Falling behind . . .

[ThomasTrig]

Looks like things are changing.

Things are not the same anymore.

https://www.theguardian.com/educati...ths-textbooks-to-be-translated-for-uk-schools

Looks like the Western education system that we all use to be so proud of is a thing of the past.

It boggles my mind how every week pretty much there is a new story on how Far East Asia is killing it in Math and Science.

Yeah we have online services now that simply education like Math.com, StudyPug or Thinkific, yada yada yada . . . but the real change needs to happen in our school systems.

I think it’s because we became to obsessed with grades instead of encouraging creativity.

 

[Deleted User]

theguardian

I'm not giving them a click, what happened?

 

[Kioku]

That's actually pretty cool. We need an education system that works.. At least here stateside.

 

[Hells Malice]

The article touches on it but yeah, textbooks alone wont improve education. The culture is significantly different in non-asian countries.

But hopefully this is a step in the right direction. it seems like a good idea.

 

[BlackWizzard17]

Can confirm that school systems in America are more than likely focused on making us study soley to past a test at the end of the year not really focusing our education to the real world just to keep their school open or kept from being on the lowest passing schools in the state.

 

[Boogieboo6]

School is about getting good grades now. It's about short term memorization to get a good grade rather than actually learning anything. If you have a general understanding of what you're doing, and go into a test missing one thing, you'll probably do worse than the kid that crammed for an hour before the test that caught that small formula. School isn't interesting because of the heavy focus on grades. It seems schools and teachers are only concerned about getting good scores so they get more money from the district, rather than teaching and fortifying ideas in students. The most effective class I've ever had was in Social Studies, and the teacher had no due dates, and was very lax about what happened in class. He talked a lot about what he taught, and showed little videos he found that taught the topic even more. He taught off the cuff and really made sure we understood what we were taught, rather than doing what the standards told him to do. If schools had more teachers like him, that genuinely wanted the class to learn, the world would be much better. I can think of times where I would talk to my friends after a class and asked if they understood what we were just taught. When asked, nobody understood a thing. I think that now, many teachers would just move on to the next topic. Some might say something about deadlines and test dates, and another might say something about how you'll never need this in real life. Others, very rarely, would fortify the topic until we understood it. Just like the Social Studies teacher described above. I don't know a thing about Asian culture, or how their schools are run. There's definitely something different going on there than here, and it's not just textbooks. I think that even with a bad book, a good teacher can teach a class better than a bad teacher with a top of the line book.

 

[FAST6191]

I may have to look into this, I am however thinking of two things at this point
1) This video

Once it covers what is done it is a pretty simple affair where the typical western approach you might be contemplating and going a bit cold over will eventually get it done (give or take how many have to go look up equations). Definitely worth knowing the simplification and reduction techniques used there but nothing earth shattering.

2) Many years ago I was a greasy engineering student, massive Chinese population also at that university and on the courses I was on. The Chinese nationals in it were good, however so was everybody else. No "why do I turn up in the morning" skill differences or anything I really care to comment on with regards to it all. I will give that UK engineering does not seem to have the same fetish for maths that US engineering seems to go in for but it was hardly absent.

 

[Meteor7]

School is about getting good grades now. It's about short term memorization to get a good grade rather than actually learning anything. If you have a general understanding of what you're doing, and go into a test missing one thing, you'll probably do worse than the kid that crammed for an hour before the test that caught that small formula. School isn't interesting because of the heavy focus on grades. It seems schools and teachers are only concerned about getting good scores so they get more money from the district, rather than teaching and fortifying ideas in students. The most effective class I've ever had was in Social Studies, and the teacher had no due dates, and was very lax about what happened in class. He talked a lot about what he taught, and showed little videos he found that taught the topic even more. He taught off the cuff and really made sure we understood what we were taught, rather than doing what the standards told him to do. If schools had more teachers like him, that genuinely wanted the class to learn, the world would be much better. I can think of times where I would talk to my friends after a class and asked if they understood what we were just taught. When asked, nobody understood a thing. I think that now, many teachers would just move on to the next topic. Some might say something about deadlines and test dates, and another might say something about how you'll never need this in real life. Others, very rarely, would fortify the topic until we understood it. Just like the Social Studies teacher described above. I don't know a thing about Asian culture, or how their schools are run. There's definitely something different going on there than here, and it's not just textbooks. I think that even with a bad book, a good teacher can teach a class better than a bad teacher with a top of the line book.

This. America's education system is treated like a gauntlet of trials to gauge one's worth to colleges+potential employers instead of the place of learning that it should be, and it's not just on the administrator's side either. This has become so ingrained in our culture that the only reason parents tell children to try hard in school and the reason those same children choose to go to college is to use it as a means to get good grades and get a job. Few people value education as a way to better themselves and enrich their lives (and the country as a result), instead using it as a means to beat out their peers' competition and secure a salary.

 

[Meteor7]

Pretty sure that's just the British shorthand for Mathematics.

 

[The Catboy]

You know what we really need to do is fall forward!

 

[Veho]

But why would anyone use maths in a news publication instead of math or mathematics?

Both "math" and "maths" are abbreviations, this is a UK news publication (UK edition of the Guardian) so they are going for the one used in the UK.

 

[Lightyose]

I love Math Class. (No kidding) For me, its easy to deal with.

 

[ThomasTrig]

Both "math" and "maths" are abbreviations, this is a UK news publication (UK edition of the Guardian) so they are going for the one used in the UK.

