<p>But still, the teacher-bashing needs to stop. </p>
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<ol>
<li>You are too cynical.</li>
<li>Children have to go to school.</li>
<li>Most people want to succeed.</li>
</ol>
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<p>If you teach it as pure fact, obviously it won’t move anyone.
But aren’t you interesting in learning? I am. So are millions of others.
Stop generalizing ALL CHILDREN. It simply doesn’t work. </p>
<p>Right. I would quote you, but sadly I don’t know how to quote and can’t bring myself to ask you how. <em>waits patiently for you to show me</em> :)</p>
<p>Anyway, obviously children MUST attend school, since it’s kind of law. But the question is squeezing productivity out of all those hours and efforts. The kids naturally WANT to succeed, but if they can’t be bothered to put in enough time/concentration/acceptance to learn, then obviously that can’t be pushed ‘too’ much further. And for a lot of those who do try as much as they need to, it’s not very entertaining. You generally need passion to help progress. I’m saying as much as we can change the system and such, we still have to get to the roots, which is that kids don’t like school. In general.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to overgeneralize. I’m just stereotyping the murky feeling at the bottom. It’s fun to complain anyway, as you said.</p>
<p>Oh, and I really need to learn italics. Every time I all-caps a word/phrase for emphasis I feel really bad because it feels like mean yelling. And ironically, I’d always thought of myself as an optimist.</p>
<p>Isn’t this where teaching methods and effective curricula come in…?</p>
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<p>For some, it is. And things don’t have to be “entertaining,” they can be informative, intriguing, stimulating, exciting, thought-provoking. Education doesn’t have to be a video game. </p>
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<p>We can’t force kids to like school. But we can make it better and more enjoyable.</p>
<p>We can make it something to look forward to.</p>
<p>Also, many kids DO like school.</p>
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<p>But what about the middle and top? They have feelings too. :)</p>
<p>Also, I never said it was fun to complain (though it can be…also, it can be angsty and annoying, though, too)…but humans will always do it.</p>
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<p>I think I am too. But cynicism, in the form of skepticism/pointing out flaws/provoking thoughts, can be helpful as well. Despite my optimism, I can still be cynical…</p>
<p>Ahem. Teachers. Teaching methods. But also, the best teaching methods couldn’t rub off on those who refuse to benefit from them. It’s simply not “cool” for some, say, to care/give off the appearance of caring. And in the case of curricula, you ‘could’ fix it to suit the kids’ passions/interests, but usually that would just end up sinking reeeaaally reaaaaaaaaally low level-wise. It’s always more enjoyable when you “get it”.</p>
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<p>Indeed. But the measure of enjoyability lies in the hands of those who are supposed to enjoy. Again, how would we make school more fun? If you can convince yourself that it’s dumb, then all the fun labs and intellectually intense discussions would come off as just that. Meanwhile, all this funness adding usually deals some pretty bad blows to the kids who’re at the top. They need the levels up, the kids at the bottom need some help getting up…yet many don’t want to.</p>
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<p>LOL. And yes, I suppose the point of our discussion here IS to provoke thought, hm? <em>sends out heated brain waves</em></p>
<p>Not everything I join is FUN…stop using that word.</p>
<p>We can make things enjoyable, interesting…INTERESTING.</p>
<p>The point is, I’ve seen every kid at some point enjoy school. If they enjoyed it in one moment, they can enjoy it in one million moments. Let’s make it something to look forward to and something worthwhile. Will some attitudes remain to ingrained to change? Perhaps. But kids can be very impressionable. :)</p>
<p>My favorite part about school was the glue.
Oh, how I loved the glue. It smelled so wonderful and made teacher’s face morph into a drunken leprechaun.</p>
<p>Sure. Except for the fact that play is instinctively more interest-grabbing than relatively-long-attention-span-requiring study time. To really draw attention and keep it, I can’t really imagine what we’d need to teach alternatively. What we have in classrooms right now is still basically what’s there to be learned.</p>
<p>We have found the solution to the woes in our education system. Simply give out glue to all students and learning and intellectual discussion ensue!</p>
And ironically, I’d always thought of myself as an optimist.</p>
And yes, I suppose the point of our discussion here IS to provoke thought, hm? <em>sends out heated brain waves</em></p>