It was innovative. It was revolutionary. It was grandiose.
And then it was gone.
Poof...like so much smoke in the ether. I posit that it had something to do with my theory about hats (have I ever told you all about that?), but alas, that matters not in the end. It is still gone. And I am sad.
However, never one to wallow in my own inadequacies or self-perpetuated miseries, I have moved on. Just about a week late.
Which brings me to the blog at hand--which was not the one I planned to have at hand, but such as it is--this is it.
Education is an esoteric concept in many ways. Teachers like to think they have one (most, of course, do), students like to think they're getting one (sometimes) and parents like to think that the academic responsibilites of both teachers and students are being handled by the teachers and students. It's a system that has been in place for many years. And I think that may be part of the problem.
I am not the soothsayer of doom, at least most of the time I'm not, but I am a realist. And the reality of the situation is that our economy is recovering, albeit slowly, and as it becomes much more competitive, so too, do the opportunities that are available.
It's not enough anymore to be the best test-taker, to have the highest GPA and a transcript that boasts all AP classes. Other folks can meet that same criteria. The Princeton Admissions Board will tell you that the essay is an integral component of the decision making process most colleges use. But, that's ONE moment in a series of 12 years of education. Mind-numbing, isn't it?
So, with that in mind, I'd like you to take a look at something.
Below, you will find a link to an article written by Tony Wagner called "Rigor Redefined."
In it, he references many AP classes that he observed and how, in simple terms, he found them woefully inadequate.
I would like you to take this opportunity to tell me what you really thought of this article, specifically about what he mentioned about the skills that CEOs and company execs really look for in their new hires.
Do you feel as though your schooling thus far has prepared you for what these companies appear to be looking for?
Go a step further and consider the job pursuits you in which you hope to engage. What do you want to do? If you left school right now, do you feel as though you would be work-place ready and prepared for what they want? Why or why not?
What about the AP classes Wagner references...do they sound familiar to you? Why?
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Rigor-Redefined.aspx
I quite often find myself questioning whether or not the countless lessons that we learn in school every day will ever be applicable to our lives once we are thrust out of the doors of Oakcrest and into the real world. A lot of what we learn seems tedious and pointless, especially as I sit in pre-calc listening to my teacher talk about how imperative it is that we all know how to verify trigonometric equations. I am never going to need to know how to do that once I leave high school, so why do I waste my time learning it? Well, the answer to that question is simply that I’m told that taking all of these honors and AP classes is what’s going to get me ahead in life, even if they have absolutely no relevancy to the field of study that I want to enter into in college. With that being said, I found the Tony Wagner article “Rigor Redefined” to be interesting but not at all surprising. I already had a preconceived notion of what the CEOs and big executives he interviewed would say about the qualities that they look for in potential hires. Many of the skills required by these major companies are simple abilities that most young people should possess, and yet sadly do not. In some cases I believe that a few of the characteristics classified by Wagner in this article were innate qualities that you’re either born with or you’re not. Most others were relatively uncomplicated traits that could easily be achieved with a little practice and preparation. But the fact of the matter is that schools nowadays do not stress the capabilities of curiosity, imagination, problem solving and leadership as extensively as they should. I completely agree with Wagner’s opinion that schools need to stop being so obsessed with teaching students to pass the AP exams and become more focused on preparing them for the real world. All of the executives that Wagner interviewed stressed the fact that they do not primarily focus on technical ability when considering new hires, but rather they judge potential employees based on their adequateness in each of the seven categories of necessary “schooling” that students should have. This reality is somewhat unnerving due to the fact that this rather inadequate school system I have been immersed in since age five is proving to not be all it was built up to be from the very beginning. Being that my goal is to one day become a pediatric care nurse in a children’s hospital, I obviously do not feel entirely prepared to be thrown into that career at this time, I haven’t acquired the skills needed for that career yet. But in terms of where my schooling has gotten me thus far, I do not feel entirely underprepared, although I do believe that a great deal more could’ve been done by educators to develop my character desirability to future employers. If schools focused more on readying their students in the seven areas discussed by Wagner their appeal to employers would increase exponentially. I think that I was born with some of the aspects named by Wagner, but I am also lacking fairly severely in a few of the areas as well.
ReplyDeleteThe AP classes that Wagner described in his article were certainly not entirely unfamiliar. Sometimes I do find myself thinking that these classes are a joke, some are taught by teachers that do not fit the role and others just don’t care enough to provide the guidance and expertise that should be offered by AP classes. Don’t get me wrong, it is clear that AP classes do a lot more good for us as students than college-prep level classes would, but it is not totally crazy to say that AP classes are made out to be more beneficial than they ever truly are.
Awesome thoughts, i share the same sentiment with you however I believe some of the stuff we learn at school are geared towards are success in the future whiles others are not quite so. The higher classes we take are not just going to get us ahead in life but create a form of endurance (hard work) i agree with your ideas and what you stand for. Great job.
DeleteBryanna I have to agree with you saying that Tony Wagner's "Rigor Redefined" was not at all surprising. I see this as being because of the fact that I have been told numerous amount of times from adults that most of the school work we have done is not what the majority of adults use in their every day lives. Many of the things Tony describes really defines what we need to learn to more or less survive out in the non-school world. In any case I agree with this respond I think it strongly summed everything up.
DeleteI agree with your opinions on this. Like you, I do believe that some of the traits that Wagner described are innate. Some things just can’t be taught. No matter what he says, school can’t always teach a student everything to help them succeed later on in life. Wagner tells us what we kind of need to be able to succeed out of school. It’s sad to hear when some adults are saying that all the math and history we’re learning in school right now will never be needed in the future, but sadly, it’s how our system works. I guess we just have to “learn” all these traits ourselves.
DeleteOf course I agree with you as do almost all of the other students in our class. However, your blog has given me a particular idea that I feel I ought to share with you. When you talked about what would happen if schools focused on the seven traits described in the article it made me think about what if our schools did emphasize those traits. If every student had them like he suggests they should, would employers then turn elsewhere to other skills as a means of shifting through potential employees? Would it become a perpetual cycle of trying to learn skills that "set us apart from the rest"? Needless to say, your blog post has really made me initiate a lot of thinking on my own.
DeleteI had never considered those characteristics as innate, but since that you've mentioned it, I have to agree with you. Curiosity and imagination are not things one can read a book about and immediately acquire. If anything, I believe that you're either born with it or not. How can one possibly suddenly be more curious or imaginative? Additionally, I too believe that some of these traits are that of which we can potentially posses, such as problem solving and leadership. We learn problem solving traits each and everyday, however, we only apply them to math. I think if our school branched out and applied them to social issues, it'd be put to more use. Leadership, on the other hand, might not be so easy. Those who tend to take control in group situations are what I think are the "natural born leaders," but those who tend to just go with the flow and do as they're told are usually the shy, nonchalant students. Teachers need to prioritize these specific students and get them to crawl out of their shells. I feel as if some teachers just don't care for their students as much as they should and rather only care that they pass or not. I believe that students need to establish an appropriate connection between their students and that this connection will provide sufficient benefits. With that being said, great job on this blog post!
DeleteWhen I read Wagner’s article, I was really impressed because everything that he mentioned in his article is correct. If I were to work for a very vigorous business, I wouldn’t survive a day because my communication and critical thinking skills are the worst. It’s hard for me to choose the right type of words that will get me to where I want to be and choose words that will help me communicate with others well. At my present job, I have to interact and communicate with many people, and whenever I get nervous, I start to confuse myself, and I make mistakes that attack me. Everything else, like being creative, using imagination, and collaborating with others seems to be one of my strongest areas because of the things I learned and the experiences I’ve had. Before I read the article, I assumed that I could survive working at a low, paying job because I already am, but when I saw the environment Wagner was referring to, I would, without shame, say I would not survive. When I read the article and I came across the section where Wagner references the AP classes, I felt like there are instances where we do the exact thing. There are times when I don’t want to participate in class because I’m exhausted of talking about the same thing, so I am the reluctant student who doesn’t like to talk because I feel like everything that comes out of my mouth is incorrect and I’m tired of quotidian lessons. Don’t get me wrong, there are people in our classes that can make great business workers/leaders because of their personality and education, but there wouldn’t be many to make an impact. However, I have used some of things I learned from my classes like trying to tell my manager that the confessions are in are an inflationary gap because we are producing more popcorn than there are people demanding it and that there is a way to fix it, but all I get is a blunt, “Ok” from him, which tells me that there are people who really don’t care what you’re learning in class. In Wagner’s article, the executives show that they aren’t concerned about what people know, but how people can use their charisma and their education to improve things and lead to a better solution. Business executives want that worker that can have a professional talk with everyone and make a difference to their company
ReplyDeleteThis may sound horrible, but I want to become a dentist, and from what I can tell, dentists need to communicate and cooperate with their patients effectively, and I think that I will come across problems if I really become a dentist. If I left school right now and became a dentist, I wouldn’t be a good one because I wouldn’t know how to be a good communicator or know how to connect with my patients so that they enjoy visiting the dentist.(I know that sounds creepy and awkward)
I would begin meeting people who I have never seen before, so I must try to make a good impression by speaking to people in a way that grabs their attention.
fantastic blog, we are constantly meeting new people, however it is important to know how to communicate well with them even though sometimes you might offend someone. that was a good point. just like you, I can easily confuse myself and others. I think just like every profession, it is important to have good communication skills because a healthy relationship always has good communication. Great job.
DeleteDavid, I love how you started this respond so strong stating your opinion right off the bat that survival would be minimum in the business world due to our lack of common every day skills. I have to agree I am often lost with words as to what I want to say when speaking really with anyone, I feel my communication skills level is very low and especially when I get nervous in a conversation. But in any case, keep your head held high because with the help of these 7 guides in surviving the big world you will be able to make it through!
DeleteJust like you, I don’t think I have very great communication skills. There are times when I just feel awkward when I meet new people. This is something that I need to improve if I do want to get a job. However, I do believe that you can improve your communication skills and critical thinking skills. I don’t think that it’s something that can’t exactly be taught, but could be encouraged. I really don’t think you’d be a bad dentist because of a lack of communication skills. However, I do hope that the 7 things that Wagner listed will help you to reach your goal of becoming a dentist.
DeleteDavid, I was surprised with your opinion that you don’t believe you’re a good communicator! I have always found you to be well spoken and easy to talk to. Sure there is always room for improvement but I don’t see any necessary for you. I think you made excellent points as well about the level of rigor in the career world and how it varies based on what occupation we hold. Don’t forget to be confident in yourself and great post!
