Not surprisingly, I have been thinking quite a lot about the education system of which I am currently a part. Naturally, from a professional standpoint, I have to. I am, after all, a teacher.
But, I'd like to think of myself as a bit more than that, most notably--a human being. And to me, education is about more than teaching kids how to prep for and take an expensive test (or series of tests) that will invariably lead them to a place where they will need to--you guessed it--take more tests. Ugh. Here's the thing that those test-prep wunderkinds never really get to the heart of--MOST of life is a test--and one where you don't often even SEE tangible results. At least, not quantified by a number. So, how much is all that test prep really worth? Well, see, that's it. I don't really know, and if I don't then you probably don't either. Well, Bryan might. See? It's all very confusing when we start to talk about education.
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." It is a bit dated, but I think there are still nuggets of relevance contained within.
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? I know you don't want to think about that (Taylor) but you sort of have to. You don't need to decide--you only need to consider.
Finally, 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
Tony Wagner came to a valid conclusion, that the education system needs to be revamped, but for the wrong reason, to create a better workforce. Normally, I would argue about why Wagner is wrong and about how the “ends” do not justify the “means”, but I happen to have an opinion on the education system and about what it should be, and I do not want to take away space from that opinion, so I will not attack Tony Wagner.
ReplyDeleteMs. Bunje was right when she said that I know how much “that test prep” is worth. It is worth a heck of a lot, but the problem is that the knowledge gained from test prep is gained for the wrong reasons, and thus promotes extrinsic behavior (which I see as detrimental to the human spirit) and the gaining of the knowledge in the wrong amounts (smaller amounts than what should be, as students do not wish to learn because they see tests as pointless and, thus, knowledge as pointless). If knowledge were procured by the students, rather than given to them so that they could pass a test, for the sake of tackling some interesting questions and posing new ones, the amount of knowledge procured by the students would greatly increase and students would be urged to think for the sake of thinking, an intrinsic behavior promoting spiritual and cognitive growth.
The lack of curious, free-thinking, problem solving individuals that CEOs look for reflects the fact that the education system does not manufacture people to the liking of businesses, at least when they try to recruit high-paid employees (Walmart certainly thanks the education system for its cashiers). I do not care about businesses. I do not care about what the companies want. I do not care about money, and therefore I do not care for the skills required to make more of it. However, the skills used to make money mirror the skills needed to grow as an individual, so I do welcome those skills and acknowledge that the education system does not provide students with them.
I am going to talk about two classes that would reflect what I would want out of a class and that would provide the skills needed to grow as an individual. The first one, similar to the Algebra class in the article, combines different subjects. I combine subjects all the time: I think about AP Gov in terms of AP Psych, and AP US History from an AP Macro point of view. Doing this both reinforces my knowledge of the subjects and forces me to think critically. For example, if, say, a history class were to provide the following statement as the topic of an essay, students may get more out of many different classes, from pure factual knowledge to a growth in critical thinking capabilities: “If the United States Congress were to pass a bill outlawing lithium prescribed by psychiatrists, explain how this act would affect the Real Gross National Product of the United States; using historical precedents, postulate how citizens of the United States may react; and, finally, explain how the bill could be retracted .” The answering of this prompt requires factual knowledge of AP United States Government (that the Supreme Court could retract the bill if someone took it to the Supreme Court stating that a denial of medications is a denial of rights), AP Psychology (that lithium is used to treat bipolar disorder), AP Macroeconomics (that the unemployment rate could increase if people become too depressed, or too ecstatic, to work, and that this would decrease Real GDP), AP United States History (that there may be peaceful civil rights marches, as there were in the 1960s, when citizens see the bill as a denial of their liberties), and AP English Language and Composition (knowledge revealed when the writer carefully constructs his or her response). Moreover, answering this prompt promotes outside-the-box critical thinking, thinking that is difficult to put a number on, but thinking that promotes mental growth.
In addition to a class that asks cross-curricular questions, I would like to see the following philosophy class: students learn factual information about different eras in philosophy and important philosophers. They take quizzes on this information, which is about 20% of their grade. Next, they use this information to engage in debates where they each take a role as a different philosopher and debate each other, using their critical thinking skills to imagine their philosopher’s stance on the issue and speaking skills to argue it, and this would be a test grade and account for about 40% of the students’ overall grade, along with grades for class discussions on philosophical questions, which the answering thereof further promotes critical thinking. Moreover, there would be homework assignments, worth about 10% of the overall grade, that would be questions requiring complete answers needing both critical thinking and knowledge of the factual information, such as, “How does Sartre’s nihilist take on existential philosophy affect the human spirit, and how would this belief affect the workplace if it were widely adopted?” To answer that question, the student would need to know basic information about Sartre, and use that information to postulate an alternate future using critical thinking skills. Finally, worth 30% of the overall grade, would be the final exam, which is not a test, but a project in which the student comes up with his or her own take on the “What is the meaning of life?” question using influences from various philosophers as well as his or her own view of the world, and the goal of this assignment would not be to pass a test, but for students to discover more about themselves, using factual knowledge as a vehicle for that, and for students to influence each other using their critical thinking and debating skills.
DeleteI want to discover what it means to be human and come to a conclusion about whether or not life has meaning and is worth living. Basically, what I want to “do” is become a living person who is aware of his own life and that life’s meaning or purpose if there is one. School does not prepare me for this. My workplace for my profession, a living human being, is my world around me, and school removes me from that, and so it does not prepare me for life by not even attempting to simulate it: the “facts” I “learn” in school are not real.
Finally, in regard to the AP classes Wagner references, I will use my knowledge from AP Psychology to address. Wagner used what is called “naturalistic observation” when he observed those classes, which is ashame because one major detractor of naturalistic observation is that the watched do not act natural when they are being watched, and so it is difficult to come to conclusions about what is “natural” by watching them. Plus, Wagner’s descriptions seem to be written by a kindergartner, with little-to-no detail whatsoever, so normally I would pay these descriptions of AP classes no regard at all, as the author seems to not have taken any as evident by his poor writing skills. However, to take a stance on the unfortunate message these descriptions provide, I would have to say that they do sound familiar, in that the reason for learning is to pass a test, and so the test is used to study for it (the AP United States Government example), and this is why students tend to forget what they learned in a class after they pass the test: they learned what was on the test, and now that the test is gone, the information is unnecessary.
This article is real. It explains how what we learn in school actually does nothing for us and it sucks. Companies don’t actually look for people who took AP gov in high school. They don’t care that you can write a lab report. They don’t care that you can write a synthesis essay in 45 mins. They care about real qualities and unfortunately we lack all of them. There's no class to learn how to solve problems with others. We don’t know how to speak with others. We can’t ask good questions. We have no clue how to adapt and work with obstacles. But that's all they’re looking for. We lack all the common skills that everyone should know how to do because we're so wrapped up in trying to score high on our AP exam that we don’t realize that “wow I can solve every calculus problem but too bad I don’t know how to communicate with others and solve actual problems that come up in real life.” All of this article actually is right on point. Yes, there's maybe one or two classes you take in your life that kind of incorporate a few of these skills but it's rare and usually is considered “off topic”.
ReplyDeleteThe qualities the companies are looking for I have not gained from school, I gained them from my family and friends and always going out and experiencing new things. School has prepared me to solve equations and write for extended periods of time, which are neither of the qualities they are looking for. Suprising. I do not feel prepared at all for the real world and supporting myself with a job because I can’t even focus on learning life skills because I’m too busy reading textbooks and doing homework.
I understand that I need to go to school to get a job but it's to the point that school is just so unbearable that I have considered going a different route just because I can’t stand anymore school. It’s not even the learning part that sucks because I love learning new USEFUL information, school is just a horrible place. To become an anesthesiologist I have to do another 8 years of college and 4 years of residency in a hospital and I just don’t know how much more classroom setting learning I can take. I like hands on learning and conversation, not reading, writing, and watching. I still have much to learn before becoming a doctor and I understand that but half the things I’m learning now will not help me at all for my profession.
If I left school right now to become an anesthesiologist I would totally not be ready because of how meticulous it is. Although, if I left school to become a lady who works at the front desk of a business then mentally I would know all the information needed but my social skills probably wouldn’t be up to par because I was never taught any in high school.
Some AP classes are interesting and helpful while others are just taken so you can say you take an AP class. AP Gov? All I could tell you is that there is 89475 court cases and 3 branches of government and that’s it. After countless hours of writing notes and staying up late to study every night. I still have no clue about how government works or any parts of it and that’s the sad part. We put ourselves through all of this stress for nothing and all we get in return is bad grades, tears, & no money because we spent it on AP testing.
I’m an AP student. I mean I guess. Listen, I wish Honors, AP, CP, DH meant anything at all, but I don’t think that. In a class, I just want to do something, talk about something, understand something. Of course, AP is usually the only class with students respectable enough to get that deep. I don’t think AP really means anything. I guess because I don’t feel special, maybe a lil responsible, maybe a lil cooperative, maybe even a lil boring.
ReplyDeleteI’ve realized it is not that hard to be an AP student, I mean like I know some people who work so hard but that’s because they aren’t used to the life style. I think most AP kids have mastered the “copy”.
I say “copy” because it is either actual cheating or just taking something and doing the same exact thing but referencing it to the problem.
AP students, maybe regular ones, have lost the thinking and just learned how to use a model. A model is safe. A model gets them an A. A model is boring.
I realized AP was stupid when kids starting stuffing their schedules with them because the grade and the label meant more than knowledge.
I guess I never really was one of the students. I guess I am, but I try not to be. I want to get things. I want to be able to sync ideas, apply, talk, read things from everywhere. I want to be a human being not stuck in that model-stuck with a label.
Maybe that is why I think highschool is so easy. Maybe that is why I never had to try as hard as everyone else. Maybe that’s how people get so riled up that I’m in the top 10. A thing I don’t even care for. I don’t know. Yall can have it. I am surrounded by kids who only want to be in the top and don’t even care about anything else. I guess to each its own, but that is a sad life to live in my eyes. Some of the them are forced and brainwashed in, but I was and after being thrown into society, I saw how empty of knowledge AP is or Honors or Accelerated or whatever.
A test is a test and is just like the model thing I said.
Bryan one time, separated the top 10 and talked to me about how he felt there are naturally smart kids, try hard kids, and then there’s me. I was really gassed. He said he thought I was the only naturally smart kid who had social skills and knowledge. That is what I strive for really.
Anyways, I’m off track and back to the article.
I read down that list and they all made sense to me, but as I said before a lot of AP kids don’t get that. I think the biggest problem a lot of AP kids have is confidence. This might strike them when it comes down to having to ask questions, being independent, talking in front of people (cough me!!!), leading, being creative. I guess most of our lives have been very simple, we just get it. We have confidence in ourselves only because we are 100% right. But, we don’t most of the time because we are too scared to look dumb asking questions because that means we don’t get it and are just not that flexible.
The AP examples all sound pretty legit, but not really whatever group I’m in because I’ll look stupid all day till I get it.
Usually AP chem, I’m shooting out questions and I get uncomfortable and I try to get it.
I don’t mean to gas myself, make myself seem like the best AP student, like the only one who can do shit. Nahhh, I just have tried not to fall into that crowd. I’ll laugh at any failing grade, I usually hang them up, I’ll say every wrong answer.
I still get scared, I still stay quiet sometimes, but I try to not.
I can’t talk in front of people for my life. So much pressure. I hate people. I guess in a lot of qualities listed, I either felt pretty strong in or I felt like I needed confidence to do have those things. Which I might not have because I live with my mommy and all my life I have only relied on people for tangible things. (obvi not feelings chu heard)
I feel like being completely independent will teach me a lot and get my fully prepared for the real world.
DeleteThe real world. I think I have always wanted to be independent. I always wanted to understand things and people. I have been through a life that I would never wish on anyone and to some it might not even be bad. I have been alone.
Independence, Confidence. Things I guess AP can never teach you, but things you must teach yourself.
AP classes have taught me to apply, taught me to force creativity in their boring boring assignments, analyze shit. It has definitely taught the problem solving critical thinking shit.
