Political aspects of schooling...

[gobstoppers_are_crunchy]

i do think that your teachers picked a bad time to strike but maybe it was nessicary . How much of the details do you know as to why they went on strike? it could have been really for your benefit. Oftern striking is the only solution they may have tried other methods prior to the strike.

its best to think ...hmmm something may have gone on behind closed doors . afterall rather 3weeks missed of school than a year spent with the incorrect knowlege. xp peace out.  

[Oulixeus]

gobstoppers_are_crunchy

i do think that your teachers picked a bad time to strike but maybe it was nessicary . How much of the details do you know as to why they went on strike? it could have been really for your benefit. Oftern striking is the only solution they may have tried other methods prior to the strike.

its best to think ...hmmm something may have gone on behind closed doors . afterall rather 3weeks missed of school than a year spent with the incorrect knowlege. xp peace out.

The strike itself was voted for by only 40% of the teachers because the other 60% either didn't care or didn't want to vote. Those teachers who did not vote may have completely screwed us over.

Most of the time, when people vote for a strike they do so no matter what just so the barganing team would understand that they are serious. In our case, they voted for the strike than had a whole month to discuss the issues before the strike actually occured.

They really botched the strike process itself, if you ask me. They had a month before the strike began to fix the problem but they did nothing. They had three weeks to reach an agreement (the strike time itself) but they had about 4 or 5 meetings. And than finally, they agreed to arbitration which isn't really even an agreement.

I think that while they believed they were striking for us (which involved striking for more money -- which means tuition goes higher) that they didn't realize how much more damage they were doing for us than good. Students understood that they ended up being pawns between the government and the teachers.

It was just a huge complicated mess. But I understand where you're going with the teachers having good intentions. I do believe that a lot of them really were trying to help.

But in all honesty, if we don't see the changes that they wanted made by next year... we're all going to start wondering why we had to take a three week vacation.  

[CnnmnSpider]

I'm currently a freshman in a public high school, and even though it's alright overall, I have a few classes that have their issues...

My choir is okay for the most part. A schedule conflict forced me a level lower than I should have been, but as the year went on and I got to know some of the girls in my class, I stopped caring about that as much. Most of them are extremely friendly and nice, but two or three have no respect whatsoever. One girl thinks she owns the universe, and when something doesn't go the way she wants, she makes sure we all know she's mad. This results in the rest of us sitting and getting nothing accomplished while the director deals with her, day after day. The other girls that tend to waste our time, usually only do it when our normal director is making a phone call or something and our accompaniast (sp?), who has identical qualifications, has to take over in her place. They refuse to work with her because she's not "our real teacher."

Geography is also fine most of the time. I like my teacher, and I've never really felt like I was wasting my time in his class until today. He'd told us, and I assume the administration as well, that he would be out today and we would be watching a movie on Hong Kong. Everyone in the class was excited about it, but when we came to class today, there was no substitute. Someone figured out how to start the movie from our teacher's laptop, which had been left on the projector, and someone else took attendance and somehow got it to the front office. And although we (more or less) accomplished just as much as we would have otherwise, I was extremely annoyed that the administrators had been so lax in finding a substitute that they would just leave us to fend for ourselves. I also heard that our class was at least the third one this week to have this problem.

And finally, we come to Geometry. I've been in advanced classes since second grade, and as a result, I'm the only freshman in my class. However, there are several students in there who are taking the course for the second, or even third time. As such, many of them have decided that they will never pass geometry, so they use the class period as a time to goof off and act like idiots. I happen to have some of the best grades in the class, but I have a strong feeling that I wouldn't be doing nearly as well if not for my private tutor. My normal teacher can barely get through a lesson that should only take a few minutes in most cases, but because of the attitude she recieves from my classmates, ends up requiring the entire class period. I have resorted to teaching myself the lesson and doing my homework as she teaches it, just so I can learn the material.

I understand that most of these problems are with the students and not the teachers, but they've always bothered me, as you can probably tell. I don't have any experience with private schools, or public schools in other areas, since my parents couldn't afford private schooling when I was younger, and I've lived in this area almost my entire life. Do you think this is mostly a local problem, or is this fairly common in the pubic school system?  

[Oulixeus]

white_darkness

Do you think this is mostly a local problem, or is this fairly common in the pubic school system?

Wow! Sounds like you've got at least a mature enough class to stick around and try to continue the class.

I believe that many high schools (catholic and public) have the same problems. I'm not sure I would blame those students who act out of place as much as I would blame parents and administration for being so lenient with student discipline tactics. I'm not saying we should beat our students, but we should instill in them a sense of direction and responsibility.

These are days when anyone is looking for a wrong step so they can take advantage of it. If a teacher (though unionized in my area -- which often equals a certain amount of protection) is to discipline a student too harshly, a parent will take advantage of this opportunity to name it as some kind of abuse.