DeleteDave, I feel the same way about communication. I sometimes find myself tripping over my words, saying "uhh", or abruptly and awkwardly ending conversations. Of course I know all of these things about myself because I deal with myself all day all night, but I was shocked to read that you believe that you don't have adequate communication skills. Each time we engage in conversation you don't seem to trip yourself up. You're always so calm and manage to get you point across in an affective manner. I also agree with people being charismatic in order to come across as effective (something I can do with certain people). Not everyone in the world has the best of ideas, but just like my dad is constantly telling me, it is all about your delivery.
DeleteI always believed that areas such as public speaking and charisma are best learned through experience. We might say that school fails in making us feel secure, but I feel that if your job demands it, you will have the opportunity to work on such things and prove your worth.
DeleteDavid I can relate to you because I have trouble in the same areas, communication and critical thinking for sure. I also agree with you when you say that the article was correct and thinking about all these things show that I would not survive this life, because the truth is a lot of classes I take are exactly like the ones he described.
DeleteI’ve always found school to be quite pointless, if you ask me. However, that doesn’t mean I agree with the notion that we don’t need a proper education. As a society, we all must learn. To learn, we must go to school. However, the guidelines by which teachers are supposed to prepare us for our careers and how to live our lives is greatly misconstrued. We are learning the wrong things, and frankly we are wasting our time. I totally agree with the article and I understand why employers look for those specific characteristics. We are part of a society that must be able to adapt to certain situations, and I fear that instead of learning how to act, students are being taught to memorize topics temporarily for a grade. It’s no secret that rather than actually learning, students are just test prepping. As a society we have been enveloped by the idea that we must pass these standardized tests and that our whole future relies on these tests (which it is). As the article said, tests demonstrate nothing besides being good at memorization.
ReplyDeleteAs for what school has taught me so far; I know how to write a persuasive essay, I know how to graph a parabola, and I know the first three presidents. But, do I know how to act at real life situations? Am I able to speak to an audience without stuttering at every few words? Do I know how to do taxes for the future? What are taxes? When do I have to start paying taxes? What are pensions? These are all questions students our age have still yet to receive answers to. I believe that certain classes are teaching us some of these concepts, although solemnly, but the majority only prepare us for tests. Tests, tests, tests! They consume us and they will ultimately become our society’s downfall. Students work hard to pass these stupid tests yet just being able to pass these tests won’t secure us a job in the future. We need to learn life skills rather than what caused the Industrial Revolution.
Personally, want to be a broadcast journalist. Becoming a broadcast journalist means that I have to be able to ask the right questions, speak in front of large audiences, and socialize with others to receive/gather information. I like to consider myself a very sociable person, and that I know just what to say to get what I want, but my public speaking skills are poor. I get nervous when speaking in front of a large audience and that results in me speaking very quickly. It’s a habit that I wish to break but it’d really help if teachers actually took time into improving students public speaking abilities. Sure, we have to present our essays in class, or demonstrate how to solve a problem in chemistry, but (in my opinion) it doesn’t help me. Practice makes perfect, but I don’t know how to stop myself from rambling. I’m practicing bad habits, and having no one to correct that only makes me do it more. Overall, if I were to drop out of school right now and pursue my dreams of becoming a successful broadcast journalist, employers would have a hard time hiring someone who constantly stumbles at every few words.
Society needs to reevaluate what they deem to be important. I’m not blaming the school or the teachers for their lesson plans, because it isn’t their fault. They teach us what society thinks we need to know and do in order to attain a successful career, and that is where the problem resonates. Instead of having to memorize all the trig formulas for calc, we should be receiving lessons on the seven areas mentioned by Wagner. I’m in full agreement with what Wagner stated in the article and I’m glad to have read this because now I can focus on improving those skills rather than worrying about my grade in Calculus all the time. It’s refreshing to know that even if I’m not the smartest person around, I can still find a job if I learn how to effectively demonstrate the seven traits Wagner and other employers are seeking. Hopefully, in time, others realize the importance of these traits and make them a priority.
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DeletePaula, this is incredible. I agree with you on the most part of the blog. I agree with the fact that most of the stuff we learn are memorization. I think giving credit to some class was a great way to prevent a bias blog. our lives are surrounded by the norms of the society and we are trying so hard to fit in a society that can not even contain us. To a greater extent, it draws a line between our inner passion and expectation of the society. GREAT JOB.
DeletePaula, this respond pretty much sums up my point of view as well in which I fully agree with you. It's crazy to think we go to school for 12+ years and don't get taught the correct information we need in the world outside of school. Yes expanding our knowledge is useful, but honestly when it comes to social interacting people need a better understanding on holding strong conversations and be able to ask the right questions, more or less actually know what is going on in the business world. This was a great respond, very strong in voice.
DeleteI agree with a lot of points in your essay but especially with the fact that 'students are being taught to memorize topics temporarily for a grade'. That's exactly the problem. It's all about the final end grade and never the actual information. And what information I do learn is just cramming it into my head for the test and then forgetting what it is used for immediately afterwards. There is not enough application to make these things stick nor do we work with them enough. And once we're done that class for the year it is rarely brought up again- it doesn't build upon itself but is rather dropped to the wayside. Tests and grades are really part of the problem here because they encourage students to focus on the grade rather than the learning.
DeleteI could not agree more that our education is entirely misconducted. Teacher's are far too focused on preparing students for AP exams and seem to not at all be concerned with our overall well being and preparedness for the future. I also liked that you brought up what the article mentioned about our obsessiveness with memorization and our utter lack of true learning. We ready for a test by crash-studying the night before and hoping that we can retain the information until the morning comes. But after that, we become completely unconcerned with the information we were tested on.
DeleteI completely agree with you how most students memorize things instead of learning them for a grade when there is a bigger purpose! Well said!
Delete"The most useful things I ever learned for life were done in kindergarten." I once heard someone say this, and at first thought it was bizarre, but now thinking about it, we learned basic life and survival skills during this time frame things I still remember and use up until this day. Now being a junior in high school I have found myself numerously asking what is the purpose of learning whatever it is we are learning. Now I get the idea that in various math classes for example you are "expanding your knowledge" so you'll be able to work more efficiently and with better understandings, but honestly when are you going to find the derivative of a number in the business related world. CEOs and company executives are not going to be asking those type of tedious questions while interviewing us for our future careers. With all this being said, I must say I agree fully with Tony Wagner's article "Rigor Redefined" because I do not believe the majority of my schooling has prepared me for what these companies are looking for. I actually am looking into working within the business field. Though I am still undecided as to what exactly I want to pursue in this field (other than one day becoming a huge, hopefully successful CEO of an awesome company), I still find business and marketing an interesting place to be. The thing is though, without taking an actual business class this year I would be completely lost entering this field. I have little to no knowledge on being a smart, and strong speaker, one who can ask the right questions and one who can pick up on conversations real quickly having the right things to reply with. I honestly would not be able to survive this lifestyle or in any case a job interview for a future career at this time because I don't believe I have learned the ideal topics one needs to use in their everyday life. I know for a fact my communication skills lack in a lot of strong areas, along with my adaptability skills. As often as I say I don't mind change if it is good, I am often finding myself on loose ends trying to catch up with what changed. Wagner's seven survival skills are all very useful. I believe students should be focused more in school on information we will use in the business world rather just in a math class or history course. These seven survival skills are all very helpful and I hope to continue learning more of what will really help me when I want to go for an interview for a job and be prepared for what the CEO would ask of me to bring to the table. I want to be ready, sadly I don't believe this system of schooling has been extremely helpful for what is to possibly come after high school in the career world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statements. It seems as if the life skills that we need more in the future were taught to us in our younger years. As we grow older and learn more, we begin to question why we’re even learning certain things. Just like you, I am also looking into working within the business field. It’s weird to say this, but I’m actually now thankful that Matlack makes us go up and present answers to certain problems. Yes, I’m still a very awkward presenter and feel extremely uncomfortable in front of people, but I’m pretty sure that this presentation skill that he’s teaching me will be more useful to me than anything that I’m actually learning about chemistry.
DeleteI find it interesting that you mentioned the lack of practical use of our education. The more I think about it, it forces me to remember those times when my parents would describe the Home-ec classes they would take or the typing classes. I used to think that these were silly things to make an entire class out of but I have been beginning to realize that all of the things my parents learned in those classes, they use. Unfortunately I can't say the same for my schedule and it makes me feel like the joke is on me so to speak. I am absolutely with you that a lot of the things we are learning really don't have a purpose. I guess all we can do is hope that we somehow get the information and lessons we really need from some other source.
DeleteAnother thing about learning everything you need to know in kindergarten: you actually remember the stuff you learned in kindergarten! Of course this comes from the fact that you still practice those things in your daily life and that you built upon that knowledge base but I think that should also be used to consider how to make our education better. Because I know I will just forget things I've learned next year simply because I won't use them anymore. You really need to build on and continually practice something until it is firmly rooted in your mind. Otherwise you learned something only to forget it in a couple months. Honestly, the only thing I can say is that I hope college will be able to prepare us better for our future careers once we start specializing more because as of now I've resigned myself to the hobo life.
DeleteReading this article must have really helped you in your aspirations of becoming one of those CEO's! I wish I could remember the majority of kindergarten. I do remember recess being a time of discovery though. I specifically remember the time i was digging in the sand box and i used critical thinking skills to figure out why the sand was wet and cold as i went further down into the hole. Hey, maybe we should bring back recess.
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DeleteAt first I laughed thinking about the survival skills of a kindergarten student then I realized that all of this is true. All jocularity aside little kids know about stranger danger, fire safety, and how to call for help. I am 17 years old and I sometimes have trouble with some of that. You also brought up a great point about how to apply what we are learning to the real world. When I'm checking out at the grocery store am I really going to need to take a simple random sample of the apples I purchased? Will I need to know all of the US presidents in chronological order when I say my vows? I feel as though a majority of the stuff that we are learning in school is irreverent. We need to be prepared for the real world because the real world will be testing us each and every single day.
DeleteMichaela, I agree with you 100 percent. I too want to enter the business field and after reading the article I feel I am not at all prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. Many of the things discussed I have trouble with like communicating for example I know what I want to say but I don't know how to get it out. I also believe that this school system has not prepared us as well as it should have.
DeleteLike you Michaela I found Wagner's survival skills list really helpful. It's hard for me to take time and figure out what I need in order to prepare myself for the real job world. Now that Wagner created his list I want to try and follow it in order to be successful in whatever I choose to do.
DeleteI loved the beginning of your response. There is so much truth behind the quote that you included, although it is obviously not entirely true, we develop so greatly during our first few years of school and those are the years when the foundation is laid for the remainder of our education. I also agree with your opinion of the Wagner article. I too agreed with many of the points he brought up, and it is certainly no secret that the education we are currently receiving is not adequately preparing us for our futures.
DeleteI totally agree with your blog! I believe that none of us are 100% ready to take on the challenges in which we will face soon enough, but we will learn all of that when the time comes.