But the real things and the rest of the things on the list, I have learned through life. I don’t think that’s College Board AP’s fault (wow omg how am I not blaming that terrible organization). I think it is the crazy tiger moms faults of the AP students. I have one of those, but I am an exception of god for a couple reasons. But, anyways, when you are forced into a room to do homework and study-you lose the yearn to learn yo. The curiosity and the flexibility. I guess because momma q was never home, I taught myself to be by myself and want to get things. I guess because I had a childhood unlike so many others, I didn’t use that to do well in school (My mom made me do well-actually just expected) I used it to want to understand things.
From a very young age, I was judged-being very Asian and have a house that looked like guap was raining. I was judged and I tried so hard to be free from those labels.
Sometimes I wish that I wasn’t an AP student. Are we really that different from regular kids in CP classes? Sure, the classes are “more rigorous” and requires more effort, but that’s just workload. A workload that causes too much stress, too much “copying” (like Taylor mentioned), and too much of nothing. Just because we have more work than normal CP kids, doesn’t actually mean we learn more than them. We cram information for a test taken in May in hopes that the college of our choice may take it into consideration when we apply. And not to mention, it’s a test that won’t mean a single thing to us within three years of taking it. AP classes prepare kids on becoming numbers on a scale of 1-5. They teach us the information we need in order to congregate us together in groups of numbers. They don’t teach us how to be people; or how to relate information to our everyday lives. We a taught to be numbers, not people. I took AP Gov in order to learn the innings and outs of the government, in hopes that maybe I’ll be able to know more about politics and the government since I’m clueless about those things. Well, I still don’t know anything about the government, but I can tell you how self-interest is always the answer and that I can take notes on 40 pages of text in about three hours. Three hours of my life every other week that I will never get back, spent on pointless things that I don’t even remember. I took AP Chem in order to expand my knowledge from last year’s chemistry class, but all I can tell you is that I know the concentration of dye found in a bottle of Tum-E-Yummies. I can’t even say that I know how to separate salt and sugar from one another. So, obviously, I don’t think that school has prepared me to develop the seven qualities that companies are looking for. Maybe one or two classes here and there have, but the truth spoken in this article is humongous. Our futures don’t depend on the AP classes that we take now. Wagner quoted Neil Rudenstine when he said that the “half-life of knowledge in the humanities is 10 years, and in math and science, it's only two or three years,” meaning that whatever we’re “learning” now is basically going to be useless by the time we’re out looking for jobs. I liked how Wagner’s main point in the whole article is basically: employers don’t care about the numbers assigned to your name, but rather the qualities you have in order to be a productive member of society. Life is a test; but not a test that you take sitting down in a quiet room filled with people like yourself. It’s a test where you have to learn all the things that school doesn’t teach you in order to survive.
ReplyDeleteAs of right now, I want to be an interior architect/designer. I usually say the “architect” first because more people get the words “designer” and “decorator” mixed-up and think that I want to decorate homes for a living. According to the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications, the basic difference being that “Interior design is the art and science of understanding people's behavior to create functional spaces within a building. Decoration is the furnishing or adorning of a space with fashionable or beautiful things. In short, interior designers may decorate, but decorators do not design” (Want to know more? http://www.ncidqexam.org/about-interior-design/).
Honestly, if I left school right now I would definitely not succeed as I have yet to take any classes that would benefit me in this field (except for math, obviously). Interior designing is an art and a science. It takes experience and knowledge that I don’t have in order to accomplish, so if I were to drop out of school right now, I’d probably end up working for my mom. There’s a ton of things that go into being an interior designer and one thing I wish for is that people could be more educated on specific professions rather than take misconceptions and think little of the thing people are pursuing. And maybe if there were classes that informed people about all of these things, I wouldn’t get irritated when people think that I want to fluff pillows and lay down rugs when I say that I want to be an interior designer. Back to what I was originally saying (sorry I drifted), if I want to succeed in my chosen profession, then I definitely will need to have the seven qualities Wagner listed, because if not, then I would literally not be able to do anything productive. The article speaks a truth on a level that people really need to understand in order to live lives out of high school, and maybe after reading this piece, we’ll be able to finally see what we’ve been deprived of in our education.
DeleteAfter reading Tony Wagner’s article “Rigor Redefined” I agree with him and his findings because I experienced it at first hand. Due to the fact that all of us are in AP classes, all of us understand and can relate to Wagner’s observations of being in an AP class. And what he discovered is a typical AP class prepping for the end of the year AP exam. But what was similar in all three AP classes he observed, was the multitude amount of teacher- aid given to the students either to help with a lab or test prep. Therefore, there was no critical thinking done by the students who the teacher helped with. But in an AP class, you specifically need critical thinking due to the rigor of work and to perform well on the AP exam. Therefore, teachers who do this, in fact, are hurting rather than helping.
ReplyDeleteWagner, in his article, also includes the “seven survival skills” needed to work in a career and in a major company. The seven skills include critical thinking, leadership, adaptability, initiative, communication, analyzing information, and imagination. These are the characteristics and skills needed to run a successful business or to have a successful career. I understand and agree with these skills because they are the basic necessities that every person should acquire if they want to work for a successful company. For example, since technology is causing a loss in communication skills, having great communication skills is good thing to have and could be the end decision between you and another candidate for a job. But after reading Wagner’s observations on AP classes, I believe I am ready for the “real-world”, but now I question myself because of how similar my schooling has been to the AP classes Wagner observed and researched. However, these “seven survival skills” are not just skills but also characteristics that I think my classmates and I have.
Entering into the “real-world” now sounds very intimidating and stressful, but if I entered the real-world today I believe I am ready to work in whatever career or company I choose. I do wish, however, the classes I have taken in high school, were more similar to the Algebra II class Wagner also sat-in on. Without even knowing, the algebra II students were being prepared for the real-world. Given one difficult math problem, students were using all seven survival skills: collaboration, critical thinking, communication, imagination, analyzing information, initiative, and adaptability in order to solve it. The teacher never answered the student’s questions and when he did he always responded with a follow-up question to keep his students thinking. This was a great teaching skill the teacher used to prepare his students for more than just a math problem.
I am not sure what I want to “do” per say, but I know whatever I do I want to be happy doing it because there is no point in doing something if it does not make you happy. Therefore, if that means perfecting the seven skills, I will do just that if it will make me happy.
From what Tony Wagner recalls, CEOs and company execs are looking for inquisitive potential recruits to their work force. It seems that in the work environment, the people that prosper ask great questions. From this article, it seems the best way to get a job is to ask great questions. As the years have gone by the work environment demands more from their employees. Everything must not only be working well and at a reasonable price, but as Daniel Pink said, “it must also be beautiful, unique, and meaningful.” As time keeps on going by, the workplace will demand more and more from employees and the skills needed to get a job will increase.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Wagner’s observations of honors and AP classes, it simply is what I expected. Our AP classes are revolved around preparing you for the exam. Until the exam has been taken, there is nothing else being taught. Rarely will an AP teacher spend more than a class period to discuss something that isn't preparing us for our exam. Honestly, it's just the way it is. Teachers want you to do good on the exam. For 2 reasons, 1. being they care for you and your future & 2. being because it looks good on them when you get good test scores. They also spend all their time preparing you for the exam because nowadays it's what colleges are looking for. Prestige colleges are looking for 5’s on every exam to take the credits and a GPA above 100 to be accepted. Unfortunately, most classes in school do not teach us the skills students need for the work environment. And this sucks because than how are we supposed to get a decent job? You would think schooling would have us more than prepared for the work environment. But according to Wagner, schooling prepares you for tests not work. And I agree with Wagner.
A lot of kids say, “why do I need to learn this, I won't need it in life,” which usually applies to math. And if you're not being a math major it's completely true. Obviously there's exceptions, but learning y = mx + b isn't going to get us jobs in the future. What will get us jobs is teaching the “seven survival skills” everyday to get us prepared for jobs. Maybe even make us better citizens. I am honestly just sick of class being a prep for a test that you get a number on that gives you your value. It's terrible and I completely disagree with it. There's people out there that get terrible test scores but are the brightest people you’ll ever meet.
As for me, I would like to aspire to be an X-Ray tech. I personally find it amazing that you have so many bones in the body. If I left school right now there would be 2 reason I am not ready:
Reason 1- because I have not taken anatomy yet as I just decided this year on my career.
Reason 2- I was not taught to critically think & problem solve, I was not taught to collaborate across networks & leading by influence, I was not taught to have agility & adaptability, I was not taught initiative & entrepreneurship, I am not able to effectively communicate orally, and I do not have curiosity and imagination so that I can solve problems.
It's just unfortunate that schools are like this now.
Tony wagner makes a very valid point.
ReplyDeleteDo you honestly want to know what AP courses taught me?
Here is a list (it is pretty short):
AP courses taught me how to give people, or in this case, the education system exactly what they want, without applying any real knowledge.
AP courses encouraged me to remain “standard”.
AP courses have taught me how to express all of my knowledge, in a short period of time.
There are all AP classes in a nutshell.
Without a doubt, there is a sense of self-satisfaction in a person, once they are able to brag about taking AP Courses, or being top of their class, or attending an IVY League School. But, to be honest, all of that means nothing. You’ve already witnessed what I got out of all six AP courses, I took so far. Nothing. Now, just because I can perform tasks quickly or outsmart the system (which technically I’m not even doing, because in reality I’m actually kind of supporting the standard system) does not mean that I’m ACTUALLY smart. It simply means I know how to manipulate things, and give people what they want.
AP Courses are simply memorization and regurgitation. It is no longer about learning, it is more so about how high you can score on a standardized test, that will never help you in life. It is about how well you can memorize certain content for a test. The lessons rarely have to do with life-like duties. It is always-- read this, apply this, answer this in some type of wordy-complicated way. The teachers admitted it themselves, they can barely incorporate quality information into the lesson plans, because they are so “pressed on time”. The reason being is, because they are too busy preparing their students for the AP Exam.
I know for a fact, that there are people who are not in the top percentage of out class, that are more intelligent than the people who are. They are very intelligent, however, they also have a LIFE. They aren’t cooped up in their rooms every second of the day studying. Instead they are involved in sports, they have a social life, they are out enjoying themselves, and they don’t allow a number to define them. I used to be one of those students, I was always a straight A student, I still had a life, and I always tried to do as well as possible. I didn’t check my grade every second of the day, or brag, or get all worked up about a grade, or constantly nag about my grade. I simply went to school, did my work, enjoyed myself, and explored other topics on my own time.
Freshman year, is when it all changed. Let me rewind. Okay, in 8th grade, I didn’t even know class rank was a thing. Sadly, it wasn’t until I was introduced to my fellow Asian, Indian, and White friends, that I began to freak out about school. In highschool, I felt obligated to push myself, and be like my friends. I always felt dumb around them, because I didn't stress like they did. I didn’t work hard like they did. I was also under a lot of pressure as an African American Female. I always felt as though, that I had to stand out from what society called “the rest”. I could NOT fall in that category. I could not be seen as just another black girl. I had to stand out. The only way I could do that, was by following my friends’ footsteps. Little, did I know though, that school was apart of their culture. They weren’t naturally smart. They were forced to learn new information. They were isolated. They had no choice but to learn, because otherwise, they would be frowned upon, or even disowned. Their parents, teachers, and peers, had high expectations of them. My family, friends, and fellow “brothas” and “sistas” had high expectations of me too. They saw my potential. They wanted me and a few others to escape “the rest”, and create a new name for black people. However, I couldn’t do that alone. I tried, to but it only led to me burning myself out.
Sure I’m in the top ten, but I’m not smart because of the courses I take. Those classes have nothing to do with real life. The only course that has actually benefitted me is, AP Lang, but that was mainly because of the teacher I had. That was the only valuable AP course, because it had to do with real life. It taught me how to express myself, stand up for what I believe in, communicate properly, etc. The rest were complete bs.
DeleteEmployers don’t care about how well you can find the derivative of the natural log. They don’t care how many multiple choice questions you can answer in 55 minutes. I’m sorry, but life doesn’t work like that. Life is about survival, communication, common sense, oh, and partially about knowledge.
I can honestly say, that my knowledge isn’t based off of the AP courses I take. I have some common sense, but that was because before high school, I had never entered the AP World. I have a social life, I still go out and have fun, I still participate in clubs and activities, and I still learn on my own time. I love learning. Seriously. I just hate the fact, that I can’t learn what I want, without having a number assigned to it. I know a lot, trust me, but I am afraid of numbers and tests. Which is why I think grades are stupid, but hey I have to deal with that for about 6-12 more years. Woot Woot. Anyway, I’ve learned almost everything essential to life through my parents and other family members, both directly and indirectly.
