offers on education.

We live in a world that is changing as we interact, a world whose very fabric is evolving faster than ever before. Long held conventions are being broken every minute, belief systems are transforming every day and our environment is becoming more aware, engaged, responsive, inclusive and alive. In today’s world – technology is driving transformation and innovation is the key to survival.

Technology has nurtured a generation of students who have never known life without a computer. And educating students immersed in technology will require an evolution of current teaching methodologies. 

Today’s students are not content with passive involvement. They want interaction, engagement, excitement, independence and collaboration. They want teachers to be facilitators of learning, helping them develop, consider, critique and share ideas and solutions. In this world where students are already empowered with the availability of content, mentors must challenge and provoke student creativity in researching, resourcing and developing solutions. To empower this generation, educators must design curriculum and develop teaching methods that are both relevant and farsighted.

Some elements that can form the basis of this new curriculum design include:

●      Interactivity of content – Instead of focusing on memorization of material by students, curriculum must focus on the application of knowledge to everyday problems. This generation wants active participation in knowledge creation and consumption, and the curriculum must afford that opportunity. 

●      Dynamic delivery of content- Academic content must have be dynamic and visually driven. The content must take advantage of Web 2.0 advantages including multi-media features (video and audio clips), better interactivity, and the ability to instantly search and annotate text. This can get students excited about learning, giving them authoritative references and making sure that they fall back on solid material.

●      Collaborative learning- In order to transform schools into genuine learning organizations, students must be provided a genuinely collaborative environment where they can seek support, brainstorm and collaborate with their peers and superiors to create and share new ideas, methodologies, and more.

Today, rich forms of online resources like CK12 FlexBooks are opening up endless possibilities for both educators and students to support interactive, engaging and individually paced learning. The academic ecosystem must make the most of such new opportunities to ensure that today’s pupils become tomorrow’s pioneers.

I hope government takes certain appropriate policy measures to improve the education system otherwise inequalities are going to be widespread and India’s basic capabilities will remain stunted.

A few decades ago the society did not see the need of educating the girl child. This is because she was expected to be come a mother someday which in itself is a very demanding task owing to the fact that she has to take care of the children and also run a few errands on behalf of her husband. In fact most families did not send their daughters to school because they felt that it was not necessary. This suggests that education was reserved for boys. As a matter of fact in the US women started working during the civil war because their men had been deployed to the battle fields.

            There were many challenges that were facing the girl child with regard to education. First of all most girls could not go through the education system because some would get pregnant which left them with no alternative but to quit school. In addition to that some girls would be married off at an early age especially in developing countries. Girls were therefore perceived to be weak while its their male counterparts who were responsible for their suffering. This is because the boys who impregnated them were allowed to continue learning. Besides that most communities don’t send their daughters to school because they assume a vacuum will be created in their households.

            Women were more enlightened towards the end of 19th century by the many non governmental organizations that had been established to fight for the rights of the girl child. On the other hand the education of the boy child has been ignored since everyone is concentrating on the girl child. In general there is a gap that needs to filled and this can only be achieved by giving both sexes equal opportunities. The opportunities of women are reserved as opposed to those of men. Most organizations are reserving a good number of their job openings for women and thus men continue to suffer in silence because they are not supposed to show any signs of weakness.

            Statistics from US learning institutions indicate that the rate of female enrollment is much higher than that of men. From early days boys have been made to believe that they don’t have to work hard or even go to school because they are their parent’s heirs. The aggressiveness of the girl child has made her to pursue further education because that’s the surest way of liberating herself. Additionally the global population of men is much lower than that of women considering that they are the ones who are affected by child mortality.

            The cost of sending a child to school is still high especially during these difficult economic times. In most developing countries there are numerous non governmental organizations whose main objective is to empower women. This is done by issuing monetary handouts to the girls’ parents. There is no one who is concerned about the welfare of the boy child. This is unfair competition because the ground should be leveled for both sexes. The boy child is facing the same challenges that are being faced by the girl child. For instance in early days its only women who suffered from sexual abuse but nowadays the boy child is being faced by the same challenge. The role of men in the society has changed from being the providers to caregivers. This have been brought about by depreciation of our values.

            Gone are the days when women used to depend on men for their upkeep. This change of culture has been brought about by economic factors. In today’s world a man’s salary is not enough to support a family and that’s why the two sexes need to be empowered equally. The solution to gender inequality should start right from the school. In most schools there are more male teachers than female teachers and thus the female learners are not well represented. Furthermore the female teachers concentrate more on the boys.