DeleteI am right here with you about not being able to quit school and start my career but I sure wish there were some classes we could take for our major that would put us ahead of the game.
DeleteAs someone who also wants to pursue a marketing career, I agree that most of the classes that we take do not properly prepare us for what our job has to offer. I also feel that my communication skills are weak but unfortunately the classes we take fail to strengthen them. Most of our classes in general seem to stray away from skills needed in legitimate careers and this is the sad truth. No matter how much we are willing to learn, our education system will do nothing but stray us away from these goals, making us the bait in the shark tank of the workforce.
DeleteGetting an education is important no matter how hippies want to run off to Alaska to pursue a life free of the restrictions of society. And school teaches children a lot of essential information. But there is also a vast amount of things school never teaches children- in fact, there are many things our school system even discourages. These things that employers supposedly value- 'critical thinking', 'initiative', 'adaptability', and there is 'curiosity and imagination'... it's funny to me that these are desired aspects when there has been a dozen different points in my high school career where I sat down and realized that I was losing these things. AP Stats last year made the stark reality of the situation very clear to me. I never, ever understood the reason why we did anything in that class. Sure, I could solve the problem but if you asked me to explain why I was solving the problem or how it was even possible I would probably just give you a blank stare devoid of all hope and understanding. And every time I asked questions to try and figure out the why behind it all I just ended up more confused (due to bad explanations, in most cases). So that's when I made a conscious decision to stop asking why. I made a decision to just do my work and not think too hard about it. And I think this is a decision we all make at some point for one class or another and it is a fatal one, if employers are really looking for the skills listed above. In that single instant I made that choice I threw those critical thinking skills, adaptability, curiosity, etc. right in the trash can. And I was rewarded from it because I ended up looking at a big juicy 5 on the AP Stats exam. But once I go out into the work force no one will care that I got a 5 on my AP exam. No one would care I got straight A's in high school. Because apparently all these employers are looking for skills that I feel I am severely lacking. And it terrifies me because I feel like furthering my education will just exacerbate these problems. And from what the article described, this is a problem suffered by many children around the country. Most times it just feels better to accept that that is just 'the way things work' than question why we can use this equation, or why that concept makes sense. I hardly feel prepared for college and any time I think about pursuing the sort of work I want to do I feel nauseous because I may never be prepared. I am constantly telling myself I am aiming to high and need to lower my expectations of my own abilities because I don't have those qualities people want and that means I won't be able to succeed.
ReplyDeleteBut the thing that rubbed me wrong about Wagner's article is the tone he used while talking about these kids he observed. He seemed to blame the children more than the people who are giving them an education. But that's the opposite- if we are not being taught these things then how can you expect us to learn them? If we are put in an environment that stifles deep thought and curiosity then how is it our fault we are lacking in these areas? People keep saying the education system needs a reform and I couldn't agree more. I'm ready for Extreme Home Makeover: American Education System Edition but it has yet to happen. People talk big about making changes but the changes never happen and if they do, they usually turn out to be more idiotic then what was already in place. I guess I just have a lot of frustrations with this school system and it's already too late for me and the damage has been done and all that- but shouldn't we be changing things for all these children who are going to be getting their education soon? Because employers and colleges and all these things are just going to continue to raise the bar for students in areas we are already lacking. And it's going to just be a tremendous game of catch-up until we find a way to take care of the problems properly.
As soon as you mentioned our AP Statistics class last year, I knew exactly where you were going and I think you are exactly right. I feel as though teachers are too afraid to give us the detailed explanations to "why" because they think it will be too complicated for us. So instead, they give us some shortened version and we just end up more confused. Not only that, but we also, as you said, become used to getting just abbreviated answers instead of real ones. Basically, they get us used to not asking questions and on the rare occasion that they give us answers, we can't comprehend.
DeleteI love how you pointed out Wagner's tone in the final few paragraphs when presenting "everyday" school situations. As I pointed out in my blog, teachers are not to blame for this lack of beneficial teaching, and the students are surely not the problem. We focus our priority on the facts that society deeps important. The root of the problem lies within society and that needs to change. Additionally, I agree with you, I too have had that epiphany where I just didn't care anymore in class. I did what I needed to do to get the grade but besides that, I could care less about actually retaining the information and applying it. Besides what I learn in English, seeing as I want to be a journalist, no other classes benefit me. Other than maybe getting a 4 or a 5 on the AP exam and that giving me an advantage in college, I see no purpose as to why I need to memorize all seven strong acids. I want to learn skills that will help me in my future instead of pointless ideas that only suffice for a grade. It's definitely frustrating to see that we've put so much effort in these past few years yet it all means nothing in the end.
DeletePaige, when it comes to AP Stats you speak the truth! I often find myself solving a problem and unable to explain how it was done. Even then if and when I do attempt to explain I become confused and no longer understand what I thought the concept was. I think it’s truly disconcerting that schooling has come to this. We will never be able to rely information and discovered concepts if we aren’t able to explain them ourselves. It’s a shame to know that education has come down to memorization and reiterating information. We have to work on changing this collectively. Very thoughtful post!
DeleteThat instant you gave up is the exact attitude i find in my sister everyday, and it's not her fault, like you said. School enforces the idea of mindless work and i don't think we will ever find out why. Honestly, i dont care why, just as long as it's changed. Also, the fact that you pointed out Wagner's tone is spot on. Great blog, great blog lol
DeleteAP Stats is the apex of trivial BS. You're completely right. I still don't know what a Chai Squared actually is to this day. If any one class proves your point, it's Stats.
DeleteI agree that some classes lack the ability to insert the rope memorization that we have used on tests into real life. Which really sucks because what is the knowledge that we acquire in school useful for if not for real life.
DeleteThis was an awesome blog post. I totally agree with your statement of the pointless school work, and none of us will ever know why.
DeleteI wish I could scream what you said about pointless work to all my teachers because I sit there in math asking myself, "when will I ever use this again?" and I soon realize that I never will and it is beyond frustrating.
DeleteI think we're all a little frustrated and annoyed by this point. What I do now might not mean much to what I do 5 years from now, but I go through motions and pain of doing it all anyway. It's dumb. And you and anyone that was in stats last year are the reason I'll never take it. It seems like a waste of my precious lifetime, even more than some of the other things we do. It just seems like whenever we master one area of life, we're thrown somewhere else and molded into something completely different all over again. Thinking about it too long would make me lose my mind. I can't deal with doing things that don't matter because in a weird way wasting time is literally my worst fear. And I agree on his slightly blaming tone, too, but unlike you I don't think I ever had those things in the first place. Just today I found myself struggling to come up with examples for things I knew exactly what were because I didn't want to say anything that might be wrong in any way, or too boring, and I lacked the creativity to do anything. It sucked.
DeleteA blank stare devoid of all hope and understanding is the perfect to sum up AP Stats. That class, which I thought would be useful and important ended up being one huge joke. The majority of us probably left that class without a full comprehension of what we learned. Sure, the class itself looked good on our transcript but I can honestly say that classes just like Statistics was a waste of my time. There are so many courses that we have already taken in school that have already proved to be fueled mainly by spat out facts and memorization skills which will definitely not be useful when we apply for jobs looking for aspects that we don't have due to our poor education system.
DeleteIf there is anything that can really push me into a good debate, it is always on the topic of education. This blog prompt reminds me of a video we watched in Mr. Costal’s class about the educational paradigm of our country (remember it was the one with the drawings on the whiteboard?). Utilizing the thoughts in both that video and this article has made me come to a decisive conclusion: our education system needs to be overhauled. From the length of the school day to the length of the school year to the way teachers teach and the skills students learn, we need change. But that’s not really the purpose of this blog from what I gathered. The purpose of this blog is to respond to the ideas about what needs to be done, not what’s wrong. Everyone knows what’s wrong with our system, but unfortunately, it has become a case of lots of talking and also lots of inaction.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the opinions and responses of the people interviewed, I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t agree. With that said, I must also say, that my education in itself had not been adequate to prepare for what these people are looking for. I still believe I have these skill however. But for me, it seems as though I learned them more by chance than by actual enforcement and encouragement. In fact, I think I’ve learned these skills by doing the opposite of what I have been taught. I have learned to be resourceful by looking for additional help on the internet. Not because I was taught to do that, but because the teacher provided inadequate information (which happens a lot). I know how to think critically, not from the problems in class but in trying to figure out the perfect ratio of effort that I need to exert into my assignments because it is impossible to go 100% on all of them. I am creative because I have had to come up with some pretty ingenious plans on how to do as little work as possible but make it look as if I was thorough on every move. Do you get my point? If you don’t, allow me to simplify, I believe I have the skills I need, that Tony Wagner says I need, not because school taught them to me, but because I had to figure them out on my own in order to survive school.
This brings me to whether I feel as if my “skills” that I have learned unorthodoxically are adequate to propel me through my plans in life. Here I have to say a positive yes. Skills are skills, it doesn’t matter how you came about learning them, if you have them you can use them no matter their origin. So even though I learned important skills in life by avoiding the “skills” school actually teaches, I still think I am prepared. Now granted, it would be a rocky start if I wanted to jump right into my dream career (which probably requires a pH.D), but I think I could survive maybe starting at an entry level job. I want to work with plants for the rest of my life, and so far most of the skills I have in dealing with plants have come from outside of school. Even the classes that have the potential to give me important information fail to do so, which worries me a lot because it makes me think that all of the extra unnecessary (and yet mandatory) work I’m doing won’t pay off.
I don’t really have a solution to this huge problem that is the American education, nor did the author of the article to my dismay, but as I said, whatever the cure, it will be drastic. I would love to be able to sit down and try to solve this issue, but ironically, I don’t have time to make a plan to fix education because I am trying to get an education. This alone is a problem that needs to be looked at. Maybe I should become a teacher that way I know that at least in my classroom, my students are learning what they truly need to know. But, regardless of what profession I take in the future, I just hope this problem is fixed.
I'm really glad you mentioned that you learned a lot of those desirable skills by doing the opposite of what you've been taught because that's exactly what the reality of the situation is. The American education system mass-produces students in such a way that strips them of inborn qualities we naturally have as children, such as curiosity and creative thinking, and replaces it with a dislike of 'learning' and general apathy to most subjects. And I agree that the only way a student can really get those qualities employers are looking for is to practice them on their own because they certainly aren't being taught. Sometimes our educational system does so bad at teaching children that those kids go on to develop those skills on their own as a way to fill the holes in their education and how to survive in that system. But for all the students that manage to gather the motivation to adapt and survive on their own there is an equal number of students who are swallowed up and can't claw their way back up to the top. That would require a kind of help they aren't getting. And for the sake of those sort of students especially things need to be changed.
DeleteI too found that i have acquired a majority of these skills in high school but it had never occurred to me how until reading your blog. You are completely right, we've become resourceful by being neglected by our education system. What I'm still unsure of is whether or not it is purposeful.