There is a kind of thing going around that says, 'if someone wants it bad enough, they will push themselves.' But these students aren't pushed. They are not motivated. They want nothing when everything is given to them. So, while students should have--by this age--an understanding of responsibility and a knowledge of what direction they may want to go in... its a parents and even a teachers job to instill that student with that sense and with that direction.

I think I've rambled. sweatdrop  

[CnnmnSpider]

Oulixeus

Wow! Sounds like you've got at least a mature enough class to stick around and try to continue the class.

I believe that many high schools (catholic and public) have the same problems. I'm not sure I would blame those students who act out of place as much as I would blame parents and administration for being so lenient with student discipline tactics. I'm not saying we should beat our students, but we should instill in them a sense of direction and responsibility.

These are days when anyone is looking for a wrong step so they can take advantage of it. If a teacher (though unionized in my area -- which often equals a certain amount of protection) is to discipline a student too harshly, a parent will take advantage of this opportunity to name it as some kind of abuse.

There is a kind of thing going around that says, 'if someone wants it bad enough, they will push themselves.' But these students aren't pushed. They are not motivated. They want nothing when everything is given to them. So, while students should have--by this age--an understanding of responsibility and a knowledge of what direction they may want to go in... its a parents and even a teachers job to instill that student with that sense and with that direction.

I think I've rambled. sweatdrop

I agree that parents and teachers have plenty to do with the attitude of many students who are disrupting class day after day, but to a certain degree. I understand that guidance from these people is necessary for almost all students, but isn't at least part of the problem to do with how the student decides to react to their situation? When faced with a failing grade in a class, I see basically two options: do your best to pull your grade up, or give up and do nothing to solve the problem. As I've said, these students will require help from adults around them, but a good deal of the problem-solving power does rest with them. Unfortunately, for most students, the standard "You'll ruin your future!" argument seems too far away to possibly be affected by their actions now, and it seems to me that many of them wouldn't care if they were forced to work in a fast food resturaunt for the rest of their lives--at least, not right now.

The issue of discipline being taken as abuse doesn't seem to be a very big problem in my area. Just last year, I had an orchestra director who would threaten to "hang you from the ceiling by your thumbs" if you didn't do what was asked of you, and nothing ever happened to her. By the same token, discipline by detentions and referrals doesn't seem to have any effect. In my school at least, people actually make friends during detentions and other such punishments, and actually look forward to spending two or three hours of their Saturday with them.

I'd say more, but I have to leave now. I don't mind the rambling at all, since I probably do more than my share as well. sweatdrop  

[Oulixeus]

white_darkness

I understand that guidance from these people is necessary for almost all students, but isn't at least part of the problem to do with how the student decides to react to their situation?

Oh, I agree. I know it isn't fair to blame parents completely. In many cases they do as well as they can. A good role model is what any person needs.

But yes, you're right. A student at that age is an adult with their own ability to make decisions. They understand the difference between right and wrong. I think that peer pressure and puberty has a lot to do with why they act the way they do. I think that society has an effect on student behaviour (for example, our emo and gangster cliques that sprout the 'I don't care' excuse for everything).

And for these problems I simply can't see a viable solution. This will go on until maybe we hit a full circle. Maybe, one day, it will be 'cool' to be smart again.  

[cmao21]

[ Message temporarily off-line ]  

[The Mighty Midget]

mrgreen  

[CnnmnSpider]

Oulixeus

Oh, I agree. I know it isn't fair to blame parents completely. In many cases they do as well as they can. A good role model is what any person needs.

But yes, you're right. A student at that age is an adult with their own ability to make decisions. They understand the difference between right and wrong. I think that peer pressure and puberty has a lot to do with why they act the way they do. I think that society has an effect on student behaviour (for example, our emo and gangster cliques that sprout the 'I don't care' excuse for everything).

And for these problems I simply can't see a viable solution. This will go on until maybe we hit a full circle. Maybe, one day, it will be 'cool' to be smart again.

We can only hope. I couldn't keep myself from shaking my head when I found my 10-year-old neice listening to Latino and rap music last night, especially since she doesn't even speak Spanish and is only half-Hispanic. Fortunately, I have faith in her ability to think for herself and have a hard time picturing her following the same path as many other people who are interested in these particularly ethnicity-based "street scenes," or whatever you want to call them. Oddly enough, though I understand what you mean by "emo cliques," I am often stereotyped as emo or goth, and I'm one of the few students in some of my classes who cares about their lives at all.

But sadly, I know that my neice and I are quite exceptional in some ways and that we're not necessarily the best models for general behavior. I don't when, or even if, having a brain will come back into fashion, but I can at least try to show the peole I know that you can be "emo/goth" and have good grades at the same time. And, if you're really good, you can be pleasant to teachers and your parents too! wink  

[Heyind]

ninja  

[NinjaDragons]

I Hate School. evil