            There are a few approaches that can be employed to achieve gender equality in education. The learning curriculums should be revised to favor both sexes. Currently there is a general perception that engineering and technical courses are not meant for girls. Comprehensive review of these courses will result in a balanced enrollment rate. There will be no courses that are reserved for any sex as long as one has the skills and the ability to deliver the desired results.

            More female educators should be brought on board. They will act as role models for the girls who have for a long time been demoralized. The balance should be realized right from the time teachers are being recruited into the training colleges. This will ensure that the same balance is observed when the same educators are being deployed to their respective learning centers. The school infrastructures of most learning centers are in a sorry state such that both sexes are not content. For instance if the toilets don’t have doors the girls would not feel comfortable while using them owing to their gender orientation. This suggests that more funding should be designated for improving the infrastructure of such centers.

            Support programs should be offered to both sexes so that the boys are not under pressure to quit school. This means that there should be a gender balance in bursary allocations. Additionally the teams that are in charge of education systems should be comprised of both men and women. This will make it possible for every group to safeguard its interests. Civil society groups should also be called upon to help in eliminating cultural issues.

Q. 1: When you think about the healthcare reform in the United States, What is the best solution in regards of Health Insurance and the Government?
A: I truly believe that the government should have a major role in providing healthcare insurance.

Q. 2: What would be the best solution when it comes to America’s energy needs?
A: Strong investments in renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

Q. 3: What do you think about illegal immigration?
A: Most illegal immigrants should be able to stay in the US, with some exceptions.

Q. 4: What do you think about the US pursuing its interests abroad?
A: Quick tip current leaders… The US should listen to other countries more often than not!

Q. 5: Should School Curriculums and education in the US be set at National levels?
A: I believe so… I think school curriculums should be set more by national standards than at a local level.

Q. 6: Same sex marriage, do you Support?
A: Boy… That’s a tough one… but in my opinion, I think that same sex couples should be allowed to form civil unions, but not to marry in a traditional sense.

Q. 7: Abortion? Do you support?
A: I do not support abortion and neither should those in my party. I strongly believe that a pregnant woman is caring another life. Rather than killing the unborn life, we should all give this unborn life a chance to live its life just as me and everyone else had a chance to. Another wards, I strongly believe that abortion should be illegal in most cases.

Q. 8: In your opinion, is the country’s economy something a president can do a lot about, or is that beyond any one President’s control?
A: Beyond any one President’s control in my opinion.

Q. 9: The death penalty, many say that it should be abolished, what’s your take on this sensitive issue?
A: I hear a lot of people say it’s a necessity and while I commend them for their sentiments and reasoning, I just can’t seem to bring myself to support the continued existence of the death penalty. I’m completely against the death penalty. Murder or not, A human life is precious and taking the condemned individuals life would be basically stooping to their lows. We would be basically murdering that individual… something that I can’t see myself doing. In the most extreme natures of murders, a life Sentence would be enough justice for everyone around… rather than killing another individual in what most would call “Victor’s Justice”.

-Author: Oscar Trejo Jr
-Speaker of the House

Oscar Trejo Jr is a Published Author whose most notible for his latest release titled “The Spellbound Heart: A Collection of Enchanted Poetry”. He is currently the Speaker of the House of Vanity Shades and a political Activist!

“The Spellbound Heart” can be purchased through:

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Websites:
http://vanityshades.yolasite.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Mysterious.Enigma24
http://twitter.com/OTrejoJr

^^^^Author: Oscar Trejo Jr at a Meet and Greet in Raymond, TX.

^^^^Promotional Poster featuring “Vanity Shades”  and the Author’s 3 books.

 
^^Author’s Personal Logo featuring the VNP Snake in a black BG!

Skinner influenced education as well as psychology. He was quoted as saying “Teachers must learn how to teach … they need only to be taught more effective ways of teaching.” Skinner asserted that positive reinforcement is more effective at changing and establishing behavior than punishment, with obvious implications for the then widespread practice of rote learning and punitive discipline in education. Skinner also suggests that the main thing people learn from being punished is how to avoid punishment.

In The Technology of Teaching, Skinner has a chapter on why teachers fail: Essentially he says that teachers have not been given an understanding of teaching and learning. Without the science underpinning teaching, teachers fall back on procedures that work poorly or not at all, such as..

1. using aversive techniques. They produce escape and avoidance and undesirable emotional effects.
2. relying on telling and explaining. “Unfortunately, a student does not learn simply when he is shown or told.” p. 103
3. failing to adapt learning tasks to the student’s current level.
4. failing to provide positive reinforcement frequently enough.