DeleteYour idea that the inefficient nature of the educational system has ironically taught us these skill is pretty unique. I agree but I have to say that I agree in part. This speaks to your idea that skills such as critical thinking are best left to the individual to learn.
DeleteAfter reading your blog I see that I've acquired some skills in school while surviving my education too. It's really awful that our education pushes us to be resourceful to teach ourselves. It takes away the need of teachers and overall school because we begin to make our own. For our educational system to adopt the seven survival skills from Wagner would be a wish come true.
DeleteI find the fact that you believe are lack of being taught has taught us because it's absolutely true or at least it is for the kids that bother to try. Like a certain lack of instruction in a class can make a student more responsible about learning and may them take more effective notes. But this may not work for a student who doesn't care in which case they will learn nothing from that lack of instruction in which case they willl get nothing out of the class.
DeleteI completely agree that our entire system of education is in need of serious renovation. I also agree that many of the attributes discussed in the article are not things that we are taught through text books, but rather they sort of happen by chance. I loved that you pointed out that you acquired many of those traits by doing the opposite of what education tells you to do, now that I think about it that is entirely true.
DeleteI totally agree with your blog. The school's acedemics sure do need some major renovations. You also pointed out that majority of "things" that we need to learn are not taught in textbooks, but rather learned by background knowledge, or personal experience. This was great!
DeleteAfter reading this article, I have come to the conclusion that the author is a genius before his time. I was intrigued by the manner he went about collecting his data and absolutely infatuated with the results. I am a firm believer that memorization isn’t enough to equip a person with the information they need to sustain them through their academic life and future career. Unfortunately I see many students, including myself, occasionally succumb to short spurts of memorization for the sake of a grade. Students will memorize and repeat information without application because they are able to transfer information without really knowing what it means in context. There is no deeply imbued connection between concepts or lessons; rather each chapter or subject is individually stripped of the others. Education unfortunately has become short term memory and a task to be conquered individually. Collaboration has become scarce because of competing for rank and having our own agenda. That being said, I found his mentioned information about the CEOs and company executives to be a helpful revelation. The fact that they focus more on body language and critical thought is mind blowing. Seeing as the requirements evolved from being able to meet one specific task it is intriguing to see that adaption to situations is most desirable in today’s employees. It’s interesting to think that though you may be qualified for a job you wish to acquire, that may still be insufficient and other skills might be necessary to know from jobs you are less fond of. Also, their emphasis on personal connection is a new idea as well. It runs parallel with the other requirements as it used to be about meeting the qualifications for a specific skill. Now it is less about what you know and more about how easily you can equip yourself with new information and your ability to interact with others.
ReplyDeleteAs far as our school is concerned, I feel as though I am better equipped for the requirements of the business owners. However, this ideology has only come about recently. The majority of my education before high school was geared towards knowing facts, for example knowing all of the times tables between 1 and 12. That was nice in the aspect that I knew them, but it still didn’t teach me how to multiply larger numbers. Therefore, developing and applying concepts and thought is relatively new and a procedure I have mainly found in high school. I am hopeful however that this procedure is going to remain consistent throughout the rest of high school and into college to help me prepare for a career. I have aspired for almost half of my life to be an occupational therapist and I have gauged my classes in high school to meet that ambition. I feel as though the classes I have and am going to take geared towards those concepts will help me to accomplish my task. However, if I walked away from Oakcrest right now in pursuit of becoming one I would most definitely be under qualified. There are components of a job that will be learned on hand but the majority of the traits needed to succeed must be learned from being taught. Whether by a trade school or a university there are things that we don’t know that need to be found out for our desired careers. In my experience with AP classes I have found they are more lenient towards the ideals expressed in the article. They are much better at connecting ideas and have no insufficiency of rigor. However, though they teach in a more conceptual manner, “teamwork” is hardly encouraged in the majority of the AP classes I have had. Grant it there are occasional group projects but there is a lack of personal connection with the peers in the classes. That in my opinion is something that should be corrected to better prepare us for our futures in whatever fields we may aspire towards.
It's scary, absolutely scary, knowing that even though you have great credentials, you could still luck out on a job to someone who was maybe 50th in the class compared to your 5th just because they have better communication skills. If being able to effectively talk to your peers and thinking outside the box was all you needed to secure a job, then what am I doing taking these extremely difficult classes that don't mean anything in the future? Constantly I find myself asking, "What am I going to do with this information?" and the answer is almost always, "nothing." I don't want to come out of high school thinking that I've wasted my time. I want to come out of high school prepared for what is to come. We're all scared about what the future will hold, and honestly reading this article only opened my eyes to see that what I'm doing now proves nothing if those are the characteristics employers seek. All I can think of now is how I can make myself stand out from the crowd, attain these characteristics, and get into college. My future stands as a blur, and hopefully sooner or later it'll clear up and show positive outcomes.
DeleteI definitely agree that there should be more teamwork in AP classes, or i general really. The more heads you put together to solve a problem, the faster that problem gets solved. The fact that AP teachers especially don't use the fact that they have the brightest most innovative minds in the school to their advantage is head scratchingly stupid at times. I know that teamwork and collaboration, when utilized effectively have made me learn more than anything individually.
DeleteI have had a long debate with myself on the role of memorization in education. I personally hate memorization. I avoid it anyway I can. I'd rather learn how to prove an equation rather than just remembering the equation. But of course, there are some things that we just need to know. Knowledge is power, right? The skills are far more important than perhaps the knowledge we acquire (unless we are pursuing a career that requires that knowledge), but in order to get deep into any subject, there is some memorization involved.
DeleteI don't know how many times this year I've yelled about how much I wish I had photographic memory. I feel like almost all of my schooling and pain would be over, because it seems like 9 times out of 10 that's all I do. But try as I might to will myself to rotely memorize, I can't. Which I do blame for some of my less than good grades. It's necessary, but I don't think I've ever retained anything. And I have to agree with you on the impersonal-ness of everything. "Teamwork" isn't really something we've worked on since 6th grade gym class.
DeleteUnfortunately, I am thrilled to say that the education being given now is utterly useless. Personally I don’t see any abundance of experience or knowledge to actually go out into the world and accomplish something. And in Tony Wagner’s article he does addresses the topic of the rigor in the education preparing young people for the real world jobs. He begins his article by explaining a few of the interviews he conducted with CEOs and company executives and what they said to him. And what the people said to Wagner is almost exactly what I predicted them to tell him. These places are asking for young people who “can engage in a good discussion,” who are great problem solvers, who have no difficulty communicating, etc. Wagner then lists a list of seven skills that students today need to master. And those were none of the things I’ve been on the road to master. My education so far hasn’t focused at all on these varieties of characteristics that work-places are looking for. The world has changed and is changing very quickly while the education lags behind and doesn’t catch up to improve the outcome of students.
ReplyDeleteAfter Wagner completed his research of what companies and such were looking for in young people he continues with his observations of the classroom. He observed specifically the AP classroom. Sadly enough his observations were all too real. While reading through his observations I could relate to how the AP Government class was taught. Since last year I was lucky enough to sit through the class that mirrored Wagner’s observation almost exactly. On the other hand I was able to relate myself to having a “rare class.” Again since last year my geometry teacher didn’t just feed me formulas but utilized projects we did with him to help us learn the lesson and MORE. But I would really like to become a doctor or a traveler who studies different countries and cultures. And pursuing one of these dreams requires a lot of work in studying how to care for people or how to have a good grasp on independence to travel. Leaving school now would be a sad move on my part. I don’t know how to do any of those things in the work-place I’m interested in or remotely prepared for what they’d want me to do. For as long as I can remember I’ve been drilled to remember this formula and remember that. All in order to one day take a test to determine whether or not I’m ready for the next test. Schools need to focus themselves to see that Wagner’s seven skills is what students need to follow now to make a better future for them.
Soti, I think you’re absolutely right in saying that education is slowly striving away from what is actually going to prepare us for our future careers. I like the fact that you brought up how the world is changing. It’s an interesting thought because we need to be able to adapt with it all the while holding onto our visions, aspirations and skills. I am glad to know that you strive towards a better education and have the motivation to continue forward and find a worthwhile education in your predicaments. Great post!
DeleteI think reading all this about the failures of education and how we're all headed toward inevitable doom if this continues at this rate, and how we're all lacking such and a such a quality, is making me a little depressed. I don't know why I do anything if it's not to trick myself into thinking I've had an education. But I don't really know what else I could do. If this is all a waste then what's really stopping me from dropping all my AP classes and taking things I might actually enjoy, like the choir class I've always been blocked from, and culinary, and wood shop, and anything else that might actually bring me joy? And of course no one knows what to do about it. The effort that goes into doing things for a grade is just too much.
DeleteI have honestly found this article sort of relieving in a way. All of the critical credentials have been taught to us in our years at Oakcrest. What scares me is an underlying message I saw whilst reading this article: the other 19 classrooms that teach for the test are setting their students up for failure. We are wasting our time to pass test that don’t even express our abilities that are applicable to the real world. We are wasting precious time and knowledge! Not only that, but those “prestigious” schools that the author had observed were ranked because of their test scores yet they would be turned down by the hiring workforce. I’m not sure of the exact statistics, but I’m pretty sure that’s a lot of students not living up to their aspiration, which is fine as long as we went wasting our time in inadequate classes in order to prepare for a dream job. Too bad 19 out of 20 schools are. As much as that scares me, it’s extremely comforting also. I find my teachers at Oakcrest to be exceptional in not only teaching the material, but training us to think in a critical way. I find this kind of teaching evident in all of my classes, something I’ve found before even reading this article.
ReplyDeleteAlthough she may not be an accurate representation of our younger generation’s future, I can see the absence of these critical qualities in my 13 year old sister. The competition for knowledge and grades has become so great that she’s rather work alone than in a group. The only feedback she gets is from our parents and the suggestion she searches for on the internet. Not only is the unsociability of these tweens frightening, but her frequent trips to my room for a spoon-feed-answer to her homework are extremely disheartening. Along with those observations, I find it extremely aggravating how closed minded she is. I will offer her methods to solving her problem and she’ll turn me down and say that it wasn’t how they learned it in class, roll her eyes and start yelling that the method she can’t seem to remember is the right way. This interaction usually lasts 10 minutes and ends with stomps out of my room. I could write a whole op on the fear I have for upcoming generations (heck maybe I will) but I think I have clearly expressed my disappointment in the education system below high school pretty clearly.
Let me first start of by saying that I had no idea Kate was 13 (I met her all those years ago when you and I were Girl Scouts); time surely does fly! Moving forward I can say that I was once in the shoes of your dear baby sister. The teacher's way was the right way and the only way and everyone else was stupid. I was ignorant and I was close minded. It wasn't until my later years that I learned there are two ways to skin a cat. I feel as though your sister maybe going through a phase of sorts. Kate is striving for perfection and she does not want to disappoint anyone. Although her approach may seem closed minded, she will eventually open her eyes to all of the other ways to simplify a problem. Danielle, you need not worry about your sister. She is still young yet and all she needs is a little bit of time and a little bit of gentle breaking.