Also, I feel as though anyone could be #1 of their class or in an AP class. They simply have to master the memorization-regurgitation method, and study their asses off. Oh, and learn how to manage their time properly. #BookSmart
Book Smart and Naturally smart is totally different.
Someone who is book smart, has very good memorization skills.
Someone who is naturally smart, creates new methods, discovers new things, pieces together old and new information, etc. However, the school system, especially labels such as accelerated, honors, and AP, hinder the ability of a student to be naturally smart.
My first reaction which many others probably encountered was stress. I soon became flooded by stress that everything I have been stressing for means nothing because it surely is not preparing me for what I thought it was. However after the stress can realization. Wagner is right when describing what companies really do look for. Companies can teach content and how to work a machine but they cannot teach how to speak well, hold a conversation and how to work collaboratively with others.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing about classes that if I remember correctly were called "Home Ec" which I looked up to make sure and yes that's what they were called because that was short for home economics. If the rumors were true I remember hearing and feeling that this was the most beneficial class to take. I was probably in third or fourth grade when hearing this and I remember hoping I could one day take this class. This class wasn't teaching something I would only need to pass a test, this class helped with surviving in life. Home Ec included food, nutrition, personal finance, house hold management and so many more beneficial topics. However I am sad to say that I have yet to take a class that sounds this beneficial to daily life and a life post college and high school. With that being said I am almost 100 percent confident (lil shaky) that Oakcrest has taught me many things but I can confidently say they have all been in preparation for the ap exam, chapter test or final exam. Teachers no longer have time to get side tracked into real life things. They are now scared into teaching right to the point because the tests are approaching and they are granted less and less time in the classroom with their students because more and more tests are being put in place of this valuable time.
Personally I have no idea what I want to pursues in life. I read all over that doing something you love will insure you with a happy life where working does not even seem like working because you love what you do. For the longest time I yearned to be a 6th grade math teacher. I loved solving for variables and how easy it was to find the answer. However I've thought about me personally as a teacher and I feel like I may become angry at those who do not understand as quickly because math clicks so easy for me. With that being said my next "dream job" was to become a lawyer then a judge. The only probably with that is most lawyers are writing and English based where as I am a math lover.(sorry I know you must be throwing up while reading this) The only job that ever came after this is to become an orthodontist. My dad came up with the suggestion and his comment was that "everyone is happy to see you". When you do to a regular dentist you have many scared or annoyed patients. However if you are an orthodontist everyone seeing you has a big happy smile that is on its way to perfection and the only person these families can thank and hug is you. Although all these jobs sound lovely I am not one hundred percent passionate about any of them. The only thing I can honestly say I would be happy doing is working on the beach or doing something where I am personally making people happy and making a difference in their lives.
I cannot leave school right now because as you can see I have no idea where I would go and work. I am no where near ready for the working place. Since high school only teaches for the test I am hoping to gain a lot of life experience through college. In college it is a whole new set up and you are ultimately put up to the "test" hahaha lol and you have to start doing things on your own. Although I do know how to do my own laundry and things like that I assume those who do not with soon learn quickly while in college. The AP classes Wagner reference sound very very familiar. Every teacher teaching in preparation to a test but AP teachers are most guilty for this. Many teacher have until mid June to teach everything the final exam holds however AP teachers are cheated a month and must squeeze all of this information into our heads in preparation for the AP exam. At the end of the day I am forever to quickly memorize little thing before a test to get a good grade to show my understanding rather than actually taking time to understand a topic that I may actually never use again in my life.
DeleteTony Wagner’s article “Rigor Redefined” brings to light that studying for an ap test and other types of tests does not make that person ready for life. The goal of schooling is to prepare someone for the workforce and 1-12 grades just does not do it. High school prepares students for numerous tests and this does not help when these students get into the workforce. College is much better however high school is a key time in the student’s life. Wagner explains how the school system does not prepare students to be a leader and work on a team with other people. Students are used to guidance.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am in the work force I will be an engineer in a team with all different kinds of people with different abilities. I personally do not feel ready for this, high school is not preparing me very well. I have read about the wonderful things that I could do with a college degree in engineering but many of these things are out of my reach. I am not being prepared enough for these things I may want to do in the future.
If I entered the workforce right now, I would not live up to their expectations. I would learn after time to be better however the first 6 months would most likely be hard and less productive than they could have been if I was thought better. I have never been taught to work with people very well and things in the real world are not like they are in a classroom. You can try to simulate the working environment but it is much different when you are actually in the real working environment. I have a lifeguarding job over the summer for the township, and I believe that it is very important for teens to have summer or even year round jobs. These jobs may not be similar to your career, but they do help prepare for the workforce. They help you interact with other people in a professional way.
AP classes are thought to the test and are not that impressive. Many students are in AP classes so the title AP student does not mean much. Teaching a class to a test is not very productive, I have heard my teachers say time and time again that they would have done things differently if they had more time or were not teaching to the test. Honestly AP classes deprive students of necessary world experience and time that they could be learning at the end of the year.
Honestly, AP classes aren’t that much different from CP classes, or honors. Instead of doing the work together, you just do it on your own. That’s it. Though, even then, we barely do that. From elementary school all the way up to middle school, we’ve been taught certain things, things that will help us for end-of-the-year “standardized” state test. High school isn’t that much different. With AP classes comes AP exams, a (surprise, surprise) standardized test. We spend a majority of our year learning and preparing, stressing and studying, for this exam in hopes of getting a passing score. Because if we all fail and do horribly, not only does that makes us look bad, it makes the teacher look bad too. So while we get no college credits, the teacher gets bad reviews. If one falls, the other falls with it. But everything else, we breeze past. As Wagner states, “there’s only one curriculum: test prep”.
ReplyDeleteBusinesses and CEOs nowadays want people who can take an idea and challenge it, take a structures and test its limits. Engaging in conversations, working well with others, thinking outside the box. That’s what they look for, that’s what they want. Of course, knowing the pH of a liquid or knowing the “ins” and “outs” of the government may be helpful, but that can only take you so far. The one thing that really stood out to me was that one part with the Dell executive: “Yesterday's answers won't solve today's problems.” Knowing random facts is not enough. They want big thinkers, and I’m not so sure high school has shaped us into that.
My mom used to tell me all about the classes she used to take in high school. Of course, there was math, science, and english-- the usual requirements. But they also had classes that taught them how to sew, how to cook, how to do taxes. And while those may be electives for us, it was a requirement for them. They had classes that prepared them for the “real world”. They were ready. I can’t really say the same for us. Times have changed. Honestly, if I was going to work for these companies, I wouldn’t be prepared. I’ve never done anything other than graphing equations or reading a book. I hate to say this, but I’ve never really been exposed to anything else.
As of right now, I want to be a pediatric nurse (or as Tommy calls it, patriotic). I don’t know if this is the career for me, but I can only hope for the best. I just like the idea of helping these little kids, be their best friend in times of need. It’s tough, having to go through something like this at such a young age. I can’t even wrap my head around how strong they are. But making sure they’re comfortable even at their lowest, that’s what I want to do.
If I left school right now, would I be workplace ready? Maybe not at first. Of course, being in a new environment, new routine-- it’ll be an experience. No doubt, I’d be confused and lost and probably want to pee myself. But once I get the hang of things, once I gain a familiarity and knowledge/understanding, I think I will be just fine. I guess that goes for everything, right? You enter an unknown land, and after a while, it becomes known (that sounds stupid, I am so sorry). Even if I do become a nurse, I wouldn’t really know anything until I start working in a hospital. I think with patience and experience, I will be fine (or I hope so at least).
Not gonna lie, this article scared me with its list of “survival skills” that every student should have if they want to make it in the real world. I realized that much of my education up to this point has focused on test scores and virtually all lessons have been centered around test prep- so in terms of actual education, school has been more or less the same thing as daycare and all of my academic achievements basically mean nothing. I also realized that my summer camp has probably better prepared me for the workforce than my past 12 years of public school education, which is sad but at the same time makes me 10x more grateful for having camp in my life. The qualities Frost Valley looks for in new counselors and the qualities CEO’s look for in young people are virtually identical, and preparing to work at Frost Valley has helped me acquire many of the skills Wagner mentions in his article. As a counselor in training, I was taught how to collaborate with others, hone my leadership skills, and brainstorm imaginative ideas for fun camp activities. I know these are valuable skills that I’ll be able to utilize now and in the future- the things I learn in school, however (at least in most classes), could not be more irrelevant to daily life.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that the only class in which I’ve consistently learned useful information throughout the year is lang. It’s 80% of the reason why I get out of bed and force myself to go to school every morning; I know if I miss lang, I’ll miss out on an important lesson. And these lessons aren’t always about english and writing- a good portion of what we are taught has to do with life and it’s grand scheme. This class stands in stark contrast to my other AP class, U.S. history, and is similar to the type of class Wagner describes as “inadequate”. I love history and I love to learn about it, but those online readings really hindered my motivation. I started to want to learn only to receive higher than a 2 on the AP exam, and I was finally relieved after May 6th because that meant no more cramming to understand 500 years of history within a small span of time. Maybe if we had been taught with a more direct approach, I’d have enjoyed my learning experience rather than being stressed out about it (I’m not blaming Weisback, I’m blaming administration who seems to think that it’s plausible to learn everything that happened from 1607- 2005 within 8 months). But I know history is important, as are all the other humanities, because I’ll need them in the future if I want to major in sociology. I don’t know what I want to do with a degree in sociology, I just know it’s a field I’m very much interested in and would like to study for the better part of 4 years. I’ll decide on an occupation when the time comes, since a sociology major can hold a variety of jobs, from social worker to lawyer (if you use the degree as credit for pre-law).
Unfortunately, if I left school right now to join the workforce, I would not be ready. My critical thinking and problem solving skills are eh at best, as are my presentation and oral communication skills. This is a frightening reality, and hopefully I’ll receive an education in college that effectively teaches me the skills that are valued in the workplace.
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ReplyDeleteTony Wagner in his article explains what CEOs and company exces actually look for. He employs that they want people that can engage in discussion, work well with others, and think and develop ideas that will improve the company in various ways. I agree with Wagner, that companies can teach you all the criteria you need to know but they can’t teach someone how to be the person they want them to be,or in other words characteristics people should have developed throughout their life. Schools lack at teaching students life lessons and things that will get them through life. Not just talking about what Wagner mentions about what companies look for but also things like handling money, knowing how to cook and clean, etc.
ReplyDeleteBeing in AP/honor classes I feel that teachers rush through the material so quickly to cover the curriculum or to prepare us for state tests that students aren’t able to grasp exactly what they are suppose to be learning. So what Wagner mentions about these classes sound very familiar to me. Students just memorize it for the moment and about a month later it is forgotten. I would think school would be more beneficial if things were slown down and there wasn’t a specific schedule teachers had to follow. This would let students actually get a better understanding of the materials. I do believe what schools teach are great things to have because it later adds on in college which makes it way easier. However, school is too academic because really half the things we “learn” would not be put to use in our actual careers. Schools need to have more finance, home-ec, or classes that focus more on the student. This will not only build character but provide them with knowledge of what the “real world” is like; things that companies want to see people have.
I have one class which is lang that has not only taught me how to write better essays, or improved my vocabulary but also provided me with information and lessons I would never forget and carry to my adult life. I thank my teacher a lot for doing all that in one school year. It probably is one of the most beneficial classes I ever had actually. Overall, school hasn’t taught me much to prepare me for the work force. I lack at expressing how I feel and I am quite shy, two things I things I shouldn’t carry when looking for jobs. Hopefully, I somehow overcome that. I guess that answers the question asking if I were to leave school right now would I have what jobs are looking for? As of right now becoming a veterinarian is what I am passionate about because my love for animals is indescribable, however, knowing me that may all change in the next month. Although, I think I just have all the answers when it comes to animals I know I really don’t and I still don’t know how to handle being put on the spot and answering various questions.
Like many students, we feel the need to thrive for the best. We take rigorous courses to push us and to give us more knowledge for our up and coming journeys. But, as we sit in the classroom, we are forced to hear the phrase, “this class is to prepare you for the test”. What we should be hearing is, “this course is to prepare you for your future”. Tony Wagner made many valid points on this subject. While sitting in classrooms he saw the same settings; the teachers spoon feeding their children. The teachers don’t guide them to think, ask questions, or solve the problems that are in front of them. Rather, they wait a few minutes for a response and if they don’t get one, they give their students the answer. Not only are they jeopardizing their communication, thinking, and initiativing skills, but they’re jeopardizing their futures.
