Valedictorian speaks out against modern schooling

I want to marry this girl. I love intelligent females.

I want to reform the education system one day. You can't do standardized anything with something like almost seven billion people on a planet. Albeit most humans are the same, most are not. There is no one way to teach, and from the school I recently graduated in last decade, most of the teachers do not integrate with other subjects, just their own. So each student has different teachers who don't know the other teachers. Students do work for no money for eight hours, while teachers give the students the work for eight hours, and baby sit.

Parents should also be integrated with the school system, so they get to spend more time with their children which is a very important issue that seems to be ignored. Basically, the community teaches the children themselves. Each community has its own way of teaching their children. Though, with parents being involved, certain aspects of jobs would have to change.

You would have to remodel the entire way of life in America, to do that.

Well i have just finished school in june but i'm in the UK, where things are just as bad if not worse, i have often expressed these views aswell pretty much straight away when i become involved in politics and conspiracy 2 years ago and never cared for exams. The way a saw and still do see it is like a massive memory game (other than English) if you can remember what you have been told to be true and can put it onto paper without fuss than you will go far in this society but if your like me who constantly rebelled against the system because i saw/see how wrong it is then you get left behind by society. And as an outcome of my rebellion i am now left with no social life at all and i lost most of my friends including a couple of real close ones because they were oblivious as to how pointless it all was, an old friend now brags that he is 'smart' because he got a couple of A's and i feel sorry for him to be honest because what's it worth? Nothing to me I'm afraid.

As a 17 year old high school Senior, I'm in the thick of it. It's horrible! There are many people I know who are like zombies, but get 4.0's. Myself, I don't care as much about it and my grade hovers around 3.3. Don't get me wrong, I want to learn, but not like this. This is brainwashing and indoctrination.

As i listened to her prattle on i couldn't help but to think where she got her insight, free thinking and fortitude. At the same time felt sorry for the teachers and wished that her young unseasoned awkward take on the obvious would consider the ones that do there best with what they have been molded to do. She did touch on it.....at which point i smiled and hoped her words did touch all including teachers. But at grad speach...kinda late and disrespectful.

For teachers, institutions and students watch a classic, watch Dead Poets Society. Learn to YAWP

This girl is soooo smart!!! It took her 17 years to learn what I did in 26 and I thought I was soo clever she has it all. I would love her to be my president but the ones most qualified to be president are the ones who think they arent good enough to be president.

I think she's not really speaking out "against" the system but defining the system. There is room for uniqueness and self-growth within the more rigid testing scenarios of the school. Schools offer clubs, sports, debate clubs and so on. Many students take advantage of those - but others stlil complain "school is for nerds" and don't expand into these areas. School is what you make of it.

I was one of those B-grade students in both HS and college. I didn't "take advantage of it" and grew my uniqueness outside of school. I regret it. I had friends in both places but didn't truly socialize, join clubs, play much sports. I found niches and hid within them. I really think I blew it and didn't see the potential learning experiences school really had available to all.

School should be "an awakening" and not "training". I'd love to see school integrate Zen teachings, thought-classes, expressionism, more music (the universal language of God) along with the math and science.

Originally posted by thecinic
Thats why the teachers need to stop the teacher union it's killing the system. They work, KNOW FOR SURE they will get a paycheck no matter how much they suck at teaching then after a few years want tenure... An increase in pay every year guranteed No one else is guranteed a raise. I think it's the unions standing in the way of teachers who care and teachers who just want to get the day over with like the kids they teach... Teachers need to be held accountable and not simply given a raise on a silver platter if they are not doing a good job... It is a fact you got teachers that really care, and teachers that are just gaining the system. Thats why if all teachers were in unions it will be even more destructive to the youth..

edit on 8-11-2010 by thecinic because: (no reason given)

Tenure should be done away with and there is talk of doing just that, but I doubt if anything comes of it. I know a Spanish teacher that thinks it's okay not to teach. If she doesn't feel like teaching, she pops in a Walt Disney movie in Spanish or has the kids cut out a pumpkin. This is a high school Spanish class! There have been so many complaints by students and parents on this woman it's pathetic, but nothing can be done, because she has tenure.

I know there are some very good teachers out there that truly want the students to think critically, but the ones that don't care about their students progress shouldn't be teaching.

