Traditional vs. Modern in Education

[MsThang]

I run into people constantly who have different views on how the youth of today is being educated. Have traditional methods, with memorization, drills, and high expectations been phased out for modern, more unconventional methods, like games and "edutainment"...and is this a bad thing, or is changing to meet the attention of new generations necessary?

[Twila Zone]

I think there's room for both to be honest, and I think both are needed. Kids need to be engaged. Those drills? I can still quote them and I don't want to admit how many decades ago that was. Look at Stand and Deliver -- that was a mixture. -- a negative times a negative equals a positive. That's one of those drills I remember from high school. But I remember elementary drills, too. There's definitely a place for both.

[Arudo]

I agree with Twila Zone.
I guess it's just about personal choice/opinion.
As for me, I'd rather choose the modern one

[MsThang]

I don't know; I mean, I'm no education expert, but it definitely seems that kids today are less motivated and therefore, less knowledgable than students in the past. There's room for improvement somewhere...

[Experimental]

I think a nice mixture would be the best. I know kids in 2nd grade that are still having trouble with basic number recognition. I know that should be done by parents but what are the teachers for. I think they could do some drills to learn some of the rote things that are necessary. I don't agree with standardized testing either. It's terribly biased against minority kids.

[Charlie]

I think that there needs to be a system that meets the need of the individual child-and that isn't possible. It has to be one for all and that will never suit everyone.

I really don't like the trend towards play only until the child is getting exceedingly old.

[Micah]

The problem I see in education today is discipline. Human rights activists have made so much impact on the society that a teacher could be jailed for disciplining a child.

How would the teachers of today cope up with that? Through entertainment I guess. Gone are the days where teachers are deemed to be strict and students are afraid of them. I think it is a win-win situation if teachers use entertainment and games to teach kids because the students will enjoy the class and the teachers won't need to be strict.

[Experimental]

Yeah, I've seen the permissive side of the teachers in my area. I went to a classroom of high school students to demonstrate something I do on my job. The kids were pretty much making out in the hallways and in the classrooms. They got up and wondered around while I was doing the demonstration and the teacher didn't say anything to any of them. I would be having a stroke the first day if I was a teacher.

[silviana]

It's always being reported in the media that the kids of today leave school without being able to read, write or do mental arithmatic and I see it all around me. I always count my change when I shop although they don't even have to do much working out because the till tells them how much change is due!

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Micah

The problem I see in education today is discipline. Human rights activists have made so much impact on the society that a teacher could be jailed for disciplining a child.

How would the teachers of today cope up with that? Through entertainment I guess. Gone are the days where teachers are deemed to be strict and students are afraid of them. I think it is a win-win situation if teachers use entertainment and games to teach kids because the students will enjoy the class and the teachers won't need to be strict.

I am shocked at the lack of discipline too, I'm glad you mentioned it. In the past two weeks my daughter-aged four, has come home with a skinned knee from being pushed over, forwards, she's been slapped across the face, and she has been scratched down her face, leaving two deep claw marks that bled.

This was all by the same girl. The school's response? There's nothing we can do but talk to the girl.

So by law I am expected to send my daughter to a place that is powerless to protect her from bullies who try to hurt her. How in the world is that ok? If an adult did what this kid has done, to another adult, you could bring charges against them by law. But because she's a kid, she can hurt my daughter as much as she wants.