ReplyDeleteI have been in school for what seems like an eternity, and I can honestly say, I take one class that prepares me for my future. That class is Financial Literacy. Even though it deals with money, it has taught me about my future and what I need to do when I leave school. I don’t walk in there and expect to hear the infamous phrase, “this class is to prepare you for the test”, I walk in there and hear, “this will help you tremendously in the future”. The thought of knowing I can use the skills I learn from this class, makes me less stress for my future. On the other hand, my other classes, not so much.
Wagner expressed seven views on how to thrive in a work environment. These seven do not help nor teach me how to become successful in the work realm. No job is looking for if I took an AP class, or if I passed all of my classes. They are looking for what I can do. They look for my critical thinking, collaboration, adaptability, initiative, communication, analyzing information, and imagination skills. My classes don’t guide me to imagine or to adapt. My teachers walk around and check on what I’m doing, but if I ask a question, they give me the answer rather than lead me on a path that can give me the answer. I am somewhat happy they give me the answer, but when they do, I lose the skills that would’ve been given to me if they didn’t tell me the answer. That, that right there- scares me. I want to be a Neonatal Nurse when I grow up. With that comes all the skills Wagner mentioned. I need to prepared to communicate- with families, doctors, and other nurses. I need to be able to think of questions to ask, I need to analyze information. With all the skills jobs look for, I have close to none. Now that, that stresses me.
If I left school, I feel I wouldn’t be workplace ready. I feel this way because, my classes haven’t prepared me for the outside world. They say they try to, but do they really? I want to be confident when I go into a job interview or into my job. I want to feel I have had all my preparing I could have to be successful in a work environment. But, as of right now, May 25th, I do not feel that way.
Wagner’s article accurately depicted what it’s like to go to school in the 21st century. I frequently hear students, including myself sometimes, ask, “When will I use this in life?” It seems as though we go to school simply to meet requirements, not to learn applicable skills for our future careers. Despite the fact that some of the school work I’ve done is merely useless to my future career success, school has taught me some things. First, it’s helped shape my good work ethic. Also, school thus far has taught me how to deal with people I don’t like. Furthermore, I’ve learned punctuality, attention to detail, how to work with others and how to plan. Though it seems like I’ve learned plenty, I know that the things I’m learning/have learned in school will not necessarily make me a good employee. Ever since I’ve started at The Inn at Sugar Hill, I’ve realized the importance of multitasking, efficiency and better communication. Some things can’t be taught in school because they take experience and exposure. I don’t think all career skills can be taught in school, therefore, schools should not be necessarily accountable. What they could do better is giving the school work more purposeful. Schools should definitely put more focus on career skills and less test prep. Even though test prep seems like a bigger priority at the time, career skills are more important in the long run.
ReplyDeleteIf I left school right now, I think I would be somewhat workplace ready. I feel as though my communication, problem solving, and leadership skills have developed although I know they can be better. I know I would be able to adapt to a career and meet new expectations but, I know I probably have a lot more to learn. I don’t want to say that I’m prepared for the workplace when I’ve never been there. I’m sure there’s a lot more that I need to learn.
Although I’ve questioned it here and there, I’ve said that I want to be a dentist ever since kindergarten. Honestly I don’t know what makes a kindergartener pick dentistry out of all the cool jobs there are to choose from but I did. I’ve never questioned my aspiration to be a dentist until the thought of college came about. Ever since going to this one college fair at Stockton and discussing the pre-dental track, the job seems more intimidating than it once did. I’m not sure if my interest in science will get me through organic chemistry, biochemistry and all of the other challenging courses. Hopefully my AP classes have prepared me for that. I guess passion, diligence and perseverance can’t be taught though.
DeleteThe AP class references seemed all too familiar. Wagner portrays AP classes to be monotonous, lifeless and lacking crucial career skills. Rather than conducting a class in which students regurgitate their notes to answer questions, Wagner thinks that teachers should require more critical thinking and problem solving skills into their lessons. Although teachers have to follow a curriculum and prepare students for their standardized tests, Wagner believes that teachers should design lessons that require career-based skills. I agree with what Wagner proposes. For those kids who question school’s relevance to the real world, this idea is appealing. If kids knew that the skills taught in school were essential to the workplace, maybe they would try more. Teaching kids things that they can use later on makes the work more meaningful. What’s the point of doing something that you don’t like, don’t need or don’t use? It only makes sense to give schoolwork more value than merely a good test score.
Most AP kids have been “AP” kids our whole life so this is all we know. We’ve been with same group kids since 6th grade and have been considered above average. All I really know is a busy schedule. During PARCC when we didn’t have much homework, I remember ANTGC saying “what do we do we don’t have homework” AP classes gives me a structure that has such a great influence in everything I do. Although I stress, I’m preparing myself for the bigger world where stress actually pays off. In high school, my stress level is equivalent to my capability to understand pre calc, even with 10 days left in the school year, I STILL DON'T GET IT. I stress about little factors that literally mean nothing. My history grade means nothing toward my future profession, which is athletic training, but yet I still freak out because my grade is not an accepted A that I have standards for. Most definitely, school has taught me how to deal with hard classes without the best teachers and still pass. That's the real struggle. TBT to freshman year bio and AP Gov, mostly APGOV because I met my 10 BFFs<3 In the article, Wagner describes critical thinking and problem solving as a key characteristic needed in the real world, and he's right. You can’t get that from a classroom though. There's no way in hell I’m learning how to “improve my products” in the classes I take. Yes, I’m in AP classes but they are not teaching life skills that people think they are, they’re only educating me not creating a bubble in my brain to think outside the box. I learn that from things I go through and some of that can be from balancing my classwork with sports or time management but not anything to do with the content. When I grow up, I want to be an athletic trainer so when I picked classes last year I asked trainer J and he said “You only need up to pre calc in math. Do honors if you can but it's not that necessary” I literally was like :O. How the heck do would I not need AP Calc???? Thankfully, I realized that I should only being doing the essential classes therefore I am not taking AP Calc, but AP stats instead.
ReplyDeleteI am not ready for the real world. Teachers always tell us AP classes are college based level but its more advanced. That advancement is being more independent and that's the most important thing to understand since we our out there on our own, without teachers who love us like some at Oakcrest. I am nowhere near prepared for my profession. I am well educated, but not in a specific aspect I could create a living out of.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the education system too. Mostly, I’ve been thinking about where I lie in the grand scheme of all things education. Reading Tony Wagner’s article, I found myself nodding in agreement. He says that kids don’t have all of those skills employers are looking for. Heck, of course I would agree, I don’t have them! When I “joke” about becoming a failure, people think I’m kidding, or just using my usual self-deprecating humor, but I’m not. The ability to adapt, the ability to ask more and more questions, the ability to collaborate and be confident, are abilities that I don’t possess. Reading about what Wagner observed in the Algebra II class, I mentally reprimanded myself because I recognize what I would do if I was thrown into that class and told to just figure something out for myself. I would crack. Crumble to pieces. Feel the urge to defenestrate myself. The works.
ReplyDeleteI’ve known this for a while, and it’s shameful to say, but I am a robot. A living, breathing, robot that’s perpetually hardwired in AP mode. I go through the motions, do what I need to do, hope for the best, and then try to rewire by watching mindless television. I have no hope of survival in the real world and I’ve developed a learned helplessness to that as well. Am I naturally smart at all? Or am I just a hardworking robot who follows her formula to get the A?
Which leads to me thinking, what made me that way? I don’t want to blame it on others, because it should be me who is entirely responsible. But how can I not care about my grades when the slightest dip is the topic of discussion at every family dinner until the dip rights itself? How can I not care about my grades when it was drilled into my head since day #1 that I need to get good grades to be successful in life later on? My family and friends throw around names like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, but I am not “Ivy” material, and when I tell people that, they just scoff at me like they think I’m joking. I fear that others think I have no substance besides my work ethic, and then I wonder if I fear that because that’s how I feel about myself. My own self-concept, somehow morphing itself into my worst fear? Tragic. I have no distinctive feature to set me apart, no special talent to stand out, nothing to show that I am employable. I can take a test, just give me a study guide. I can read a speech, just give me a few days to practice every inflection and enunciation. But solve a complicated problem in different ways? Haha, no. Present an original idea to a board of higher-ups? Absolutely not.
I dream about success. I want it so badly. I want to feel like I’m doing something good with my life. I want to know that I have enough financial stability to provide for a family. There are so many things that I want, but the areas in which I lack prevent me from achieving anything at all. I continuously hold off on choosing a career path, because my biggest fear is failure. I don’t want to declare a goal, and then not achieve it. I never want to bite off more than I can chew.
On an entirely different, less depressing topic, I consider myself lucky that I have never been subjected to the classroom scenarios that Wagner described. With an exception of the AP Chem one, and maybe a little bit of the AP Gov one, I know that at least my AP Lang class is much more rewarding than the one described. Stimulating conversation and worthwhile readings are definitely preferable compared to sitting around a teacher’s desk with a head hiding behind notes. And as unbearable as AP Gov was, Mr. Sera made it a point never to just blatantly teach us how to answer the AP FRQs. He didn’t teach us how to answer them either, but he never taught us how to critically think about them either. Which is probably why I failed the AP FRQs. Haha.
Tony Wagner made observation of AP in some of our "best schools in the US, are not getting the proper schooling they need. Rather the schools are "succeeding at making adequate yearly progress but failing their students." I firmly agree the seven survival skills that Wagner lists and explains because they are what we need to "thrive in a new workforce". Wagner's observations of what kind of schooling AP students get is almost accurately true. A factor for this being a problem is that perhaps the teacher didn't do a good job at teaching the content. In addition, another a factor that I myself is a culprit for as well as many other students, is not seeking for help like further explanations and examples. There have been plenty of times and classes where I didn't get the content right away when first learning it. But if I practice enough and seek for more help and explanations, I'm well informed about the content. This generation is disappointingly lazy. I'm a culprit too because there were times where I got lazy and didn't pay attention in class. For example, I would rather copy answers off someone else or use the internet, not do the work or just play the guessing game. Doing some of these may get you away with it sometimes but it does not help at all. None of these strategies got me where I would've been if I just tried. What I'm saying is that schools are sometimes not the one to blame for students failing, it's rather the other way around.
ReplyDeleteBut schools are not innocent though. There are some unnecessary things that I think students are not needed to do; it's what they call "busy work". I've gotten a lot of those in my years of schooling. And a lot of time teachers gave me worksheets on content they haven't teached yet!!
Schools also gives us standardized test that we are required to take, get a required score depending on the college, just to get into that college. It's ridiculous how much stress that puts on a student.
I'm 50/50 on Wagner's view of schools putting more rigor in our because it would fail a lot of students and it would be good for us to prepare for the bigger and rigorous world ahead if us.
Okay, so I'm undecided with the career I want to pursue. The choices are Computer Graphic Designer, Physical Therapist or Nutritionist. There's a big gap from art to science but it's very hard to decide at this moment. I'm leaning more to physical therapist because it has the highest pay. I'm not prepared for any of these fields because I only learned computer graphics my sophomore year and merely forgot how to use the graphic design programs on the computer. And I haven't learned physiology/ anatomy yet in high school for physical therapy and I took health freshman year for nutrition.
Classes change every year. Early in high school, we don't know what to do in life, so we choose any class that we feel like learning that year that may not have anything to do with the career we will choose. After the school year is over, we forget almost everything that we learned in school. I don't think about school in the summer and possibly all students do the same.
This was always something I worried about when I was little. Even at a young age I knew that some of the things I learned in school wasn’t going to help me out in the future. As a kid I never took school seriously but I always did well so I was put into more advanced classes. However, I never understood what the difference was. Some said that advanced classes go at a faster pace but if we’re all learning the same thing what’s the real difference. That’s why when I heard about how kids in High school took AP and Honors classes, I asked what made them special. Most of the answers was that it looked good for colleges.