DeleteLike you I worry for my little brother. Your sister and him both believe in the teachers way is the best and only way. But what's worse is that if he can't remember he doesn't do his work at all sometimes. I'm hoping that maybe maturity will help them understand but for all we know it could stay like this or get worse.
DeleteDanielle, I know what you mean and I agree with you. My brother and sister do the same exact thing and it frustrates me so much. I agree with the belief that people are far more concerned about test scores. It scares me to think about colllege because my scores aren't are not the best and If employeers look for people who went to that prestidgous school, then I would probably be screwed because I won't get into one.
DeleteDanielle I know exactly what you mean any time I try to help my brother who happens to be around the same age as your sister I am met with a similar response. But I think it has something to do with the way the lesson I happen to be helping with was taught. There are some teachers who ridiculously say that one way is the only way to do something especially when it comes to math. I think that as we get to be older though teachers get more open with all the things we can solve a question which will hopefully allow my brother and your sister to see there is more than one way of doing things.
DeleteIt's upsetting to see the lack of these essential qualities slowly impacting younger generations. It only shows how restrictive our education system really is. Thinking outside of the box has become something that is not commonly found in students. Even though some subjects may be more structured than others, there are a variety of ways to answering all different types of questions. Unfortunately, the education system prevents us from solving problems and answering questions in an open-minded fashion. These restrictions are only leading to the destruction of the skills that matter most. If we keep going like this, the hole we have dug ourselves into will be way too deep to the point where we may not ever escape it.
DeleteDanielle great job on the blog. I understand what you are trying to say. Just like you I have worried for my sister when she is close-minded about things. She follows the teacher, which is great, but she has to learn that there is more than one ways of doing things. Just like you I am worried that schools put to much attention on test scores over real life lessons. Overall great job on the blog.
DeleteAlthough Tony Wagner's "Rigor Redefined" was highly informative, I could not help but feel somewhat drained after reading it. I feel as though I am lacking nearly half of the skills that he mentioned. Am I not going to make it in the professional world? Is there still time left for me to get my act together? Whenever I hear the phrase "critical thinking", I automatically associate it with math. To make matters even worse, I'm not the best math student out there so whenever these words are brought up my brain shorts out for a moment. I have no problem collaborating with people as long as they are people that are willing to work and have some idea of what they should be doing. Collaboration also makes me feel ambivalent toward being a leader because it is a plus that you are in charge of something, however it is a complete minus if you have to boss around the other half of your dual-proprietorship (my interpretation of anatomy labs in a nutshell).
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has ever seen me move, they will notice that my movements are more spastic than they are agile (this includes but is not limited to my mantis position). My oral communication skills need a plethora of improvement, but my written communication skills are quite decent seeing as I have time to revise my work. As for the elements from his article that I have not mentioned, I feel confident that I am able to fit these descriptions. Even though I feel as though I have met some of these descriptions, I feel as though my schooling has not prepared me for what CEOs are looking for. I feel as though schooling has taught me how to prepare for exams instead of how to handle real world situations. If I had never read this article, I would have entered the work force sporting a blindfold! It may be the classes that I am taking or just the way our school system is setup, but I feel as though teachers should take a moment to deviate from their traditional curriculum every now and then. Children need to be educated on how to function in the real world. When I leave college, I want to be a psychologist and what I have learned in school will not really help me yet. In my abnormal psych class, we don't go too in depth with mental disorders which leaves me unable to properly diagnose people. With what I know, people will be diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Munchausen's syndrome, and Munchausen's syndrome by proxy. I'm more than sure there are more mental disorders in the world than the four disorders that I have named.
On a much lighter note, the information that I read about the AP classes was comedy gold, especially the bit about AP Gov. I remember sitting in Mr. Sera's class not knowing what was going on and let me tell you, ignorance is bliss. I would just show up to class and smile and answer what little questions I could. Sometimes we would deviate from the textbook and talk about current events, which I appreciated seeing as I had some understanding of what was going on around me. At times I was bothered with being a sitting duck in class, but I had an amazingly upbeat teacher that assuaged these worries (which I really appreciate). In summary, Wagner's article really opened my eyes to what employers are in search of. I hope to keep all seven of these elements in mind while I am at my place of work in the near future.
Jasmine, I agree with you on the fact that school teaches us how to do well on standardized testing( (which I still don't do). And this is not at all what business people are looking for and I feel Im not ready, but I just hope I will have time to fix my problems. I also agree with you on the fact that the article opened my eyes because with out it I would have gone in completely unprepared.
DeleteWagner’s article reiterates many of the criticisms I’ve had of AP classes over the last couple of years. The notion that rote memorization of terms and thoughtless mechanics is somehow a college-worthy skill is ridiculous. There are many here among us who do have quite the skill for memorizing long lists of trivial things. And I do emphasize that this in fact a skill, but having the ability to apply the skill is much more important. This is not to say that every mathematician shouldn’t place emphasis on memorizing the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus or that a literature major shouldn’t know the plot of “Hamlet.” This is of course a necessity. But what good is the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus if you can’t use to find the area under a curve? What’s the point in knowing the plot of “Hamlet” if you can’t dissect its literary and historical impact? As for what I want to do with my life, NHS has now made it no mystery that I want to become a physicist. Idealistically, I want to work in a lab setting to help contribute to String Theory. If I were dumped into that career today, I would be lost. This is largely due to the fact that I have yet to take a single formal physics class. But still, I have always had an affinity for understanding concepts because using conceptual ideas to solve a problem. My fond appreciation for calculus is a direct result of this attitude I have. When you thoroughly understand the intricate connections within any subject area, you can literally do anything! As long as you, with practice, develop the ability to use every morsel of knowledge to answer progressively more complicated questions and complicated, you can be considered an expert in your area of expertise. This is something to be proud of.
ReplyDeleteIf I have to take issue with anything Wagner has to say, I feel some of his examples are misrepresentative. As for his AP Chem story, (I acknowledge that we actually don’t do labs anymore in AP Matlack) the author captures students who ran into a problem in the lab. The fact that they didn’t know why their solution was smoking… is the whole freaking reason labs exist. Just because they couldn’t come up with a seven page thesis on the spot about what was wrong with their solution, doesn’t mean the students were out of understanding. Even a mechanic has to take a look at his broken down car to figure out what’s wrong with it. He can’t just assume a spark plug issue in the same way these students were right for waiting for a teacher’s assistance.
I still agree with the author’s point. I’m just calling attention to an example he uses that is a bit ridiculous and out of context. In addition, his examples just don’t take into account that most students, no matter how competent, seem to keep to themselves.
Wow, David you wrote one awesome responce. I agree with what you had to say. We have to understand that it is important for us to use and practice the things we learn. I think we learn more about life and the real world in our gym class to be honest. We have to work well with others, and I think that gym shows us much more life skills than many of our AP classes.
DeleteI'm good at rote memorization, and even I think it's stupid. We should know the stuff, not drill words resembling the subject we're learning into our heads I've gotten great grades in Cervi's class, despite, not knowing a single thing. Memorization is king in high school, and it is completely sickening, and needs to be fixed asap.
DeleteJust like everything Education has its own shortcomings regardless of how prestigious the level of education one has gone through. As the article directly points out the disadvantages associated with education, it also takes time to mention a few benefits of education. The expectations of CEOs and Company executives are huge perhaps a little related to the level of education but for the most part, basic etiquettes. Last summer, I had the opportunity to work at a restaurant, as a waiter in Atlantic City. Basic calculations like money and checking stock available were things the manager required me to know automatically. But the most important question the manager asked me was, how good am I with relating to people? It might not the Mathematics we have being doing at school but working in groups at school was one of my advantages of becoming a good waiter. I think despite the fact that education has not help massively at these companies, much respect must be shown to education for the basics (but a little improvement in our educational system would not hurt) as these companies require a level of education such as being a doctor and many others. Well, I want to be a petrochemical engineer. Education has an important role in my aim towards my future profession. However, I need to have a good working relationship with people and who to let my voice be heard. My schooling this far is nowhere near towards working for these gigantic companies but gradually it is developing me. The companies expect a lot of things that are being accomplished by education, however it is expected of us to sometimes learn from the environment we find ourselves. For someone who wants to be a teacher, by learning the ways of your teachers in class it helps you know a few tips about teaching. Education does not need to present everything on a silver platter. So there are people like Bill Gates, J.D Rockefeller (my role model) and many others who felt education could not help them become who they wanted to be. For me leaving school despite the fact that my parents would not hesitate to blind me, would be a suicide on my personal ambition with regards to my future professions I need education more than it needs me. The AP classes Wagner makes references to have a huge impact on our lives. For AP Lang and Chemistry regardless of how shy or public frightened we might be, actually presenting work is set to guide us towards the future. The essays and learning literature in Language might not seem important to Engineers or Math teachers But IT IS IMPORTANT because in order to be successful we need to have good communication skills and AP Lang helps us with that. The Classes we take help us in a lot of ways even though it is tedious sometimes, nothing good comes cheap. Society contributes a lot to the disadvantages of education because society has set certain standards that limits education only to the classroom and hindering students from experiencing other forms of education.
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost I would like to say thank you to this man who wrote the article, mainly because it opened my eyes. If it weren’t for this article I would have died in the workforce because I am severely lacing these essential skills. Unfortunately it is not all my fault which means school is not teaching us properly, it teaches us how to pas tests and doesn’t teach us how to develop some of the essential skills we need. Lately all I can think about in class is “what is the point of learning this” and this is mostly for pre-calc or physics. I think we should have classes that mostly improve the skills we will need in order to do well in the field we want to go to. Because in the two classes I previously mentioned I will never use any of the knowledge I am given, I sit there and memorize how to do things then once the test is over I just let it slip right out of my mind. Instead of wasting an hour and a half I could be going to another class where the skills that I need would be exercised and strengthened. The article mentions seven skills one needs to survive the “real world” and I am semi ok in just two of those skills. The things that I would do a satisfactory job in would be collaboration and leadership because I like to work with other people as long as they have the same goal. The other thing would be initiative and entrepreneurialism because I’m often the one to just do things so they are complete and out of the way. On the other hand I seriously lack on critical thinking, problem solving, agility, adaptability, oral communication, written communication, analyzing information, and having an imagination. To begin my struggles I do not know how to critically think in anything other than algebra 2 after that I’m lost. Being adaptable is one thing I learned from this class in particular because when I first entered it I was struggling but I adapted and grew (hopefully). My communication skills are what need the most work though because I know what I want to say but I do not always know how to get the words out. Then presenting I always get so nervous and speak in monotone but the article talks about emphasis and I don’t know how to do that. I also need to work on my imagination because I usually just focus on what is actually happening. All of these skills are going to be very important considering the field I want to go into is business and every one of these skills are needed, like presenting things to coworkers and analyzing data. And as it stands right now I would not survive.