Skinner suggests that any age-appropriate skill can be taught. The steps are

1. Clearly specify the action or performance the student is to learn to do
2. Break down the task into small achievable steps, going from simple to complex.
3. Let the student perform each step, reinforcing correct actions
4. Adjust so that the student is always successful until finally the goal is reached
5. transfer to intermittent reinforcement to maintain the student’s performance

Skinner’s views on education are extensively presented in his book The Technology of Teaching. It is also reflected in Fred S. Keller’s Personalized System of Instruction and Ogden R. Lindsley’s Precision Teaching. The limitations of Skinner’s views can be seen from his argument that it is: ‘a step forward’ to ‘abolish’ the ‘autonomous inner man’.(Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971) p.215)

The ages 60 and up would be the most ideal staging or observation posts for looking at life as man emerges from birth to death. It is the period when one gets a solid view of how his life has unfolded and has been unfolding before it ends.

At 60, it is almost natural for one to ask: How meaningful has life been? Hopefully, he may still influence his remaining years and make them truly more meaningful. But another way he can find meaning is to influence the lives of the younger people who are themselves journeying to find meaning for their own. By exercising this influence, he can recreate his own life’s meaning as he provides the sounding board for all the obstacles and hurdles and perils strewn along the way. It is, thus in a manner of speaking, clearing the way for the young.

One of the luxuries of this exchange between the “been there” and those  “on the road” is the privilege of identifying life’s meaning at the outset instead of at the end. Although life is different from person to person, it is also atypical, which means it has a pattern that is common to all.

For instance, it begins at birth and ends at death. This sequence typifies the scope of life. But while this birthing and dying are atypical, what is in between is what makes everybody a unique individual. St. Augustine describes this as God’s gift of life. One is given the choice of the meaning he wants to put into it.

Life is also, upon birth, evolutionary: proceeding, as in growing and learning; achieving fullness, as in fullness in physiology and productivity, and receding, as in going back to where it came from. This complete cycle of procession, fullness and recession is the same for all, save for the details that characterize each individual.

The exercise of choosing what to put into life is truly a privilege accorded the growing newborn. It can be said that everybody would want a truly meaningful and enjoyable life, and by virtue of the experiences shared by the “been there,” this dream life has a greater chance of being fulfilled if only the life traveler on the road would listen to the life lessons from those ahead.

Some of these life lessons can be startling but exceedingly persuasive:

1.      Only 3 out of 20 life travelers (give or take a few percentage points for national differences) have enough money at retirement time to enable them to live with dignity. The rest are on utter dependency on others.

2.      College education is a necessary instrument for making life truly productive at the middle range, but only a handful finish college due to financial incapacity.

3.      Part of man’s fullness is raising a family, simultaneous with his achieving full productivity at work. Such a dependence of family upon his personal output puts the family at risk of economic dislocation by the breadwinner’s sudden death. Not too many have provided for this eventuality.

4.      Man has invented business as an instrument of productivity and life sustenance, but he does not put up enough safeguards to make his business continuous and continuously life-sustaining. When he goes, his business goes.

These lessons are actually products of precedents:

5.      Man’s psychology favors instant gratification and ignores future enjoyment, consequently making preparations for the future extremely difficult.

6.      He has a mistaken view of his physiology. He feels his physical strength will last forever while he is young, until he feels some concentrated pains across his chest.

7.      He refuses to deal with his mortality and vulnerability until it is too late.

Because of these, he ends up working to death literally, even if he is already too old to work and now conscious of the lessons. If he stops working, he has no money to afford him the decency of a dignified existence in old age and finds himself living a life of dependency. Yet, it is at this time that he needs, and terribly wants, dignity to adorn his receding years.

The lessons provided are of course more atypical of the 17 rather than the 3 out of the 20. The generic causes are procrastination, lack of awareness, lack of discipline and lack of planning. Suffice it to say that the generic solutions are awareness, recognition, action and discipline towards honest-to-goodness financial planning.

Reaching the golden years, one can only look back at, but may not change, the past. The past can however be offered as warning posts for travelers against potential potholes. Consequently, the young  journeymen need wait for life post 60 to ask “how meaningful has life been?” for he can create the meaning that he wants right where he is.

—-

You may also want to check out:

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The argument that “college isn’t for everybody” does indeed talk about a good point. You must attend college in case you have a unique, professional goal in mind that you know has a college-level education. Promoted all boils down to how it’s you should do inside the workforce. Some terrific jobs in existence only require a top school education, others at the least year or so for a tech school or college. Its not all single job out there requests a 4-year degree from an Ivy-league college. In 2007, the United States was ranked 12th out of 36 countries when it stumbled on the number of Americans ages 25-34 who had an associate’s degree or maybe more (40.4%). The U.S. fared better in the rankings What should happen may be the quantity of job opportunities must grow. There just aren’t an ample amount of them right this moment to provide to every one in the college graduates. Graduates expect a job almost right after completing their degree, but that’s not hp0-y42 absolutely the way it is. Having “real-world” skills can sometimes leave someone happier for employment. Although college grads could have learned the skill sets the theory is that, people already experienced from the workforce convey more hands-on experience.