ReplyDeleteAfter going through most of high school and taking AP classes, you realize that everything you do is just so that you can pass a test. Like what Tony Wagner says “there’s only one curriculum: test prep”. After my AP chem teacher left for her pregnancy, none of the students decided to take the AP exam. So when she came back she decided that we didn’t have to do much for the rest of the year since none of us were taking the test. So ever since she came back we haven’t done anything in her class. Then there’s Bunje who talks about how if it wasn’t for the AP exam she wouldn’t make us go through all this test prep but instead teach us more valuable stuff. Kids don’t take AP classes because they think that’ll get something out of it, they take it so they can pass that exam and because it looks good for colleges.
Because AP classes are meant to prepare me for exams, what I learned was how to cram a lot of information in a short time, memorize information without actually understanding it, and how to work under extremely short time periods. But hey at least I passed my exams (hopefully… I don’t know if I did). What most of the skills that Wagner lists, you can’t learn in AP classes.
When you do a project for school, you mainly work with your friends but in reality you won’t always be able to work with people you like. Then sometimes there’s one person in a group who does more or someone who doesn’t do anything at all. AP classes don’t teach you how to collaborate with others. They definitely don’t teach you leadership because that’s something that just can’t be taught. It’s a skill that people get from experience.
There’s a lot of things that AP classes can’t teach. The qualities that make a good citizen are those things. Some of these qualities just can’t be taught though. It’s based on experience and sometimes it’s just something a person naturally has. AP classes can’t teach these qualities.
For one part of my future career though, I definitely need schooling for that. If I want to be a doctor I definitely need to learn medical information if I want to help others. But being able to interact with people and having the social skills to interact with my patients, I can’t learn that in school. If I want to do something with art, school can’t teach me to be creative. It can teach me new art techniques but it can’t teach me to be imaginative or how to create my own style.
If I left school to live on my own, I probably wouldn’t survive. Just because I wouldn’t be able to get an actual job so I wouldn’t be able to pay for anything. I’m not prepared for the work life because I’m still young. I haven’t experienced enough to get the qualities that I might lack. School didn’t teach me it but to get these qualities, I need to go out and get more experience.
The education in which we live now, is just setting us for failure. For example, which job requires their employees to write a 5 paragraph essay within 45 minutes of time? Honestly, I do not know why standardized tests have multiple choice. In real life, you do not have A,B,C,D to pick from. You either know it or you don’t. Regarding the article, I agree with Tony Wagner because I believe that the schooling system only helps us prepare for the standardized tests and nothing beyond that. Mike Summers from Global Talent Management at Dell said that, “kids just out of school have an amazing lack of preparedness...and collaborative skills.” We surround ourselves with the group of friends we like and we don’t expand our friend circle. I think that might be why it is so hard for us to reach out to other kids and make new friends. School does not teach us how to make new friends, it teaches us how to find the derivative of x2, or how to shoot an arrow in archery. It makes no sense because we spend close to 15 years in school, yet we know nothing about what to expect in the real world.
ReplyDeleteI would like to become a doctor so I can travel the world. I love travelling and exploring new places. As a doctor, I will have many opportunities to do that. It also gives me a chance to learn what other culture are like. At one point in my life, I would like to join the Peace Corps. I can help those in need and as a bonus, I get to travel. One goal I would like to achieve before I die is to travel to every continent (minus Antarctica). If I left school right now, I would not be ready for the workplace. One problem that the article acknowledges is that very few students have imaginative minds. I agree with that because as AP students, we just want that 100 on our report card. We do what the teachers asks and ignore our feelings just so we can get that high number. We do not imagine anymore, we just memorize things. Which is why critical thinking questions are so hard for students, it requires students to apply their skills to a different idea. Summer also complains that students do not have a real voice when they are writing. School has eliminated the our voice in writing because nowadays we have a rubric to follow. If we do not follow the rubric, well we get that low grade in which every AP students freaks out about. And that is the flaw of our education system, we eliminate the student's voice and replace that voice with a number.
In the article, it mentions smoke coming from a mixture in the AP Chem section. This reminds me of the time when Dhwanil poured HCl down the sink and smoke started to come out. None of us knew what to do because our incompetent teacher did not teach us anything. She only taught us how to separate salt and sugar. Wait, scratch that because we did not even learn that. The article sounds familiar because it is the truth of AP classes. We just learn information to take a 4 hour test in May. Students do not apply that information to real life. We just kind of forget it after the test. It would be better if we learn something that could be applied to real life so we know what to expect when we enter the adult world.
To me, the article speaks truth and is composed of many facts. I believe in Wagner's research and the leaders he interviewed. But "believe" is not the right word. More like, I was "enlightened" by what all the leaders had to say about the employee requirements. I did not think critical thinking, communication skills, and collaboration were so necessary of requirements. I knew that such skills were required, but I thought simply knowing the material was more important to the employers. And when I come to think of it, none of the courses that I have taken really emphasize upon those skills. Yes, the teachers of those classes touch upon those skills (for example put the class in groups to work on something or prepare a presentation in front of the class), but they have never really EMPHASIZED upon it. Teachers nowadays are practically forced to teach to the test or simply get their students through school with the best grades possible so then they can move on to college and get a job. Yeah... that's what they all say. Get good grades, go to college, and get a job. Wow! Thanks! I didn't know! (Well that was a big change of tone right there, whoops). But anyway, teachers are so focused on just getting their students through school that they overlook the actual important skills such as critical thinking, communication skills, and collaboration, which, I BET, they know we need, but they can't waste time on because they have to prep us for the tests! YAY...not...
ReplyDeleteIn addition to all that up there, I also realized that all the classes are just like math. And what I mean by that is "I will never need that in the 'Real World.'" Math, as most people die over, is supposedly useless to learn in school because it will never be used outside of school (except for counting money. It helps with that). But apparently, from my interpretation of Wagner's research and interviews, things learned in every other class, such as English, History, and Science, are even more useless than what is taught in Math (well not entirely, but mostly). At least in Math you are given problems to solve that you may or may not know or may or may not struggle with and that brings the student a challenge to overcome, especially a challenge that is undesirable by all, and that builds somewhat of a character to force yourself to critically think and solve the god damn problem. But as I said before, every class, including math, briefly touch upon these skills, but never go through with it for a long time.
I also want to add on this quote by Wagner "the complaints I heard most frequently were about fuzzy thinking and young people not knowing how to write with a real voice." This is a very concise summarization of Wagner's research and interviews with the leaders and my response to this is what I've mentioned above: we are simply taught to the test and taught to get grades and nothing else. We are not even told how to get those grades but to just get them. We are practically brainwashed and dehumanized so much so that we become almost like robots with stress. No shit we can't "write with a real voice!" Our personalities are taken away by the ideas of "good grades" and "tests." Our voice is silenced and there are speakers put in us instead, just like in robots, that speak for us. I'm not too sure about what I'm about to say, but I think we can barely maintain our original ideas and thoughts anymore. (I'm becoming very subjective about this now what the heck?). Anyway, I'll stop that right there. (STOP)
To finish this thing off, I will say that I will most likely struggle with their (the leaders') expectations if I left school now. I won't say that I won't be work-place ready, because I'm still young I can probably learn quick, but I would definitely struggle, and in a sense that's not a bad thing. Struggling IS, or is supposed to be, part of life; a challenge to overcome. So, I guess, that's one good thing, BUT with the field I currently am thinking about pursuing (economics) I would not make it far. Because all the skills the CEO's mentioned (critical thinking, communication skills, and collaboration) are all part of being an economist. Especially critical thinking and communication because data analysis, research, and application of math are what economics consists of, in addition to communicating all that to others. So, in conclusion, I will struggle having not learned many of those required skills in school, but, let's be real here, that's not going to be the end of the world. If anything, everyone can practice those skills on their own and excel that way. I know I somewhat ranted up there, but all in all, everyone should just suck some things up and deal with it. Even if things might be unfair, they must be still faced, one way or the other. No one said everything would be fair. So yeah...
Delete(Slight change of tone again at the end right there... whoopsy)
DeleteEven though this article was a little “out dated”, I really enjoyed it. The author preached the same thing I have been saying for years. At least once a week in math class I have to hold myself back from asking “what am I ever going to use this for?” and it always gets me thinking on how school never taught me the every day things. School didn’t teach me how to write a check or manage mortgages. CEOs and company execs look for personality. They look for talking skills and body language. They look for different. And that’s exactly what school teaches us not to be. School, especially AP, makes a student awkward. And not different. It’s all the same. The answers are all the same and everything needs to be done the same. Kids are constantly embarrassed to talk in front of their peers because of the fear of not being good enough or worrying someone else is “smarter” or “better.”
ReplyDeleteThis schooling thus far has not prepared me for what these companies appear to be looking for. The lesson plans has not prepared me for what these companies appear to be looking for actually. When the teacher goes off track, and actually talks about life, that is when I about taught things that could potentially prepare me for what these companies are looking for. I am in an AP class, honors classes, and CP classes and I don’t see a difference in any of them on how hard I work, I just see a difference in the amount of work, the kids I am surrounded by, how serious the teacher is, and how deep into conversation we go. I have learned things in CP that I will never learn in Honors and vise versa. I believe school is all just a number and it teaches us nothing that can safe us in a real life situation.
When it comes to what I want to do with my life I draw a blank and that scares me because next year at this very time I should know exactly what I want to do. Some days I want to be a teacher, others a professional dog walker, and other days I just want to be a cop. I really have no idea, and everytime I have a clue, my moms dad finds a way to throw it out the window.
If I left school right now, I feel as though I would be work place ready and prepared for what they wanted. Hell, if I left school last year I would feel the same way because school has not set me up for the real life. My friends and family have. My job has, my boss has taught me more about the real world than school ever could. That sounds so sad, and yes, school has done so much for me and filled me with so much knowledge, but not knowledge I can apply to the real world. The real world is real and scary and Algebra 2 and Chemisty has not done one thing to teach me how to be work ready or real world ready. Teachers like you Bunje are the only thing changing school from 2+2 to what the world is really like, and that’s what every student needs.
The article was true to me and the education I receive. He mentions that the education being given is merely test prep and lacks the seven survival skills. Every class I take preps for a test, or a series of tests to follow. I often hear some of my teachers answer and students question with “well that won't be on the test so you don't have to know/ worry about that.” To me, that's sickening. Although the teacher isn't refusing to teach the student, they are simply skipping over it because if it's not on the test, it's “not important.” And since it's not on the test, they don't need to know it. And for the stuff that is on the test, you just have to memorize it, pass the test, throw the information out and memorize new stuff for the next step and so on and so forth.
ReplyDeleteAP classes are supposed to be of course way more rigorous than normal level classes and even honors level since it is a college level course, but some AP classes aren't providing everything a student needs since it’s a fast pace, more independent course with more work, homework, and tests. As Wagner observes in some AP classes, the teacher simply moved on without helping the students or giving them all the information they need. This is realistic.
As for what he says the CEOs are looking for… shoot I wouldn't pass the seven survival skills test. I may slip by with half credit, but that's even a maybe. School doesn't prepare us for the outside world. It prepares us for the test that's going to be at the end of the chapter, unit, marking period, and at the end of the year. The only skills were taught is studying skills. If school prepared us for the real world, I wouldn't be taking pre- calculus, I'd be learning how to manage my bills and balance a checkbook. I would be learning how to write a well written high scoring synthesis essay, I'd be learning how to communicate. I'd be learning useful things like the seven survival skills. And since I have yet to learn them all… I'd say school failing me.
One day I want to be a special education kindergarten to third grade teacher. In order to do so, I must graduate high school to then go on to college and graduate college as well. So for now I need the things I learn at school but only for the reason of passing to get to the next level. I need a lot of the seven survival skills in order to be a good teacher, and especially a good special education teacher. Yet school had failed to teach me all seven. If I were to leave school right now and never go back, I think I would be lost. I wouldn't know what to do or where to start. I would most definitely not be workplace ready because of my lack of the seven survival skills. Yeah, I could acquire them through experience but I shouldn't have to, I should be learning them in the place I go to learn-- SCHOOL.
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ReplyDeleteWell, to say the least, what Wagner discussed was not the type of thing I want to hear at all. I spent my school years since back in 3rd grade in advanced classes. These classes were supposed to challenge our curious minds and we were destined to be the leaders of tomorrow. Yet, after all those years of working so much harder than the kid in “regular” classes, we did not gain what we were promised. Sure, we have strong work ethics, but what is the use if we burn out in high school? Sure, we “know” more than the average Joe, but the information vanishes after a few months of disuse.
