Not Everyone Has the Same Capacity for Learning

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Tuesday, January 31. 2017

Not Everyone Has the Same Capacity for Learning

That isn't news. However, the egalitarian fantasy which nobody truly believes hangs over much of America's educational industry.

Efficient primary education for the masses probably does work best for the most according to the Prussian model which American schools adopted during the 1800s as primary ed became government-run. One-size-fits-all authoritarian ed is in fact efficient, if terrible for boys, to learn the basics of readin, ritin, and rithmetic that any citizen needs to function in the world. The fundamentals are not much fun unless there is competition added to the mix.

When the primary school basics are not achieved, I tend not to blame the school because there are too many external variables at play.

When it comes to post-primary ed, the external variables increase. Native curiosity plays a larger role, as does family support and structure, IQ, etc. etc. However, the Prussian model begins to work less well for boys as they grow up. But I am wandering from the topic: According to Albert Jay Nock, America's theory of education is off.

Posted by The Barrister in Education at 13:30 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

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Also drives me batty that no one cares about smarter students who are forced to move at a snail's pace unless a family decides to take on homeschooling (not everyone can do that) or put a child in private school (not everyone can afford that). Smart kids should be allowed to be in different learning environments...instead, they are forced to sit through lessons they understand much more quickly then their peers and be bored out of their minds so that lower-performing students can feel better about themselves. (as they claim separating kids by ability is 'wrong' b/c it makes slower learners 'feel bad.')

#1 MissT on 2017-01-31 13:46 (Reply)

Quit the BS about boys and school.
Boys do just fine when the classroom is not run to girly standards. "The Prussian model" was centered around merit-based competition and individual achievement - both of which appeal directly to boys.

In my Orthodox Jewish community we had a double load of religious and secular subjects - and even the less gifted got through a very long school day.

Magic words: sex-segregated education.

It also helped that most of our teachers were men - and therefore tolerated a level of noise and energy that was appropriate to boys.

Did you know that Jewish seminaries and rabbinical academies are stocked with lecterns instead of desks, which lets the students stand, wiggle, and walk around while studying:

http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/mirnew6.jpg

In Yiddish they are called "shtenders" - literally "standing desks"

https://www.google.co.il/search?q=shtenders&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjg_riWj-3RAhVQlxQKHdaBBfUQ_AUICCgB&biw=1920&bih=974

... And the style of learning involves intense, argumentative one-on-one preparation of the material with a study partner and yer pals before the lesson.

No problems for boys when achievement rather than "cooperation" is valued.

#2 Ben David on 2017-01-31 14:30 (Reply)

I attended an all-boys Jesuit high school. We had sitting desks. The Dean Mean of Students had the Board of Education.

#2.1 Thought Kriminal No. 392342-A on 2017-01-31 14:53 (Reply)

School is just fine these days. They teach the four R's now though.

Readin', Ritin', Rithmatick, and Ritalin.

#3 jablonski on 2017-01-31 14:39 (Reply)

vouchers

#4 indyjonesouthere on 2017-01-31 14:51 (Reply)

funny that people who want the freedom to come into my country without consequences don't want me to have the freedom to pull my money out of the public school system in a voucher.

#4.1 Dangerous Dean on 2017-01-31 15:49 (Reply)

Not Everyone Has the Same Capacity for Learning.

I am reminded of my year teaching 9th grade math. One class was taking 11th grade Algebra II: bright kids who were up to the challenge. Another class was taking 9th grade Algebra I, except that these were students who in previous decades would have been taking General Math. But as the educational fad at the time was "EVERYONE NEEDS TO TAKE ALGEBRA," they took Algebra I, albeit slimmed down. There was one kid in the class who actually understood the course material. I asked him how he got slotted into this class. He replied that he had no idea. At the beginning of the second semester he transferred to a regular Algebra I class.

#5 Gringo on 2017-02-01 13:18 (Reply)

I hate seeing the doors of schools closed to those who'd like to give it a shot. I despised the traditional system of excluding women, Jews, or blacks. What I don't understand is why we can't let people have a shot without pretending that students who are failing are actually succeeding, or worse, that there's really no such thing as "success." In any case, today's public schools are often not much more than unionized babysitting factories with a lot of propaganda thrown in.

#6 Texan99 on 2017-02-01 13:55 (Reply)

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Tuesday, January 31. 2017

Not Everyone Has the Same Capacity for Learning