In time, my acne and hormones pressure subsided, and, with my military service completed, I re-focused my brain. Now, without those earlier “barriers”, I learned the wonders of science, business math, history and even gained sufficient English skills to become a college instructor.

Undoubtedly, in addition to my fanatical love of business, I learned about college admissions and the “fraud” and misguided emphasis forced on American families nationwide. This fraud I speak of relates to the emphasis of being accepted into the college/university of one’s choice AS A FROSH. In order to accomplish this act, test companies across the US gain freshmen and women as clients, “guaranteeing a high score on the SAT test” if one follows the test designers rules and methods. What these test givers DON’T state is that their tests are almost irrelevant when it comes time to being accepted by your preferred college.

LET me qualify that before 100 million moms, dads, test givers and universities
Come after me with a pitch fork!

While colleges and universities DO have GOBS of applicants for every PLACE in their
next Frosh class, they do not have same for their JUNIOR class places.

NOW how/why did I make the leap from Frosh to Junior?

EVERY college/university in the U.S. requires the same entrance criteria and thus, basics of its FROSH, and SOPHOMORES, but not of its JUNIORS and SENIORS. Why is that? It is because College is divided into 2 sections, lower-division under-graduate and upper-division under-graduate [and then, if one is desirous and lucky, one can apply for graduate school--often at the same university].

All college students entering as a FROSH take placement tests for English, math and science skill levels. Said student Is then placed into either Bonehead English [101 or lower number] or advanced and that can include one of dozens of classes-the Classics, Poetry, etc.

These same FROSH take elementary algebra, elementary science, etc., all based on the
results of tests taken in-between ADMISSION and the first day of class. RARELY do
Students question this system. EVEN gifted students rarely question this system.

[When I say gifted students rarely question this system, I mean that some gifted ones do challenge it and are introduced to the practice of CLASS challenges! Using this system,
any student can get from a professor, a final test under controlled circumstances and
if the student passes the test, that class's name and number of units are thereby listed
as earned by that student and the student is not required to attend that class. A few rare
students earn their baccalaureate within one or two years of entering college instead of
needing to attend for four or more years]

What I did, for example was, instead of THINKING of going to college right after high school, I entered the military. I learned how to kill, and traveled and served in Italy and Germany. When I returned to the U.S., and was honorably discharged, I was as close to being a Dunderhead as one could be, with the extra skill that I could kill anyone 6 different ways.

I visited American River College in Sacramento, California and asked about my chances of being accepted. I was told “matter of factly” that I would be accepted in and could take any courses I wished.

The school had the standard English, math and more and it also had business and trade courses.

I decided to lace my schedule with BOTH English and history classes and also majored
in business. I aced my business classes and did “fair to well” in the others.

I earned a scholarship because of my research and grades in business classes and
left American River College as a student with over 60 units, which made my acceptance  At ANY college or university a given! With my family needs [was a divorced father by then] I attended the local university in Sacramento, CSUS. I needed no test scores  Or special grades, just a C average which I had easily with mostly Bs and As, and  My 60+ units! I was entering as a Junior!

It is a fact that I had to re-take some of my business classes at the university because of the political rules that exist at universities. Also, while it was odd to my peer students, I was one of the few juniors and seniors who took some of the English and economic courses I chose at the university-since most of those classes are taken and completed by Frosh and Sophomores.

Returning to my earlier declaration of perceived “fraud”; rather than YOU sweat taking the SAT test a dozen times [I got the lowest SAT score in history I was told] and worrying about being accepted by your favorite university, realize that you are guaranteed admission IF YOU are wise [?] enough to postpone entering a university until you are a Junior! Thus, upon graduating from high school, visit your local [don't say Hick] community college and begin your college studies there!

[This does not include the military academies.]

For what it is worth, I became my university’s only undergraduate ever to “direct” our School’s SMALL BUSINESS SERVICE CENTER. I directed both upper division and graduate students and taught them how to create upside down cash flow statements [we can discuss that another time].

Luck to you!