ReplyDeleteOne big problem with AP classes is that the curriculum is so strict. There is little to no room for discussion. With such a tight schedule, there is little time for questions and this really inhibits imagination as well. Before I learned it was childish to be imaginative, but now I realize more and more it’s imagination that can push a person to their goals. Nothing new will happen without ideas.
Branching off on this, teachers talk at students more than they talk with students. They spill and spill information until the bell rings. This procedure is detrimental to the concept of communication for students. We learn to listen and absorb. We are not expected to answer back with insight or queries.
We are about to become seniors, and we could not be more terrified. Being a senior means applying to colleges and picking a major and then picking a college and applying for scholarships and leaving home and everything is all on us now. We are about to enter the real world fast, and the education system has not done enough to prepare us. There is little time for imagination, curiosity, analysis,communication when we prepare for state tests every year, and these tests are not even legally required by the state.
For right now, I’m going to be an optimist and believe I have/will have by auditions the fundamental talent to study in music therapy. Therapy revolves around communicating, so I would hope that I become more confident in my ideas within the next year so I don’t have to think so much in a conversation. I like to think I have a good grasp on expressing my purpose effectively on paper, but somehow an immediate reaction from a person next to me limits my skills. I question myself and nothing comes out just right. I worry about not making into the music therapy program because of my talent, but now I realize I have much more to work on to secure my success.
I am not ready to work a purely intellectual job surrounded by adults. I lack confidence and communication skills, I lack leadership and adaptability. I wouldn’t say I possess any of the skills mentioned in the article to a strong degree. If I left school without graduating, I could still get a job, but it wouldn’t be what I would want to do. I picked up a job at 14. All I needed from my school education was how to count coins. The cash register would do all the math for me. I earned money, but I only grew more and more miserable each time I walked through the entrance of that skating rink. I imagine I could get a job once I’m 18 as some type of attendant in a casino too if it wasn’t for the fact that the casino business is going downhill. There are jobs out there for people who lack the 7 survival skills. But I know I can do better. And I will do better, whether the education system helps me or not.
I don't know what I want to be.
ReplyDeleteI know what I'm doing for college. I know what my parents want me to do. I feel like I already mentioned this in a previous blog but I never got the chance to explore my likes and interest in the field of work because my parents always “set up my path” basically. I'm going to take up nursing.
Since I didn't have much of a say in my major/career, I at least decided what kind of nurse I want to be. I want to be a pediatric nurse. Mostly newborn babies or at least under the age of 3. While they're under the age of three, they can't run away or talk back to me. They just make cute noises and love when we play peek-a-boo. If I left school right now, I don't know if I can say I'm fully ready. Why you make ask? Well for one thing, I know nothing about nursing. And I know the slightest of babies.
I don’t know anything else outside the walls of Oakcrest. I believe the public school system has a bad way of “teaching”. Sure, we follow the curriculum and pass a lot of tests but we don’t know the world. We have history class but that doesn’t do much unless you literally get into it. Like the culture and all. We have math and they teach us how to count money. We have english and they teach us how to read/write. That’s all great but I think that once we cover all those things, we should move on to the stuff in the real world no one else bothers to talk about.I want to learn how to take care of a child, learn how to buy the right insurance, learn how to deal with relationships, all that jazz. I hate how, for 12 years, they(the grownups who make up the rules) want us to have this important ass, strict ass, dumb ass stucture and then all of a sudden figure it out once we graduate. I want to get out of it as much as the next person, but the least they can do is actually prep us for the really important issues.
The article basically says that school does shit for us. They always prep us for the next grade up but once we reach 12th, and go to college/the real world, we fall straight down. They don’t prep us for the real world. Is it all for nothing? Taking AP classes only boosts your GPA, and maybe encourages you to work more than the average high schooler. It doesn’t do anything at all for your adult life. When you apply for a job, let’s say at a corporation, I guarantee they won’t care if you took AP Psychology in the 11th grade. They just want to know if you’re responsible and reliable and if you can learn their ways fast. In school, some of the disrespectful students decide to not do their work so their teachers decide to derogate their techniques to give a fair chance to those students. But what about the good students in that class? They’re getting affected more than anyone. They actually care about learning and they’re stuck with the bs. Speaking from experience, my sophomore english class was A JOKE. A J O K E. I laugh at how I leaned jackshit in there. We didn’t even read the books in the curriculum because she thought some students couldn't handle it. LIKE R U KIDDING ME?! But whatever, I’m guna stop before I get heated and start naming names.
Anyways, to wrap this up, the education system that we have now, I think, should change. We don’t benefit it as much as we want to.
I really liked this article, im about to make my mom read it. Maybe then shell understand why school pisses me off. I hate to say this because I didn’t always feel this way but I hate school. School does almost nothing for me, like literally nothing. Except make me miserable and I don’t think my parents tax money should pay for that. Businesses and companies don’t care about any of the shit I've been taught in school. They don’t care how quickly I can write a pointless essay or how well I can divide fractions (which I cant actually do by the way). All the things they want I've taught myself or I've learned while not being in school. School has prepared me for nothing. The only classes I can say I've truly learned anything important and things that interest me are media, business law & management, and lang. Three classes. Three. Freaking. Classes. I've been in school for 11 years and only three of the classes I've taken have actually meant something to me and taught me something.
ReplyDeleteI want to be a social worker, I want to help children and people left in the dark. I don’t need chem, gym, and I sure as hell don’t need math to do that. I need good social skills, compassion, and I need to be able to think rationally. Those are all things I posses (whether it seems like it or not) but I posses them because I taught myself them and I've learned them through experience. NOT from sitting in school for the majority of my day. So, if I left school right now I think I'd be okay for the things I want to do.
Going back to my statement that I hate school, I also dislike AP classes. Although I do take them but only so colleges can see that I did. But to everyone's surprise i actually don’t care about them, shocker right? Granted the AP classes I do take I find very interesting I just wont need the things I learn in them. I use the term "learn" very loosely though because I just memorize enough to get by, even though im barely doing that. The most I've gotten out of my AP classes is stress and I've developed a new level of bitterness towards people from them. But, only because many of the students that take AP classes think that they're better than the other people in our grade that may take CP or whatever else. They think they have the upper hand for being in top 10 or for being able to write half decent essays. Unfortunately I don’t care that they're in the top 10 and I don’t care that they're more "book smart" than I am, im more "street smart" than a lot of the people I know and that’s more important to me.
Correction- I've been in school for 12 years not 11, I forgot to count preschool. Good ol' preschool.
DeleteWhen you said that this article “is a bit dated”, I slouched down in my chair and made some coffee to prepare for the reading of a long and dreary article. But as I read it, I forgot that this piece is actually almost 10 years old. I am currently looking for a summer job, my first job, and in doing so I am becoming aware of all the qualities I need to display in interviews, first impressions, applications, etc. I am pleased to say that I possess at least a few of the “7 survival skills”, some of which are derived from my education...others, not so much. I am capable of asking good questions, being a leader, adapting to my surroundings, speaking confidently and clearly, and using my creativity to solve a problem. I use many of these skills on the daily as Tinsley’s EPA. Whenever he gives me a job to do, he will usually tell me what he wants done and where to do it...but he tends to leave out the “how” part of it. Story time! Last week, Tinsley told me to go make copies of music, but didn’t give me his code for the “new” copy machine (usually he does this when he runs out of copies). So, I get to 308 and realize that I’m going to have to use the broken machine or go back looking like an idiot. Although it took me a few tries and more than 1 period to get the copies right-side-up and all in order, I managed to get the job done using my imagination, critical-thinking skills, and adaptation that current situation. And trust me - I know most jobs are much, much more difficult than making copies for your teacher, but being an EPA can really teach you that you are capable of more than you think, you just have to try harder. Technically, I could credit schooling with my new capabilities because EPA is a class provided by the school. As for other classes, such as APUSH, AP Physics, and at times (sorry...it’s sorta true) Lang, the teacher’s goal is to have their students pass the AP Exam, which is understandable. With the exception of our newly introduced “Bunje English” which positively prolongs our learning and Mr. Adkisson’s Honors PreCalculus (in which he teaches until the very last day), my teachers have stopped teaching because (in their minds) there is nothing to teach for...or rather, towards. With the completion of the exam came the completion of our learning for the school year. All of this relates back to the question “Do you feel as though your schooling thus far has prepared you for what these companies appear to be looking for?” to which I will answer: No. Lang and EPA are the only classes from which I learn “life lessons” and other valuable skills.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned in many other blogs, I want to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy. To be successful in any field of occupation, an employee should be experienced. It is for this reason alone that I am not ready for the “PT Workplace”. I will need to go to college to learn about the profession itself before diving into the job. As for the general workplace, I do believe I am ready for a job in the real world. I am ready for the annoying customers, the long hours, the harsh bosses, and the low wages. I have wanted to work for so long that all I really yearn for is experience (and it never hurts to earn some cash). Although most AP classes, like the several described in Wagner’s article, have not prepared me for life outside of Oakcrest High School, I know that I am ready and I am willing to learn through experience.
If I left school right now, I wouldn't be prepared at all. The school system discourages asking questions by putting a grade on everything and having judgmental students. At a young age, kids ask all types of questions, but we start to keep our questions to ourselves when we start to care about others' opinions on us. When Parker says "I like someone who asks good questions," he trains people to be engineers based on how well they think because this quality can't be taught. Since the education system diminishes asking questions, school has not prepared me for the outside world. In addition, I'm terrible with engaging in discussion, which is another thing that Parker looks for. Based on these two concepts that school has failed to teach, by Parkers standards, I'm screwed when I want to get hired. School obviously hasn't prepared me for what companies are looking for.
ReplyDeleteAP classes that Wagner describes sound very familiar. All most of the AP classes do is prepare for an exam that won't help us in life. Teaching a class to take a test at the end of the year isn't a way to teach. Teaching for the sake of students learning and grasping new concepts is a more effective way to go about it. Certain subjects, such as APUSH, cram so much material down students throats in such a short amount of time that we can't possibly remember all of the concepts. It's unproductive to teach 600 years of history in 9 months of school. Lang is really the only subject that prepares us for anything outside of school. This is because Lang is a discussion and vocab based class; which are two things that we use all of the time inside and outside of a school environment.
Today schooling doesn''t teach kids how to think for themselves. Teachers spoon feed students every step of the school career, which is why every generation is becoming more and more helpless. Teachers can't read a passage and then ask the students questions. Once a class is finished reading, the students should ask the questions. This method encourages free thinking, but needs to be executed from an early age. All grade levels need to teach this because if not, kids will get accustomed to a wrong method of learning. The school system can change to help students get through life when they're out of school, but enough people need to want change to happen. If not, then it will just continue to fail future generations.
For me to efficiently express my thoughts on the school system presented to us I am going to start with a poem written by Alex IsaacAlex Isaac.
ReplyDeletehttp://allpoetry.com/poem/12346824-The-Outcomes-of-High-School-by-Alex-Isaac
After reading this poem in the beginning of the year it finally hit me. That high school was coming to an end and I needed to figure out my real world issues. The Future. But I didn’t have an answer for anyone, but mostly myself on what I wanted to do with my life. I still don’t have an answer. That’s because, even though school teaches us for the future it doesn’t quite let us experience the future itself. Sure we get to discover our own selves in the four years of tears, pain and AP. And sure we make some friends and learn new things we thing. However the works force is completely unlike anything we will experience until it’s the actually time and place. How am I supposed to know I’ll like working in a hospital or a tall glass windowed building without actually going through with it, but only after I spend all my life savings and then some, hopelessly in debt after 5-8 years of more schooling. We spend so much time and money for something so unpredictable and unstable. It’s scary. And yet we think it’s normal. The sleepless nights and killings over a letter grade, perfectly normal. Right?
School’s like the rest of the world is always changing and evolving. Common Core is a result of that. It’s thought provoking math and reading work challenges the new generation to consider multiple factors when solving a rather simple question. Although it allows students to think outside the box, once easy fast math is now complicated in something it shouldn’t be. Discussion and questions are a great skill to have but if the new curriculum still doesn’t help new innovating stimulants but just slows down math problems , is it really helping? And to think of all the student who did not grow up learning this way, they are the true victims. They (we) are forced to adapt at a much later age, thrown into a fire of standardized tests that make no sense to us.