Yeah I think so. Math is more of a North American thing. Rest of the world calls it Maths. I know the UK does it for sure.

 

[BARNWEY]

Both "math" and "maths" are abbreviations, this is a UK news publication (UK edition of the Guardian) so they are going for the one used in the UK.

Oh, I didn't know that. I'll just remove my post now....

 

[RevPokemon]

My response?
SKIP SKOOL AND DO DRUGS

 

[raystriker]

School is about getting good grades now. It's about short term memorization to get a good grade rather than actually learning anything. If you have a general understanding of what you're doing, and go into a test missing one thing, you'll probably do worse than the kid that crammed for an hour before the test that caught that small formula. School isn't interesting because of the heavy focus on grades. It seems schools and teachers are only concerned about getting good scores so they get more money from the district, rather than teaching and fortifying ideas in students. The most effective class I've ever had was in Social Studies, and the teacher had no due dates, and was very lax about what happened in class. He talked a lot about what he taught, and showed little videos he found that taught the topic even more. He taught off the cuff and really made sure we understood what we were taught, rather than doing what the standards told him to do. If schools had more teachers like him, that genuinely wanted the class to learn, the world would be much better. I can think of times where I would talk to my friends after a class and asked if they understood what we were just taught. When asked, nobody understood a thing. I think that now, many teachers would just move on to the next topic. Some might say something about deadlines and test dates, and another might say something about how you'll never need this in real life. Others, very rarely, would fortify the topic until we understood it. Just like the Social Studies teacher described above. I don't know a thing about Asian culture, or how their schools are run. There's definitely something different going on there than here, and it's not just textbooks. I think that even with a bad book, a good teacher can teach a class better than a bad teacher with a top of the line book.

I beg to differ. Imagine all that social science stuff out of a textbook and asked all of it at the end of the year. No multiple choice questions, a proper subjective paper. Thirty 400 word (average) answer questions in 3 hours
The Indian education system is tougher, and the reason the Asian students seem to do better is because we study hard. We pratice till perfect or till a point its enough to say that it's satisfactory enough to score well. I'm now attending university in the USA and I find your highschool and university system waaaay too easy and convenient. You're too soft and complaining. You gotta put in the hours and hardwork- its the only way you'll be good at anything which you have the affinity for.
And also the fact that we have way more competition. Everyone is studying the hardest to get the best education and there onto the best job so that they can earn the most they can in order to live a better life- its the only way we know we can. You say we take your jobs etc, but simply we're putting in more effort.

 

[Meteor7]

II'm now attending university in the USA and I find your highschool and university system waaaay too easy and convenient. You're too soft and complaining. You gotta put in the hours and hardwork- its the only way you'll be good at anything which you have the affinity for.
And also the fact that we have way more competition. Everyone is studying the hardest to get the best education and there onto the best job so that they can earn the most they can in order to live a better life- its the only way we know we can. You say we take your jobs etc, but simply we're putting in more effort.

There's a lot of truth to this as well. At one of the highschools in which I substitute, there's a certain very aggressive mother of a heavily developmentally disabled child who has basically sued their way through highschool, and successfully so. He has what's called an IEP (a list of accommodations for special needs children) which is so long and broad it's basically made impossible for him to fail classes. When he does, because he is a very low child, she blames the school and threatens legal action. The school acquiesces (though so many principled and good-natured teachers fight back) because any time she brings the district to court, she wins. Now they just push her brick of a child through school, otherwise they will begin hemorrhaging money in legal fees. The American educational system thinks that "no child left behind" is a realistic concept, and the supreme court of all things believes that there's no such thing as a child being too stupid to understand certain concepts, placing all culpability and blame for a child's failure on the educational system. We are very very soft, and extremely misguided, and it's doing a great amount of detriment to our population as a whole.

 

[FAST6191]

Something some might find amusing

http://imgur.com/a/hFIUW

The above is from the 1940s (it is an American anti communist rant about religion not being taught in schools and how it was bad, which means it has pride of place in my collection of propaganda books), and upon seeing the "taught to tests" comments above I was reminded of it.

 

[raystriker]

There's a lot of truth to this as well. At one of the highschools in which I substitute, there's a certain very aggressive mother of a heavily developmentally disabled child who has basically sued their way through highschool, and successfully so. He has what's called an IEP (a list of accommodations for special needs children) which is so long and broad it's basically made impossible for him to fail classes. When he does, because he is a very low child, she blames the school and threatens legal action. The school acquiesces (though so many principled and good-natured teachers fight back) because any time she brings the district to court, she wins. Now they just push her brick of a child through school, otherwise they will begin hemorrhaging money in legal fees. The American educational system thinks that "no child left behind" is a realistic concept, and the supreme court of all things believes that there's no such thing as a child being too stupid to understand certain concepts, placing all culpability and blame for a child's failure on the educational system. We are very very soft, and extremely misguided, and it's doing a great amount of detriment to our population as a whole.

Well that seems like a special case in my eyes. She can sue the school all they want- but why would a buisniness minded company hire a kid like that. No company would be willing to hire the said candidate.

 

[Veho]

I wonder, if they're translating the textbooks, will they also be translating the work ethic, the classroom discipline, the emphasis on education, and the cultural and societal pressure to perform well? I'm thinking no.
Students nowadays have every possible resource at their disposal, if they're failing at school maybe it's not the textbooks' fault.