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Rigor Redefined,” Tony Wagner basically stated that what we’ve been learning in school isn’t exactly what we’re going to need to get past an interview and be hired by companies. There’s so many times when I’m sitting bored or confused and wondering if I’m going to need these things I’m learning. Of course I’m going to need it to the important AP test that we have and for all the tests we have, but will we actually need it in the future? A lot of what we learn in our classes just seems like pointless thing that we won’t need for our future. In fact, a lot of the adults I talk to tell me that what we learn in math classes or history classes won’t really matter, unless you become a math or history teacher. It’s pretty disheartening to know that all the hard work we put into learning something for a test isn’t something that will help our future. People always tell us that we have to get good grades and do other activities outside of school to have a better appeal towards school. The qualities that companies look for, according to Wagner, seem like abilities that aren’t necessary very easy to teach. In fact, I believe some of these qualities are innate qualities that you can’t exactly teach people to have at a certain age. In fact, Wagner’s references on AP classes sound pretty accurate in a sense. A lot of students, tend to not really speak up in class and not really know much outside of what is what is exactly written. Being creative isn’t something that could really be taught. Having communication skills or adaptability skills is something that I believe progresses over time. Since I have moved about three times before, I have learned to adapt to my surroundings. I don’t believe in my communication skills, but I do know that I have to talk to people to be able to make friends in new places and be comfortable with people that I will be in class with. After all that, I don’t think that what we have learned in school has really prepared me for what companies are looking for. However, some teachers do try to help you for things in the future, such as Bunje making us go up and speak in class in order to help presentation skills. Truthfully, I want to be an accountant. It seems like a boring job where I just sit in front of the computer all day, but I do know that I will need good communication skills in order to help companies with their financial data and information. With all that, I honestly don’t think I would be work place ready and be prepared for what companies want. I don’t think I have the “skills” they’re looking for. I have bad communication skills, presentation skills and no sense of leadership. I’d love to be able to succeed, but don’t think I’m enough. I hope that I’ll somehow learn how to be better with these traits and be good enough for companies to accept me.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I haven’t really thought about whether or not my schooling so far has prepared me for work in the future with a company. I’ve thought a lot about if my classes in school are going to prepare me and get me into a good college, but I haven’t thought at all about if my classes are going to prepare me for my future career. After reading this article I feel like I should be more concerned with having the right tools in my tool box, as Mr. Mattlack would say, for succeeding in my future career after college. I don’t think my schooling so far has prepared me for what these companies are looking for. I think I receive a great education at Oakcrest but we learn the facts and core information of what we need to know for our future jobs, we don’t learn the skills we will need to apply. These companies are looking for people that interact well with others and that are able to share ideas within a group of people and we don’t exactly learn this in school. We may practice these skills from time to time in school without really noticing it, but we don’t exactly learn how to collaborate with others, even if they have different views then you. Most of the work I do in school is independent and by myself and I know this is a bad quality but I absolutely hate when people disagree with me.
ReplyDeleteI figured as long as you are qualified for a job the company will hire you but according to this article these companies look for other personal qualities in their employees. In this case I’m definitely not prepared to work in a company. But should we be taught these unique skills that companies look for in employees in school, or should we have taught ourselves these unique qualities. I think it may be my fault for not acquiring these traits that companies look for and not my schooling. I feel like students should be able to acquire the traits that companies look for on their own, it’s not really something that can be taught. I want to be an ophthalmologist when I grow up and right now I don’t have the qualities yet to be an ophthalmologist. I obviously need more knowledge in the subject as well as have good communication skills, friendliness, and being able to corporate with others that are not like me. I am definitely not ready to pursue this career because I haven’t fulfilled all of these traits yet. I think that my schooling so far has just prepared me for the academic side of my career and I’m hoping that I learn the communication skills I need in college. I do think that college will teach me a lot about the skills I need to get a job and after college I will hopefully be qualified enough to get a good job in the medical field.
The AP classes that the author mentions in this article do sound familiar because I took/take some of these courses at Oakcrest. The way that the author depicts these AP courses aren’t really how they are at Oakcrest though. The explanation of AP Government was actually pretty accurate but the others weren’t. In chemistry we don’t just do experiments and not know what is going on. Mr. Mattlack prepares us fully for each assignment or experiment that we do and he just doesn’t just give us the answers like the author of this article explained. Mattlack makes us actually think about the answers to questions we have he never just gives us the answers. The way the author explained AP English also wasn’t very accurate. Our class isn’t like that, we review for the AP exam in a creative way and everyone understands the material unlike the class that the author described in the article. So the education that you receive all comes down to the teacher. If you don’t have a good teacher then you’re not going to get a good education and you’ll never understand the information that the class entails. We are very fortunate to have such dedicated and helpful teachers at Oakcrest that help us understand things when we don’t get it.
I must admit, the Matlack toolbox reference drew my attention. At least if you become an ophthalmologist, you get plenty of schooling to prepare you for the school work required.
DeleteWhen I got down to really thinking about how our learning has been since the ages where we were just toddlers only just starting to grasp the concepts of walking and talking I realize that it has always been wrong. For example, before we even went kindergarten the times we brought juice boxes to lunch and everything was a good time we had television. On television we all watched a kids educational program whether that be Blue’s Clues (my personal favorite) or Dora the Explorer they were both methods in which we could learn things. But as those shows made those meager attempts in teaching us they each embarked on one fatal flaw they didn’t give us room to think, to ask questions and just like the teachers did in one of the AP classes they answered the question for us. Or at least that’s what I think my problem is because in math I have always just remembered the steps in how to do things but when the way I’m supposed to do it is not cut in stone I freeze. I have no idea what to do because none of memorization prepared me for application. Which is why I don’t feel I would be prepared for the work force today because I don’t know how to ask the hard questions the ones that explain why something works and how one would go about fixing it if it broke. But I also think that some of the things that Wagner were wrong because sometimes the failure is on the teachers and Wagner seems to place a substantial amount of failure unto the shoulders of the student. When really in the AP chemistry example the teacher should have explained what would happen when things went wrong or what appropriate effects of the mixture, or at least had them look up some of the possible negative effects of the lab and had them do research. This class and the others sounded slightly familiar but really I think my teachers thus far have been good about making the students think because while one may look in their notes to find the answer teachers still want the answer to their question in the students in their own words which ultimately helps students learn better.
ReplyDeleteSociety has become such a different environment. Twenty years ago you didn’t need a top-notch college education to have a job. For example, my dad made it in college for eight days and was a sergeant II and the leader of his state police head quarters, and is now a successful businessman in the JPC Group Inc. Not many people now can get away without a college degree.
ReplyDeleteI believe that I am nowhere near ready to pursue my job as a nurse practitioner. Sure all of these colleges look at how many AP classes you take, your ranks, and your grades, but really does that all matter in the end? High school can only prepare us for so much. The AP courses can prepare us for the rigorous work in college, but can it really prepare us now for what lies ahead in the future? No. Sure you can touch on some things that they might teach in college, but there is absolutely no way you can be prepared for the real world during high school. I believe that the atmosphere of college can give you a glimpse of the real world, but not the whole thing. That’s just life.
In this article the author depicts AP classes. Here at Oakcrest, I don’t believe our courses are like that, well besides Government. Here at Oakcrest our teachers take these courses serious, and make sure that everyone is on the same page. I don’t know whom this man interviewed, but whoever it was they better step up.
All in all, I firmly believe that you need college as an in-between, because I am nowhere ready to start my career. I am a people’s person, so I can definitely make conversation, and I have the social part of it down pat, but if you asked me anything that came with the responsibilities of being a nurse practitioner, I couldn’t tell you.
Personally I found this article rather interesting. not necessarily eye opening, because I have been kind of aware of the fact that school has kind of melded into more test prep, and real world applications in most classes are dwindling at an alarming rate. That being said, I found what the CEOs sad about what they look for in a potential hiring to be surprising, in a good way for me. I've never really been a genius, but I pride myself on having rather good communication skills for the most part, and though I'm not very interested in being the leader of a project, of need be I feel that I could step up and not completely crap the bed. Although most classes in school haven't really taught me how to do that, for the most part I would credit that to the extra curriculars I'm a part of. But knowing that Bosses look for charisma and drive to succeed almost as much if not more than just a plain aptitude in a specific subject to be a promising thing for me, where my worth so far has been determined by a rank.
ReplyDeleteThough the things I want to do later in life aren't exactly academic. I have always found myself more enamored by the arts, specifically music and drama, than I have math or science, the only academic subject I'd even consider majoring in would be English. Although we're I to pursue a career in any of those three, I don't think I would feel unprepared, because our English and arts programs at the Oak are very good, although I don't think anyone is entirely prepared for the career of their choosing directly out of high school. But that would be especially because of the kind of AP classes listed in this article. They have become less of a thing for people especially proficient at a subject to take to expand their expertise at the subject, to a general class schedule for smart kids, whether they have an interest in the AP subject or not, and in turn, AP classes have gone from expanding the knowledge of the students to preparing them for a test that only effects them in the short term, and does nothing to help them with their future, in the subject involved or otherwise. I have found myself cramming, menially memorizing things to the point where they lose ll meaning and just become words singed into my head, and I'm not proud of it, but it's a skill you need to learn to have in this particular school setting we have l gown accustomed to.
I rarely like any type of article but I managed to love this one. I think I loved this one so much mainly because I think something I learn in some of my classes will not help me in any way, shape or form. I think it would be the best idea in the world to only take classes on something that has to do with the field or career you want to pursue. That being said I do not personally think I am prepared with my education when it comes to what these companies are looking for. I am looking to pursue and possibly counseling of some sort. If I left school right this second I feel that I wouldn’t be prepared at all because I was not taking classes that would help me in the area that I need in order to be successful in that field. I feel that math is pointless to an extent. For an example, imaginary numbers…why the beep do I need to know that? It is very frustrating for me but I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for somebody who already has their life planned out and have to wait til college to start taking class that would be useful and helpful for them to be successful in that career they have chosen. When it comes to AP classes I think they are very important. Not necessarily for looking good on college applications but helping you be prepared for college more than somebody who took regular classes all through high school. AP classes Wagner references is spot on. While reading the AP Government reference it made me laugh. Not just in that class but I feel that a lot of classes aside from AP as well change the subject right after explaining a top which causes confusion. In AP they expect you to work and learn so fast that it is harder for you to truly understand the concept. I feel that Is a huge complaint of students today especially when they are given work on something that was briefly talked about. That is completely familiar to me in most of my classes and I know for some of my fellow peers. Overall, I feel that this article understood me when nobody else could understand my frustrations with school in general and some teaching methods that are taking place.