Contrastingly, CEO’s are looking for that new energized generation in which everything is connected and questioned. However it’s a skill, sometimes that can’t be taught, that people can acquire if interested in. New business and medical industries are always looking to better the world with new theories and ideas that break social barriers. However people with the drive and determination have the potential to accomplish just that even without this new education system implemented.
Common Core has changed elementary schools forever, but grade levels above 6th are still teaching in the same way as 4 years ago. Change can only happen slowly otherwise it becomes a distraction. Therefore students graduating in the near future only have themselves to thrive in the world. Formulas and memorization aren’t going to cut it. Students will have to rely on their own wits and street smarts to talk their way into a job interview and just about everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI think people change people. People influence our everyday actions. Whether it is to do the complete opposite or taking precautions to prevent social humiliation we base what we do in life by what we have seen others do with theirs. We want to become better than our drunk uncle or unemployed aunt. But I don’t know if I have been asking the right questions or enough questions to fully thrive in the big bad world that awaits. And I guess we learn from our mistakes so knowing too little or too much eventually will balance out when we experience new things and overcome different hardships. If I left school right now, I couldn’t tell you if I would survive. It’s a hit or miss. But I think it depends on the person as an individual. A person can choose to make the best of every situation or let the problem swallow them whole. Now-a-days most classes are just filled with cheating just for a grade so it’s difficult to separate from what we’ve learned and memorized over the years. The workforce requires patience, personality and discipline. I think I qualify, more or less, in all three area. With a little teaching and patience from the other side, anyone could do any routine orientated job. But I guess that’s where passion and the need for money separate individuals and the job they do.
There are many things I enjoy doing and so many more I have yet a chance to discover nor learn. It’s hard to say what I want to do because I am the type of person who will only know when I actually get to the work force. Even then I could get bored of the routine oriented job. Or if my career is too free spirited I am scared I won’t meet the expectations it will require. I know I know “you won’t know if you don’t try it.” The problem with that is, I have to spend the next 5 years of my life and countless green bi2lls and loans just to potentially hate a job. Maybe internships will help. But who knows. Guess I have my whole life to make my own mistakes and learn from them.
There is nothing I hate more than the education system. I understand this is a bold statement, but I truly mean it. When I walk into school, I don't feel like a human being. I feel like a robot that is constantly being judged by my ability to solve an algebra problem. We aren't being taught what is actually important, which the article very clearly shows. I believe this is why I am drawn to you (Bunje). I have never had a teacher that was truly honest with me and cared more about my mental health (check my This I Believe) than my ability to write a synthesis essay. I know you care that I know how to write an essay, but you are more worried about how I feel and that means more to me than anything. This seems like I'm kissing up, but I truly mean it and that is what I'm going to miss most about this school year. I'm sorry, but I will not miss SAT vocab and lit terms. Those things are absolutely useful, but the thing I'll miss most is the days where we just talked as a class because you could tell that we needed a break. Although that doesn't have much to do with the blog, I wanted to mention it.
ReplyDeleteBack to what you're actually asking. I don't think what I've learned in school has taught me much about what these companies actually want me to be able to do. I want to be a child psychologist (again, check my This I Believe). Aside from the education requirements, I think what is really important in landing this job is being able to effectively communicate and hold a level of understanding between two people. Does knowing the theme of a text help me with that? No.
The only reason that I feel as though I may be work-place ready is because I have spent a good portion of my life dealing with different mental health problems (seriously, this entire blog relates to my This I Believe) and solving them and helping others with their problems. School didn't teach me that. I had to teach myself that. Although school hasn't been a total waste of my time, I think that the education system needs some serious renovations.
Instead of teaching to a test, how about we teach to the real world? We spend all year being taught things just so we can pass an expensive test that has hardly any impact on where we end up after school. That's an entire year of my life that I could've been learning about how I can use skills from English class to help me get a job or how to use skills from my math class to pay my bills. Hardly anything that I learn in high school will help me when I am searching for a job or when I have a kid or when I need to make payments (although, financial literacy is a useful class for these things). I hope this doesn't offend you, Bunje. I don't mean that what you teach is pointless, but I wish you could use what you teach to help me in my future. I know you're just doing what's asked of you. The education system is just horrendous.
This blog honesty made me laugh because of the relevance to recent activities I have been involved with, but a while back I began to write a paper talking about the flaws of the education system. Ironically my first 4 paragraphs of this paper somewhat relate to the blog so I just figured I should use them.
ReplyDelete“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela
First, I must say that I am guilty. I have committed a crime that most dare not to commit, one that has such massive repercussions that it can bring change to the world that we suffer in today; I have learned to think for myself. Although this may not seem to be a “crime” I assure you that it is, defined in a non-written law that our education system has preached to numerous generations; I consider myself a person who has broken that law and for that reason I have committed a “crime”. I am a student of the American education system, I do not wish to create any tears in the establishment that I ultimately owe my life too, but rather to help the world that has many problems that can easily be fixed; if and only if we change the way we think. In order to change the way we think, we must change the place we learn to think in.
Only recently after realizing the true disadvantages that our education system has brought to children and even adults throughout the great nation that we live in; then again only recently I have started to think for myself. I am sad to say that I grew up in the age of standardization. Just recently a new standardized test called the “Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers” or “PARCC” has been implemented into the education system of the state which I live in, and as I student I am forced to take this test. Unlike most, I was part of a test group during my freshman year who was forced to take this test. So naturally I have seen the test’s growths over the last couple years, granted it is still in beta but I am not criticizing the test itself but rather everything the test stands for. How in a sense, the implication of standardization ultimately creates a loss of humanity, in an age where humanity is in high demand. In the eyes of the test proctor and those who read the results of the test only view me as a number. The loss of humanity has created a society where the weak are stepped on by those who are viewed as strong and where money is the only way to measure success on a general basis.
The education system insists that college is the only key to living successfully and that money is the only true form of success. This is only contradictory to the actual state of America considering that in a recent poll taken by AfterCollege stated that only 14 percent of college graduates actually have jobs lined up in the field which they majored; most of these college graduates are now in debt from student loans without a job. That we have been taught to think has ultimately been negated by the facts of reality, this is what’s wrong with the education system. The ability to think is lost which leads many students to become robots on the way to their own self-destruction.
The school system has and has not prepared me for the real world, I have had teachers that only wish to teach a test and give the students in the class no reason to actually consider thinking about the subject but rather the answer. Knowing an answer is not learning, but asking questions is, asking questions provides students with human interaction, critical thinking, and important skills that business’s look for in employees, our education system only teaches about the right answer rather than how to ask questions to get the right answer.
DeleteI would like to get a career in something involving literature, but one thing I love to do is honestly just make people think. I do believe I am work place ready, I believe I can ask questions and make people think although the skills are not fully developed I don’t think it would take me long to be successful in a working environment. The AP classes he references sound very familiar in the aspect that it’s all just preparation for a test rather than proper thinking, but I guess I’m lucky because my AP have at least been able to make me think.
Tony Wagner makes a valid point that the current education system does not prepare students for their future careers. AP and honors classes did not make me a smarter student. I could have learned the same material in regular classes too. One of the main reasons why I took AP classes is because AP classes generally have smarter kids than regular classes. Therefore, it is more likely that there will be knowledgeable conversations among students, and it is less likely that there will be class interruptions.
ReplyDeleteAP classes are nothing but regular classes on steroids. In most AP classes, the information is often rushed and the goal is directed towards getting a 4 or a 5 on the AP exam. For example, in APUSH, Weisback rushed through lot of the history and only focused on certain parts based on what is going to be the AP exam. I don’t mean to attack Weisback and I don’t blame him for what he did this year. Like he explained many times, the administration should’ve split the course into two to promote more in depth understanding of US history. It makes no sense to go through about 400 years of history in 8 months and to cram all that information before the AP test. There is just so much history that if we spend time on critical thinking activities, we won’t be able to cover all of US history.
Because of the AP tests, teachers are limited to what they can teach and what they can’t. For example, there are so many times when Sopuch wants to teach something but he restrains himself because that information is not on the AP test. I can see it in his eyes how much he loves econ. I can feel the sadness in him whenever he has to hold off some information in order to teach other information so that we can get a 5.
I am lucky enough to get teachers in my AP classes (minus AP Chem) who incorporate Wagner’s seven survival skills in class. I would say that my schooling thus far has tried but not succeeded in preparing me for what these companies are looking for.
I want do something related to math and science for my future career. Like I have said many times, I currently don’t know what. After reading Wagner’s list of skills, I realized that all of them serve an important role in a math/science field. Depending on the actual career, I would need most if not all.
If I left school right now, I would not be ready for work and I would not have the skills that the CEOs desire. I would be forced to get a lower level job since I wouldn’t enough knowledge to do well in a math/science career.
Wagner’s AP class references reminded me of all the times when I was dumbfounded and had no clue what to do because I wasn’t taught how to think critically. One time is when I poured HCl down the sink because I didn’t know that it was pure HCl. It started smoking but I had no clue how to stop it or what the smoke meant. This lack of background chemistry knowledge is going to come back and bite me.
This article was really interesting and enlightening. All the skills that the CEOs are seeking in new hires is not related in any way to what we learn in school. The CEOs don’t really care if you can find what the slope is of the parabola, or anything in that nature. They’re looking for people who have the ability to project and talk to other people. People who can think quickly, and those who have an imaginative mind to explore greater possibilities. To be completely honest, I think that school has helped me reach the skills that the CEOs want, but then again, I’m also not really sure. Because maybe school HAS taught me these skills, or has incorporated them into lesson plans. And maybe I, was too reluctant to see or to do the work, or to allow myself to get creative. Or then again, maybe school HASN’T taught me any of the skills. I’m not really sure I think I’m overthinking it, lol.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I want to do? Honestly I bounce back and forth with a couple of things. All are in the same range though- which is something in the medical field. I’m not sure if I just want to be a nurse, or be a neuropsychology doctor. Or some other fancy thing that I’m sure I’ll hear one day and want to be that too. But to be a nurse, doctor, etc. you NEED to be able to cooperate with others, to communicate with others, to create new tools, techniques, ideas, hope. You have to be able to adapt to any type of environment because every case is different, and adapt to all the new technological tools that exist today. The seven survival skills in the medical field is crucial. Without it, people simply would not make it.
If I were to leave school right now and go into my future career, I would not be ready. Although, maybe, sometimes, school incorporates the seven skills, I still need more schooling or growth to occur in order for me to truly do my job. Considering I only take one AP class which is lang, I’d say it has helped me. From presenting declamations in front of the class, or working in groups, to figuring out what the text is doing, to many other things that I can’t seem to remember right now, has helped. It’s just my other classes that need to help, and actually do to start doing stuff. I don’t think Wagner’s reference to AP English is true. Just because I don’t think there’s been a time where the class didn’t answer you, and you just gave up and started to tell us the answer. And you just start writing on the board. So Mr. Wagner might just need to come take a trip to 204. :)
Standardized tests, although unnecessary, still cause so much uproar within learning environments. A whole school year is spent on learning new techniques to master one test at the end of the year if it’s an AP class. Based on your grades you’re placed in a rank that includes students from your entire grade. We’re so worried about who can do the best on these exams that we start to lose track of who we are. Nowadays our mind set is that school is to primarily focus on the curriculum that is on state tests. At a young age we were able to learn by expanding our knowledge the way we learn best. However, no matter how we learn whether visually, hands-on, or other types of learning, we are asked to change our ways of learning so that we all learn the same way and at the same pace. This tends to take away from our individuality and our potential to be different. After reading the article and reading what this CEO wanted from his employees made me happy but also scared. It made me happy to see that some people still see value in being able to be an individual but it made me nervous because some people wanting that job may not be able to be unique because they’re so used to doing everything the same exact way someone or a group of students do. School is so programed with similar lesson plans and certain ways things need to be taught. However each teacher teaches differently just how every student learns differently and shouldn’t be expected to change their style of learning for a test grade. Grades are starting to label every student. It’s scary to think that your whole entire future could be based on that number instead of the characteristics you have as a person. Schools have just been going crazy lately with all the state testing and it not only stresses the teachers out but the students are also stressed because taking a test that could determine a lot about your life is very nerve racking. School curriculum is always changing but it seems like the more the curriculum changes the less change you have between the students. The less personality you have between different students who, personality based, are quite compatible, but since they learn at different paces, they look at each other as competition or who can get the higher score on the test. School should teach you how to grow learning wise but also as a human being.
