Saturday, June 14, 2014
How can we get U.S. students to value and appreciate education?
How can we get U.S. students to value and appreciate education?
Recently, Oprah Winfrey, who just opened a school for orphan and impoverished girls in South Africa, stated, "I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools [in the U.S.] that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn't there," she says. "If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don't ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school." As both an American student and a future teacher, I have experienced this attitude as well (not everywhere, but in enough places where it is a problem). How can we get students in America to value and appreciate education and if they are unsatisfied, how can we get students to express the changes that need to be made so that they will value it? Thanks. (Serious replies only). Public elementary and secondary school is free, which is what I was focusing on. However, college costs are increasing at an unprecedented rate. ***** elaborate on what you mean by "spoiling"?
Other - Society & Culture - 11 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Get it to be more affordable
2 :
stop spoiling them
3 :
make the curriculum a little more life-related, such as classes on social conduct and make the learning techniques more multiple intelligence theory-ish, like baseball math, or rapping poetry to beats.. learning doesn't take effort, it happens automatically its just that different people learn differently and there needs to be an emotional attachement to the material i think that if the shit we learned was more readily applicable, kids would be more into it
4 :
well i dont really know but why dont students get taken high up jobs and shown people who did study and are earning lots of cash, say a bank manager and he will show them what he has earned how much he is worth and things and then take them to busy towns with people living on the streets and show them that that is a life to expect if they dont study. if they are any wise at all the will then want to study to afford everything lkike the bank manager rather than be another homeless guy on the street. p.s i live in the u.k so things may be different to how we percieve and accept things over here?
5 :
The problem is lack of parenting skills. The parent needs to make sure their child knows that college is not an option any longer and it is vital to their well-being. Maybe more tv commercials about continuing education would help. The main source of knowledge needs to come from the parent. Maybe the parent needs educated on how the process works and how to get the child started in the right direction. Grade schools need to push this to happen as well. That is when the child is more open to learning.
6 :
Perhaps military academies should replace all public education systems. Seriously, though, the kids cannot appreciate the value of a good education if the parents don't teach them to.The ultimate deciding factor to a students sucess is strong, persistant parental involvement. The parents of America need to stop spoiling and babying their children and get them to buckle down and focus on their studies.
7 :
The no child left behind is dragging down our students. Plus they need to begin education at home before Kindergarten. Stupid parents make stupid kids. Television in the home is a big part of the problem for the IPOD or sneakers. I notice more guys posting than girls on this subject. Why then are there more girls teaching?
8 :
I do not know, but I wonder if some of them feel no hope for their future. When I was their age, I had no appreciation for education because of personal issues that made me feel that all was useless no matter what I did; I had no hope. Please do not think that I am offering this as a blanket explanation nor that I am saying others who answer you are wrong. Maybe together, we can offer tangible answers that can become part of the solution.
9 :
Motivation, motivation, motivation! Educators and parents must convince youngsters that a good education will be more valuable to them than will be the lack of it. The media must cooperate with us. Too much emphasis is placed on materialistic success gained by sports stars, actors, drug sellers, criminals, etc. Less emphasis should be placed on the activities of these. Will this happen? I doubt it.
10 :
It all boils down to parenting. The fact that pop culture undervalues and denigrates core values and a work ethic as "uncool" doesn't help either. Positive role models are the best solution. The most powerful role models are in the home, whether for better or worse.
11 :
I have taught for 20 years and have seen the attitude toward education and educators worsen. The change needs to come from society in general. There seems to be an attitude that the students and parents have no responsibility for the child's education. It is all put on the school. I will be the first to admit that there are some lazy teachers out there. I know. I've taught with some. However, the majority are hard-working and really care about how their students do. Parents and the students need to put out more of an effort. I realize a lot of the parents do care, but time and time again I see the attitude that the school should do everything. If I was in charge of my students 24/7, I would insist that they do their homework, help them with things they didn't understand, and make sure they got proper nutrition and sleep. More sports figures and celebrities need to stress the importance of education and vocational training. Also, education itself needs to stop this one test fits all mentality. There are always going to be kids who aren't strong in math or aren't strong in reading. There are going to be kids who just don't have the ability, no matter what we do. We need to learn to recognize other strengths and develop them, not just the academics. I think if by jr. high the schools started offering some vocational training courses and let kids decide what way they wanted to go, things would get better. For example I have some students who want to work on cars when they grow up. They don't see why they need to know the difference between similes and metaphors. (I don't either but the state of Kansas does) But, if these boys were taking some practical math and beginning mechanics courses, I bet their attitude toward education would change. We need to tailor the system more to the different needs kids have. I wouldn't have a problem teaching kids how to write certain letters, fill out forms, and how to read informational and technical texts, because that's all the reading some of them will ever have to do again once they're out of school. I'm not saying that they shouldn't know about history, literature, and science, but I am saying that kids that aren't going to college don't need intensive knowledge. We also need to get off this everyone has to go to college kick. College is great for certain people, but there are also people who will excel and be quite successful by going to school to learn to be an electrician, plumber, construction worker, or any other occupation that requires specialized skills. Until the politicians let educators (the ones who are dealing with kids on a daily basis--not college profs) have a say in educational policy, we will not solve this problem.
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