ReplyDeleteI expected the skills that the CEOs are looking for in new hires to be things that school just inst preparing us for. Ask any of my friends, I have always hated the way school is set up, the way we are taught and the skills that we are told are important. It’s all lies, from what I can tell we are just tools to make schools look good and they don’t really care what we learn outside of memorizing menial things for meaningless tests that determine how good the school looks. But that I guess, is a topic for another time, the point is we aren’t learning what we need to learn. An expansive knowledge base will only get you so far if you lack the skills to function in a working environment or any social environment for that matter. Knowledge may be power but personality is key. While schools can’t teach us to have personalities they could use these 12 years of schooling to teach us how to be personable. How to hold a conversation or ask questions, provoke thought or even just how to appear desirable. But as I said before schools don’t care about that, this is a business after all and they don’t care about client satisfaction, after all they get a new batch every year and what are we going to do? Stop coming to school?
ReplyDeleteWhile I would love to say that if I dropped school right now I would be fully prepared to teach history that just isn’t realistic. One because there is a lot I have left to learn about history itself but also because I would just not know how to manage a classroom. This isn’t the fault of the schools in this situation but I think the point of the question is more about our rediness to deal with the real world and that I can say I am ready for, no thanks to schools though I just have parents who wouldn’t dare leave my survival skills up to the school. But no everyone has that support and sadly for them they will enter the world and it will be like running straight into one of the lovely concrete walls that help keep our school standing.
The AP classes referenced in this paper sound like any classroom run by your average teacher. Sadly I can very easily recall many instances that seemed exactly like these classrooms. The teachers don’t teach, they talk, they speak at the students not considering if the things they are saying are really doing anything. Sit a kid down and tell them to listen and they won’t. Put a problem in front of a couple kids and tell them to solve it and they might. What most teachers miss is that you need a mix. Start off with telling us to doing something we don’t know, don’t help us just make us do it. Then tell us how it is done. This is probably one of the longest blogs I have written…COOL! We should talk about education more often!
I agree that teaching methods need an overhaul. It seems that there are a select few teachers that actually teach, while the vast majority either hold your hand the entire time, or throw you directly into the lions. Classes need a happy medium with this, but very rarely do you get it, which really sucks, but until something is done, that just has to be the reality.
DeleteThe way you explained "teaching how to be personable" was perfect. We are not really taught the social, leadership, or coordination skills necessary to succeed in such an environment.
DeleteThe way you and the article described the more effective way of teaching reminded me of the way Mrs. Irick teaches. Although I don't particularly like calc, I am sometimes actually able to enjoy it because I understand, and that motivates me to try to do more. Compared to my previous math teachers, I'd have to say that she is probably the best math teacher I have ever had, and probably one of the best teachers I have ever had in general.
DeleteWhat I have found taking all of these different AP and honors classes, is that most teachers teach in order to follow some type of great looming exam at the end of the year. I'm simply learning to test. I am learning how to please the test evaluators. This isn't really teachers' faults, however. If they could get penalized for the bad test results of their students, why wouldn't they try to teach the best test strategies? Nevertheless, I think I've learned the most in school during lessons that really aren't part of the plan that will help me so much throughout my life. I'm talking about the random times that teachers don't go by the lesson plan, and talk about something completely off topic. Within all of these numerous conversations and long periods of distraction have actually given me more to think about than is given credit for. For instance, one time last year, Mr. Costal made my class all randomly stand up during a lesson. He watched us as we all stood there confused and looking at each other cluelessly. He then took special care to say what we did with our arms as we stood there uncomfortably. After a few minutes of awkward silence, he explained to us that it is a common habit for us to cross our arms or hold one in place, when we are standing. While the position may feel comfortable to us, we don't notice that if we are talking to someone, our body position comes off as uncomfortable and awkward. In addition, following that exercise, he showed us that if one feels weird looking straight into someone's eyes while speaking to them, it is better to stare at the other person's nose instead. The person you are speaking to wont be able to tell the difference, and you as a conversation partner won't come off as rude or awkward. Taking care to notice how I carry myself when I am standing, and the way I convey my confidence while "looking into the eyes" of my possible future business boss could definitely win me brownie points that were provided by teachers that weren't even necessarily teaching to fit a test that day.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I am asked more than ever about what I want to do with my life. Sometimes, I really am set on being a musical therapist and working through an incredibly difficult major in college to soothe and interact with people ranging anywhere from special ed children to the elderly through musical cognitive therapy. Other times, I want to just be a guidance counselor. On some days, I figure to just go to school for business to have a lot of options. And every once in a while, I just resort to be childhood dream of just being a mermaid.
PART 2:The schooling I've received as of now isn't all that bad. I have a core amount of basic knowledge that helps me understand concepts that should be universally known. However, I don't know that if I were to leave school now and pursue the career I wanted to, that I would be totally prepared. But that isn't exactly the school's fault. Like I had said before, the classes that I have chosen to take in the past have each provided me with tidbits of knowledge that could help me in the long run. But my abilities to be successful in the eyes of my boss won't exactly be tested and perfected until I actually get hands on experience. I can learn as many facts and information about my job as I want. However, when I am doing the real thing, I need to get used to everything to make a difference. To say that school alone should make me 100% ready for a career is ridiculous. It's like expecting to be able to ride a bike by studying the history and tutorial of bike riding. I won't be able to truly grasp what I need to do until I get on.
ReplyDeleteStill, as sad as it is, the author's observations of what a classroom can be like in an AP setting is true. Many times teachers are greeted with blank stares from their students when a question is asked. Most of the time, directions are simply followed, and as long as a high grade is the result, students will not ask any further questions or think to see how much more they should know about a certain topic. For some classes, there really is no stimulation, because individuality and creativity is not really all that important. This is especially true when there is a uniform model of what will most likely result in a high score on an AP exam.
I enjoyed this article for a very simple reason. It has the audacity to challenge one of our education system’s sacred institutions – the AP class. We have the tendency to elevate AP classes and AP students on this pedestal. They are very difficult, college-level classes – I’m not trying to suggest that they are not. But we are so happy that students would take the challenge to take college-level classes that we seem to believe these classes can’t be flawed because they are so high-level. As AP students, we are showered in praise for just having the grit to take such courses. I distinctly remember Costal address our AP Gov cohort as “the top 1% of the school”, even though in reality, the top 1% of our class would only be 3 kids versus… well 80.
ReplyDeleteA lot of these skills needed to succeed I do not believe are required or taught in AP classes or really in any of the classes I thought – at least not in the concentration needed to be significant. AP classes are by nature obsessive over performance on that one exam in May that most of those other skills prove ancillary to the ultimate goal of the course – to get a 5. To be fair, some AP classes are clearly better than others, both in expectations and in skills needed to succeed. For example, the AP Calculus classes, AP Computer Science, AP Chemistry, AP Lang, AP Physics C (B sucks), AP Bio make up the pinnacle of the College Board pantheon. These courses are legitimately difficult, have content, and expect a great deal from its students. As a result, these courses also tend to have the highest curves and the best performing students. For whatever reason, other AP classes seem to fall far in quality when compared to these. For example, last year I took AP Statistics and AP Calculus AB concurrently and well – wow. The difference was so shocking and unsatisfying that many times I considered emailing the College Board complaining why they would create such a horrible class (referring of course to the AP Statistics). Make no mistake, I LOVE statistics. But I hate AP Statistics.
I honestly think my education has prepared me for many of the skills mentioned in the article. But I would not attribute the learning of these skills to my actual courses. Instead, things like Communications skills, Adaptability, Imagination, Problem Solving, etc. are things I learned from the overall high school experience, particularly from the extracurricular I engage. In a way, I suppose I am educating myself by going beyond what the school teaches, so I suppose my traditional “schooling” isn’t doing much.
As far as career goals, I want to become trained as an engineer. My plan is to become an entrepreneur when I am struck with an idea and execute it well. Obviously, I’m prepared for plenty of failures. And if it doesn’t work out quite like I want it to, I may just end up joining an investment firm and work as a banker, which is another thing I am sure I’d love to do. Of course, those jobs require a lot of skills that I don’t yet have, at least educationally. I don’t think if someone were to throw me into an open world if I would have the skills to start a company by myself. Where would I start? Write a business plan? Then what. These are of course skills I hope to acquire in college. I just pray that it happens.
The thought of "when am I going to learn all of these skills needed for the real world?" occurred to me last year. Like you, I've been somewhat introduced to those things through my overall high school experience. Apparently there are classes like that teach those skills; however, they are for adults. I don't know if they are offered around here though. I just know that Mr. Money taught one of those classes at some point. I was sort of hoping that maybe I would take one of those classes if I was given the opportunity.
DeleteNeil what a great post. I feel the exact same way. AP statistic was really nothing. I liked the class but I really didn’t learn anything at all the whole year. I felt that many class do help with these life lesson but not all of them do. I believe that schools are trying their best but they are only want us to pass a test instead of have learn life lesson. So great job on the blog Neil.
Delete(part 1)
ReplyDeleteWhen I first went through this article, I honestly didn't take it as anything special. It's not really as if it's anything I haven't heard or don't already know for a fact. But after taking a nap and reading through bits of it again, and then hearing a little bit of other people's opinions, I started to have a little bit of one of my own. The first time I read I was a little bored, but the second time he did seem more insulting, just a tiny bit. He makes the students themselves seem inadequate, not just the classes. But I get his point.
No, I don't really think what we do in schools is going to help me all that much with whatever I do actually end up doing as a career. We're too test-based and rigorous in that kind of way, and with the way things are run the problem is I don't really know what anyone could do about it. Sure what we're doing isn't helping, but the problems in education aren't things that just have some grand solution that will solve everything. If big companies want me to be able to show leadership skills, and ask good questions, and be imaginative, that might be a bit of a problem. To an extent some of those things can't be taught, or maybe I just don't know well enough because I'm the product of whatever flawed system this is. But I've never been imaginative, or a leader, or a question- asker. Or I've just been bred that way. Those things don't come easily to me, so if that's what they want, and I know it is, there are probably going to be some issues.