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ReplyDeleteTony Wagner’s Rigor Redefined article proposes good questions on how students in the 21st century prepare for the “real world”. Wager interview many business leaders in order to learn about what they expect to see in hiring new employees and most of them search for specific qualities, the seven survival skills. I sorta agree with Wagner and his "rigor of the 21st century". The “seven survival skills should be taught every day, at every grade level, and in every class. “ The seven survival skills are skills that demonstrate part of a human’s potential in life and CEOs and business executives like to see that. I see it as common sense and skills everyone has ,but never went further beyond their limit. Also in school, teachers incorporate those skills during their lessons in class. For example, teachers usually teach critical thinking and problem solving with mathematics since solving problems takes time and there are procedures to solve them. We don’t notice it because of the class subjects overshadowing the main reasons in order to evolve the student’s mind in baby steps instead of one grade learning those skills forever.
ReplyDeleteAs of now, I am undecided on my future. Either enter the animation business or the computer science area. I know both fields involves math, science, and a hint of technology. For animation, you have to work with the directors and others to get their movie or tv show on the big screen. It’s like putting images in a picture less book. I suck at drawing, but I want to work on CGI movies or tv shows. For computer science, it is about using a computer’s full potential like creating an AI, increasing performances, and a bunch of tech mambo jumbo. I would go into more detail, but I have a headache at the moment and I don’t want to bore anyone with tech talk.
If I drop out of school now, I probably wouldn’t survival out there in the world. There are so many things I need to learn about and my skills aren’t at their full potentials. When my skills reach their limits, then I should notice it during my everyday routine. Also currently, I have no advanced computer or animation software experience which mean I have no chance in my interest fields. From Wagner's observation, the students really don't fully know their AP class. Students would go back to their notes or silently wait for the teacher to say the answer for a problem. To be honest, I did it during AP Gov since the government is very corrupt and confusing. At most, I can work in retail since I can deal with random strangers and do boring tasks. The AP class has one goal: to make their students be ready for a standardized test for that certain subject. Most AP teachers agree that they would rather teach their subject with ease in order for the students to acknowledge and fully understand the lessons instead of rushing through lessons to cram almost the whole subject into the students before May.
For the specifications that Wagner has found from CEOs and companies, they ask for good teamwork skills and cooperation for the team and to the customer. For the profession that I want to go into, these skills are needed for achievement and excellence. In present day, some of my classes allow me to do that, but not all. Mainly my CP physics class. Besides that one class, I feel everything I do is on my own. But throughout my years of schooling, I don’t feel it has prepared me for the rigorous work soon to come when I go into the real world. All I’ve done is just listen to a teacher telling me how to do this and that for a test. Not show me how to properly communicate with others or learn how to work in a group of three where everyone actually works together than two people only doing the job and the third person doing nothing.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first year taking AP classes. And it honestly does not make me any smarter than the rest of these kids in the school. The only difference is the amount of work I get. I get an increase in work for a short amount of time for a test in May that may allow me to save money for college, but I am also identified as a number and not a student for these AP tests. If I should be represented as a name that is mine, why am I labeled as a number in school and for tests?
I for one am a student who also takes CP classes with AP classes, which doesn’t mean that I'm not as smart as other people. It’s about the desire for people to learn. I know just as many things from CP physics as I do from a person in the same grade as I am who takes AP physics. It’s just the amount of work that’s different.
If I left for the workforce now, I would not be ready at all. First of all, besides the fact that I have to get a job and be able to show the characteristics of a good employee, high school has never taught me how to pay taxes or mortgages or how to make down payments on things or apply for insurances or social security. They expect us to know these things when we go into the real world and be able to support ourselves, when in reality we get out of college and we’re unemployed and in
Debt
DeleteBms making me read all that. But I do like this topic. Very interesting and true. Something talked about often and specifically I have feelings about.
ReplyDeleteThe article confirms the theories blurted out by students in class. These statements, such as “I’ll never use this in life,” and “this isn’t going to help me get a job,” although sometimes rude and a little ignorant, holod truth. CEOs are not looking for who can factor quadratic equations the best. When they want the best employees, they are looking for people with real life skills. Skills that you can apply in the workplace. Skills that are valuable components to being a good worker such as the ability to work in a team, or the ability to adjust on the fly. These skills are what actually is important, rather than knowing how to write an essay in a certain amount of time or how to balance a chemical equation.
Scholl does not do nearly enough to prepare for the real world. This is part in fault of the teachers, but mostly in fault of the curriculum and addition of standardized tests. Teachers have a lot of power in what and how the students learn, they can make it fun, make it boring, make it fruitless, make it worthwhile, etc. They have the power to take a lesson about quadratic equations and turn it into an interesting lesson helping out the ability to work in a team, or they could do a boring lesson straight out of a textbook. Teachers can alter their lessons to teach students real, valuable skills for life, but when their job is basically to prepare their students for a big test at the end of the year, there isn’t much they can do. Standardized tests ruin school. If I left school today, i would be lost in the world. The important skills necessary to be successful in the world, i would barely have any. But I know how to solve logarithmic equations and recognize rhetorical devices in an essay. How far are those skills gonna get me? Pretty close to the unemployment line. If students weren’t forced to take classes that they will never use in their life and teachers weren’t forced to stick to a curriculum to prepare for a standardized test that will potentially heavily impact the student's future, things would be difference. Student’s should have more freedom when choosing classes, or be required to take less classes like complex Maths and sciences and more classes that will teach them real world skills. And above all, get rid of standardized tests. They are a burden on everyone and restrict students from getting real life skills from school. Obviously you’re going to need to know some algebra and geometry, you’re going to need to have a vocabulary larger than a third grader’s, I’m not saying everything we learn in school is pointless. What is a true question that does not have a valid answer is, why is solving equations and reading a periodic table more important than oral communication and leadership?
The skills that Wagner refers to, are somewhat attainable. That does not mean that we learn them in school. School is preparing for tests, tests, and —you guessed it— more tests. But he’s right; this is the type of school we need. Problem solving, leadership, initiative, adapability, communication, analyzation, and imagination. Do these sound anything we have learned (except for analyzation, geez we learned a lot of that)? To me, these all sound like the qualities that adults say good leaders are BORN with. I never knew people could actually learn these skills. I feel like your class has brought me to the best I’ve been in a while (while still knowing that I can still push myself much harder). But, to be honest, I don’t think my future job has really much to do with what companies are looking for!
ReplyDeleteMy ultimate goal is to become a choir teacher (perhaps at a high school or middle school). Let me break all of the qualities down, and they all may apply; who knows.
1. Problem Solving: -Being able to think quickly if something goes wrong during a concert, or something is wrong with a child.
2. Leadership: -Being a good role model
-Being able to command attention (and not get walked over like a doormat)
3. Initiative: -Take the initiative to teach the children more challenging technique and songs.
4. Adaptability: -The arts has an ever-so-shrinking fund; being able to make-do with what I am given.
5. Communication: -Communicate with staff and parents??
6. Analyzation: -uhhhhhhh
7. Imagination: -My imagination can make concerts littttt
Okay, so obviously, I could think of reasons for each one, but all of the reasons that are currently available are pretty plausible. But honestly, I don’t think I would survive if I had to leave school and go into the job field right now. All we do is struggle to keep up our grades and study for standardized tests!
Also, Wagner’s observances of AP classes are particularly hard-hitting. I even see this in regular classes. Basically, the teacher just tells you and makes you memorize instead of you actually learning anything. Boring. And the AP Gov. observation TOTALLY sounds like Mr. Sera’s class; so much so, that it’s kinda scary!
It seems as though this generation places all the blame on cellphones and new technology. I could not agree more. It pulls us further and further away from the people in our communities and even separates us from our peers. This separation has caused our social interactions to dwindle and become less vibrant and deep. As modern schooling would have it, schools have also fallen prisoner to technology. As I grow older technology becomes more and more banal in our teacher’s lesson plans. And. frankly, I don’t like learning through technology. It always seems to break the connection between me and my teacher. Every year one of my teachers tries some new website to teach and it ends up not working which stunts the class’ learning. I am aware that, since technology now reigns the earth, many jobs in company positions search for experience with computers and such. But as I mentioned before, with all the experiments in teaching tactics I have yet to learn much about computers either. I would not be prepared to take on such a job in a company or CEO position.
ReplyDeleteFor these reasons I am looking for a job that works with people on a day to day basis. Good or bad it is better to work with humans than a powerpoint on a screen all day. I am not 100 percent sure what I would like to pursue however lately psychology has sparked my attention. I want to know why others do what they do and how it affects the brain. Thus far the schooling that I’ve received would be proficient for a path in psychology because I have been provided psychology classes that are rigorous and effective. They will give me the knowledge needed without any technology interruptions.
This articles worried me just a tad reading it because I sat there thinking to myself, I may think I have what companies are looking for but do I really. I do not think school necessary prepared me for what companies are looking for but school related things on another hand did. For example stage crew. As silly as it may sound I think it is the sole reason I have some of the skills that are being looked for. Thanks to stage crew I am a pretty good problem solver, I think i know how to lead a group, I am know very flexible and willing to adapt to a lot, I have learned to be effective orally If i wasn't nothing I ever needed would get done, I'd like to think I have some imagination when it comes to helping out with ideas for sets and well I ought to have curiosity if I didn't I don't think I would have made it this far in life. School though did not really play part in any of these skills, in fact it delayed me from working on them. School sure as hell steps on a person's imagination and curiosity.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds very silly for me to say know that I just said school played little part in who I am and what I can do today but I’d hope to be a teacher one day. I can't tell you the grade or anything because that I am not sure of but I definitely want to be a teacher. Other kids would call me crazy but I enjoy helping the kids that most do not want to work with. I sit in Boyers and Clark's classes sometimes and well I wouldn’t describe those kids as any ray of sunshine but I do think they are all teachable. I find pleasure in looking at assignments and knowing that those kids that came into school in September with little knowledge on basic grammar or literature are improving. Even if they are just getting one more right than they did at the beginning of the year or they raise their hand once a week to participate they are learning. Reading though the description of the AP classes made me rather upset partially because I think that is how most AP classes actually are. Don't ask me anything about American politics and government because I can tell you near nothing. Those classes really just made me think further into my career one day. I want to be able to teach like the “rare class” that was described in the article where the teacher teached to help the kids not only to learn a subject but to learn concepts that will help in life as well.
I can tell you right now that if I left school today and never went back I am not workplace ready, now that just it do to my lack of maturity. I find that I am not a fan of schedules or strict structure at this current day in life. Now I know that will change but I am just not ready for it yet. I am prepared to be in the workplace I'm just not ready and the two of those things without question go hand in hand.
This is late sorry I forgot to post it.
DeleteWhen it comes to skills that you need in life do you always be your basic fundamentals it is up to you to acquire the specifics skills in the feild of your choice. Critical thinking is vital to any part of work that you go into because when you live in a world that is as spontaneous as it is deverse, critical thinking is a huge factor. Any work force that you go into, whether it be advertising, or accounting, or food service requires critical thinking in some sort of way, the only difference between them is that some require more than others. When an individual picks a job you can not only see their dream but you see their level of self confidence and challenge. If someone picks the career of being a neuro surgeon or an electrical engineer, you k ow that they have a high confidence because they beleive they can acquire that goal and they like to challenge theirselves. The individual who takes up a career such as a waiter or a movie clerk or manager at a local retailer, has confidence but not enough to reach for goals that require more. They are either there to build up to a greater goal or they are settlers, and even in these jobs that seem insignificant, there is still a minuscule amount of critical thinking. When it comes to AP class, these classes do you allow you to think critically for an entire school year and give you skills that you wouldn't get a normal classes but they shouldn't be prioritized as much as they are today. Many students will dedicate their entire lives outside of school for their AP classes and because of it they lose of the skills that they can acquire like social skills skills learning with younger children, but any other skills that could help them in society. Because they dedicate their entire lives without glasses the grades are good whatever subject they are in is a subject that they acquire the skills in and no other subjects than that. I beleive that AP classes are important in highschool but they are made to be more important than they really are. All classes are equally important and just because the letters AP are in front of your class does not mean that you should pause your whole life and isolate yourself so that your classes consume you. Although they are very important when it comes to developing critical thinking in a particular subject there is too much importance put over them
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