Mrs. Martha Canter

US Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington D.C. 20202

Dear Mrs. Martha Kanter,

Hello, my name is Matthew Campbell and I have a shared concern with a sample of the general public: in order to confront ongoing discrimination against minority and majority members, the Federal Government should radically amend former anti-discrimination policies, such as Affirmative Action. These changes will create a more colorblind society through the equitable distribution of resources and qualified teachers throughout U.S. public schools and create a greater and fairer chance for true equal opportunity for all.

Within the United States, a compilation of laws named Affirmative Action has begun to create some unforeseen issues among certain Americans. This law, enacted in 1965, had the original intent of giving a fair opportunity to African-Americans, and came into being as a result of the movement of Civil Rights activists, led by Martin Luther King Jr. However, the law now gives an advantage to certain individuals even when their qualifications prove that the position should not be given to them. As well, within academic institutions, namely universities, reverse discrimination has been discovered within the application process. For example, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2008 that after Proposition 209 (a law banning the state schools of California from taking race into account) was introduced, the White and Asian populations at all University of California colleges grew anywhere from 6% to 20%. This statistic illustrates the shortcomings of Affirmative Action: a form of discrimination against the “majority,” and therefore discrimination against potentially more qualified candidates.

In order to confront this issue, the Federal Government can and should collect a greater proportion of all educational tax revenue, increasing from the current ~6% up to 15% to 25% in order to reach a greater good for all people, not just minorities. This increased revenue should be spent on incentives that will encourage more qualified teachers to go to underserved areas of the country, such as “Spanish” Harlem, downtown Baltimore, etc. These incentives should amount to more than just bigger salaries; they should include healthcare benefits, tax cuts, etc. Once such a policy is enacted, the surplus of money should be directed towards creating equal schooling across the U.S., focusing greatly on the less privileged schooling systems.

Although this idea may get great opposition, the solution gets to the root of the issue and may, if given time, create discrimination-free institutions. Some have argued that should this be set forth, it would collapse on itself because the country’s best teachers will not voluntarily go to the most dangerous cities in the country. But, when supported by extra benefits and money it will be hard for even the most prestigious teachers to resist. Obviously, there will be other opposition arguments, but I believe that the benefits will greatly outweigh the problems.

Through following the above steps, the government will have potentially gotten that much closer to eradicating acceptance by demography, which is inherently discriminatory, and following better our true American ethos of advancement by merit.

Sincerely,

Matt Campbell

2190 Kampala Place

Dulles, VA 20189-2190

Many children struggle with writing, but it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, in short time, a mediocre young writer can become a good one. Here are five ways:

1. Set aside a time for journal writing: This is something, admittedly, that should be happening in school with second and third graders at a perfect age to begin basic freeform composition. If this isn’t happening, give a kid 15 or 20 minutes each day to jot down their thoughts, practice writing for themselves, and hone their craft. And consider transfering schools.

2. Work with a child on their writing: Let me address this one personally, as I remember how I got my start in writing. Early in third grade, I brought home a report I’d written on the sun that I’d gotten a well-deserved D on, for lackadaiscal focus and scant information. Sitting me down at the kitchen table, my dad proceeded to work with me until I was regularly getting A’s on my reports on the solar system. It wasn’t always easy work, with me sometimes bursting into tears as my dad methodically taught me attention to detail, but I learned to write reports packed with every bit of pertinent information, as if my reader was from another planet. More than 20 years later now, my father’s lessons are still with me.

3. Insist on reading time: Sports Illustrated columnist Joe Posnanski was asked by a baseball website in 2010 what advice he’d give to an aspiring sportswriter. He replied:

“I always say that, to me, it starts with reading. This is something I tell high school kids, college kids, people trying to get into the business, that it’s just so much about reading. Read, read, read. So much of everything else falls into place when you just do a ton of reading. It works on so many different levels. When you’re reading, obviously, it gives you the knowledge, the background and that sort of thing. But also it helps you, I really believe, form words in your mind. It gives you an idea of how things need to be written, it gives you style points. There’s just so many things, some of them very much below the surface.”

4. Give kids ways to publicly showcase their writing: With the rise of the Internet, it’s easier than ever for anyone to write for an audience. One thing some parents are doing is allowing their children to start their own blogs, albeit with appropriate levels of supervision. Children thrive on positive reinforcement and can build their confidence sharing their work publicly. In time, it can lead to other writing opportunities.

5. If all else fails, hire a writing tutor: There’s no shame in engaging tutors. Often times, they can offer expertise and hands-on instruction outside the normal parental realm.

Denise James, a <a href=”http://tutorspot.com/professional-writing-tutor.html”>writing tutor</a>, is a retired teacher and now opens a small tutoring center that help <a href=”http://www.tutorspot.com/”>tutors</a> kids in math, science and writing. During her free time she loves to write and travel around Asia.