(part 2)
ReplyDeleteI don't know what I want to do. I've said it a thousand times and I think every time I have to say it again I die a little inside because I'm tired of explaining, but I want to be a teacher. I wanted to be a doctor for the longest time, because that's what my mom wanted and it became what I wanted, but the financial costs and high-stress I know it'd give me, among other things, weren't really what I wanted. So I want to be a teacher for either bio or english. I just think both are cool. That's pretty much it. I think language is one of the most badass things ever invented, and the science of being able to live is pretty cool, too. But if someone were to suddenly put me in front of a group of kids and tell me to teach them what to I might freeze up and start to cry. Something school has given me for the last few years is a crippling fear of speaking in front of others, so a job where I have to do so daily probably isn't actually a good idea. I've never been a leader, and that's probably not something I can change at this point. For all of my go-hardness and a GPA that would suggest I am at least somewhat skilled in the art of test-taking I'm still probably screwed. The ability to take a test doesn't really mean much. Which leads into my thoughts on AP tests. I'm understating it a bit when I say that I'm a somewhat good test taker, at least in the standardized section of things. My in school tests aren't really too great, but for whatever reason when things are state-regulated I seem to became 3000% smarter and more capable. So I have good scores. But I don't know a damn thing. I got a 5 in gov. I know nothing about gov. At all. But just like in his stories of the classes he visited, all last year I probably could've quoted definitions just as well as anyone, and data would suggest I'm pretty good at explaining things. (I have 1/7 of the skills executives want! Woo!) But I feel like he's not being completely fair either. It's true that I think my year here at Oackrest is blessed with brilliance maybe other schools don't have, but from the classes he described I think we're a little better than that. Mostly I mean. Discussions are always good even if they're not always on topic, and I enjoy myself and at least kind of feel like I'm learning for the most part. In Lang or any english class I don't think it's really all that often that we don't know what's happening, we just don't respond. I will say though in chem I rarely know what's going on. But again maybe it's just me. It's not really my sort of thing, and I don't understand and don't deserve to because I just don't put the effort in for it. So overall I think he's being a little unfair, but I don't think he's wrong. I just don't really know how we would be able to fix things. Like what seems like every other student in education right now, I am tired of taking tests. I've never needed a motivator like a 1-5 score to want to learn something, but I feel like if we stopped having all these tests no one would really know what to do. All school is is preparing for tests. I want to be a teacher, but I'm not sure if I'd want to deal with all of that anyway.
I've found that over the last few months, my motivation has come into nonexistence. We just of test after test after test, and at some point, I just reached my limit, and I exploded. This year is like one big anxiety attack. My brain has just shut down on school, and I'm incapable of functioning and I just want to curl up in a ball on my bed and sleep for ten years in hopes that things would be better once I wake up.
DeleteYour point about tests reminded me of something that Neil said in his blog about AP classes. They spend the entire year focused on preparing for the AP test that there is no time whatsoever to be able to work on those skills that companies look for. That leaves me with one question. What is the point of taking those tests if we are just being set up to fail anyway since we are missing those vital qualities that aren't taught in schools? Is there any?
Part 1: Over the many years of being a member of the public education system, I have come to realize that the knowledge and learning techniques we have acquired from school will be fairly useless to us in the future when we start looking for real jobs. Even though we gain a mass amount of knowledge through basic schooling, most of it is generally irrelevant to quotidian life. After college, I am most likely never going to find myself in a dire situation where I would need to find the derivative of a function, no matter how many times my calculus teacher may stress the importance of this skill. Our education system is set up in a way that is supposed to prepare us for the intense dog-eat-dog world that we will all face in the future, but in actuality it is only teaching us how to test. As students in many AP level classes, we have been taught to simply gobble up facts and spit out the information because that’s obviously a proper way to measure your overall intelligence. Even though we are all fairly intelligent, it would still be wrong to say that we are the “best and the brightest” of the school. We are taught to conform this system in various ways in order to get the best report card grades as well as standardized test scores that way we can appear to be of “college material.” By conforming to this system, we are restricting ourselves, thus sacrificing the valuable skills that are vital to our future careers. In the article “Rigor Redefined,” I couldn’t help but lose faith in my chances of finding a job while I read through the key skills that high end bosses look for in applicants. Even though none of this was new to me, I did not want to be reminded of how badly our schools have attempted to strengthen the most important skills in life. As our time in public school is coming to an end, I can feel myself stressing about the many problems I will face in the real world. When I go looking for a job at some point in the future, they will not care how many AP classes I took or what my class rank was in high school. At the least, these aspects will get me into a decent college which will look impressive on job applications. However, I am most likely be unable to keep said job for very long if I don’t possess the essential skills. In some way, school is setting me up for danger. It is actually attenuating these skills because the public education system cares more about the information that spit out onto Scantrons rather than the knowledge and techniques we absorb.
ReplyDeletePart 2:The observations of the AP classes made by the writer of this article seemed to be fairly insulting to the students. The only observation that I found accurate had to be the one that pertained to the AP Government class. In this observation, it is implied that the teacher will mindlessly ask the students’ standardized testing questions without actually giving full explanations as to why a certain answer is correct. For the most part however, I found it ridiculous that the writer displayed these students in a way that made them seem lazy and stupid. Even if they weren’t fully aware of what they were learning in the class, it is most likely because they have simply learned to spew out random facts instead of applying them to more active situations. Of course, all of these students probably have great test taking and memorization skills or else they wouldn’t be in an AP level class. If their critical thinking and agility skills were sharpened then maybe they would be able to satisfy the expectations of the teachers. In my case, I am most likely going to pursue marketing and public relations. However, I am fairly weak in certain vital areas like communication and I will most likely suffer from these weaknesses. If school had focused more on strengthening this skill plus more then maybe I wouldn’t even have to stress so much about my future career. Education has slowly become one huge joke. No matter how many times I hear about the benefits of school and no matter how great my grades are, it will all become irrelevant once high school purges us all out into the harsh world where test taking skills are useless. When will we realize that our education system is failing to give us the knowledge we need?
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ReplyDeleteThe one thing that stood out to me the most in the AP classes references was the situation in AP government. I specifically remember those moments last year when Mr. Sera would ask us questions that required the knowledge of several vocabulary terms and the ability to relate it to other things in order to answer the FRQ. I remember those moments because I remember the embarrassment of not knowing how to relate the ideas. He would often guide us through the questions, but I don’t remember actually being able to answer them on my own. I never bothered to ask for help because I was too intimidated and embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t getting it. I suppose that’s a mistake on my part.
ReplyDeleteThe other descriptions of AP classes didn’t occur in those two classes specifically, but I do remember it happening in Honors Biology and Honors Chemistry. I felt as though I was just being handed the answers at times, but I just never learned how to figure it out on my own and for that reason, I sometimes feel as though I am the dumb kid amongst all of my AP friends. Only I am to blame for not asking though. If I just wasn’t so socially anxious, maybe things would be different. Maybe I would feel as though I am prepared for what companies are looking for. I would be that bright intelligent mind with the ability to think critically. Unfortunately, that isn’t a reality, and my small amount of abilities won’t ever suffice. They wouldn’t suffice six years from now if I were to finish school and go straight to work, and they definitely wouldn’t suffice now. Not to mention that I don’t feel like my schooling has prepared me.
I always feel the most negative and self conscious when I think about the future because I don’t feel like I’m ready. I’m barely sure of what I want to do, and there is a very small chance of me actually succeeding. I wanted to be a journalist or a writer of some sort or an English teacher, but I realized that I’m not good enough for any of those things. I’m a terrible writer, and I can’t teach because I’m not smart enough. I’m probably not good enough to become an actress either, and it is rather unfortunate considering that it has been my dream to be an actress/performer of some sort since I was two. Everyone knows that those chances are slim as it is, but I figured that if I am going to go out and attempt to prosper with what little talent I have, I might as well do what I enjoy.
Gabby great job on the blog. I could relate to your post. In AP gov I remember sitting around ad trying to relate difficult concept and that was hard. But don’t feel down and don’t think of yourself as being horrible and terrible. I am sure many people in our class feel the exact same way and I am part of it. Don’t worry gabby you will be fine in the real world as an actress/ performer. So great job.
DeleteThis article really opened my eyes to the real purposes of schools and AP classes. The article “Rigor redefined” it talks about how the school is not teaching us how to live in the real worlds instead they are teaching us how to pass a test. I couldn’t believe how the schools are just teaching students only to memorize and to not critically think. I really find this abnormal because in Oakcrest a majority of AP teachers not only teaches us how to pass a test but instead how to think critically and have all the quality that CEO required. I have been in honors and regular classes and I have seen teachers not bestowing upon us quality required for real life. That is why I think AP classes are harder not because of the fact that it is more material but because of students having to think critically. In honors students just have to memorize facts and they will pass the test. However in AP classes the students have to connect ideas with other ideas just to come up with the right answer and that is critical thinking. The article description of most AP classes was mind-boggling. In AP government that is exactly what happened in that class because people can memorize facts but they can’t connect two ideas and that is what happened. However in AP Lang and AP Chemistry, the teachers really do teach life lesson. In both of these classes there collaboration, analyzing information, ingemination, critical thinking, and effective oral and written skills. I feel some of my class does prepare me for these companies but not a majority so I feel that I am not ready. I want to be a chemical engineer and I would not be ready. I don’t have enough skills for critically thinking and analyzing information but I can memorize facts. Even if the only skill I know is memorizing facts the problem is that it is not what companies are looking for. I would not be ready if I left school now. I don’t feel like I am prepared for the real world at all and it is probably because my schools doesn’t teaches life lesson. Overall this article opened my eyes and it tells me what I should really be learning. I know many of my teachers are preparing me for the future and even though I cant see the result now I will be able to in the future.
ReplyDeleteWagners article was spot on. Grades, ranks, and scores (all stupid numbers,) are what determine what college were going to get into. Not how great our "life skills," are. It's such a shame that in the education system, which is the foundation of our society of jobs, colleges, etc, us 14-18 year olds are a number. Nobody cares who we are, how motivated we are or what we've been through. What matters in life right now is our scores on the SAT's and how many AP classes we took. The only thing I was shocked about with his article was the classes he examined. Yes AP government was a prime example of how easy that ap class was taken and how we were still being treated by babies by Sera. AP US history is insanely easy with Cervi. I, however, don't have a single care in the world for the class and that's why my grades are horrible. I'm not pushed or yelled at by the teacher if I don't get in my work or anything, so it turns into me not caring even if I do bad. AP Lang on the other hand, is the first out of the total of 3 AP classes I've taken in high school that I was actually treated in some way a college kid. The class is filled with discussions while 80-90% of the work is done on our own at home. What we discuss in class we have to apply at home-which is how it should be. Not memorizing words phrases and terms like we did in government and history. 1 in gov and a 1 in history on the exams- go me. I want to go into substance abuse counseling. If I went straight out into the career field of that right now, I'd be like a lost puppy. I would know only my street knowledge of drugs- which I can guarantee you would get me fired ASAP. I also have trouble talking to people who I don't know....so I need to take a speech class in college, a psychology class in order to deal w my patients, as well as a drug class of 4 years of college just to be able to get my job done at an entry level intern. College is what's supposed to teach me what I have to do for the real world, but these AP classes arent doing it for me outside of school or at track or anywhere.
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