In parts one through four of this five part series, Zombie has laid out the problems with our educational system. Well, anyone can criticize and point out problems, right? In part five he proposes some possible solutions for fixng the problems. Some are more practical/attainable than others but the suggestions are worth discussing. Examples:
Educational structures
- Introduce competition into the educational marketplace.
- Encourage homeschooling
- Break the monopoly of public education, but keep it as a safety net
Curriculum
- Get back to basics
- End the practice of mass-adoption of a few major textbooks
- Form centrist national pressure groups to make textbooks indoctrination-free
- Get politics and religion out of science classes
- Introduce and popularize “skills survey” courses
Pedagogy (methods of instruction)
- Group students by ability, not age or ethnicity; bring back “tracking”
- Have “small schools” or “departments” within large high schools
- Allow teachers with creative ideas to be idiosyncratic
Transparency and Independence
- Parental notification
- Break the teachers’ unions
- Bring back competition and individuality
Read the whole thing.
1 comment:
Home schooling must be introduced as the norm. Classrooms and schools are becoming malls of America. There are too many students who are left behind, pardon the pun. Kids who want to learn can't because of kids who are mainstreamed into the classroom. Each child must have a computer and be linked into an educational system (like K-12) and social parameters are included. Social groups are established and play groups and learning groups are regularly held in each community. Each child receives a computer ( preferably a notebook, that can be taken to the library or the park for observational notes and practices). Another idea is hooking into Apple Computer's network of iPads...download applicable material and let kids have fun with it. Within an electronic homeschool network, parents can observe their child learn and continue said learning with out of the classroom experiments and experiences. Let's give the classrooms of America back, and encourage a new generation of tech-savvy students who are independent of the traditional classroom!
--tina zane velgos
payson, AZ
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