I agree with this girl 100%. She seems to be aware of her surroundings and not hypnotized by them like the majority of the world.

Humans have lost their way. Their goals and motivations are mostly ruled by money. Most have no choice. If one wants a comfortable life they must obtain money, or else they will just work every day uncomfortably. To obtain money you are told to get a good education so you can get a good job. Education is no longer about learning, it's about obtaining that piece of paper which says you are educated so you can get a good job. You don't have to learn or be smart to get that piece of paper... you just have to follow orders and blindly repeat what you are told, and pay lots of money, and waste a large amount of your time.

It's a sad world that people are being born into.

Im not surprised. when David Rockefeller founded the national education board he stated " I want a nation of workers, not a nation of thinkers"

Originally posted by casijones

We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education...

...we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.

It makes me feel good to know that there are intelligent kids out there willing to speak out like this.
I thought it was a brilliant speech.
Now how do we get the rest of American youth to wake up like this?
What's everyone else's thoughts?

She said some things that I think a number of conscious souls would like to express about the contemporary, mechanical, faulty "educational" systems.


I'm reminded of the words of a great Gnostic teacher:

"The fundamental education is the science of the consciousness; it is the science that allows us to discover our relationship with human beings, nature, and all things.

"What is the value of studying law and becoming lawyers if we perpetuate fights? What is the value of accumulating much knowledge within our mind if we continue to be confused? What is the value of technical and industrial skills if we use them for the destruction of our fellowmen?

"It is worthless to receive instruction, to attend classes, to study, if in the process of our daily living we are miserably destroying one another.

"Indeed, the true objective of a fundamental education must be to create true men and women, who—because of their psychological integration—are cognizant and intelligent." - Samael Aun Weor

I'm also reminded of the progressive Waldorf Schools, that are based on the writings and lectures of Rudolf Steiner; and also of Manly P. Hall's COLLECTED WRITINGS, Vol. 2, Sages & Seers: Johann Amos Comenius

It seems that Comenius sought to combat one extreme, an extreme that is the noxious influence of the despotic, superstitious, fanatical, Roman Catholic church(the Roman Catholic church mind-state is, overall, very similar to neo-conservative thought); as Comenius also sought to combat another extreme, this other extreme existing as hedonism/libertinism(consumerism) and the influence of gross, vulgar, materialistic, fanatical atheism.

(And notice how materialism and religious-fanaticism are two aspects of Zionism).


Here's a informative review on one of Comenius' books:

Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us


people need to really pay attention to this part in particular. she is on to something there,

essentially what she is saying is most jobs can be automated these days. and she is correct, they can be. the sheer absurdity of the monetary system in place requires technology to be supressed and scarcity to exist. it forces people to become literal slaves to the elite.

automation through technology and abundance would create a new world. a world without money, without shortages, the end of most crimes - prisons would be practically empty, and end to war

I'm not sure which, if any, jobs should be automated; although I have noticed that many sincere, yet mistaken, people assume that technology in itself is bad.

Technology that is created by the mind in service of the Being is beneficial. Technology that is created by the mind in service of the ego is destructive. Unfortunately, the former kind of technology is usually suppressed by the governments and corporations.

Edit: You're right about automation, it's a way to keep us in the system though.

Another thing, I hate the education system. I graduated HS in 07, I did well. I pick up on things easily and retain knowledge pretty easily. I'd sit in class and just listen to the lectures, never took notes, hardly did homework. Just took the tests and did well there. My Senior and Junior year I mostly would do my own thing in class, read or whatever. Even just sit and listen. Don't get me wrong, I had some awesome teachers. But they even stated themselves they have to stay within the confines, can't leave the boundaries and must teach this, and that on this or that day. I resented Notes because alot of teachers would dock points for not taking notes. I despise that, if I need to take notes I'll do it. But most of the time I didn't need to.

Then you have society pushing everyone into higher education. Except prices for that go up every year. What about the ones that can't afford it? Yea they give out alot of help to low income families, but there are alot of hoops to jump through for that. It needs change, the whole system does.

I've read a number of posts complaining about the educational system.

My question to you all, is how do we improve the educational system.

It's one thing to point out the flaws, it's quite another to actually look at ways to improve the status quo.

So what needs to be done?

reply to post by Wildbob77

"Indeed, the true objective of a fundamental education must be to create true men and women, who—because of their psychological integration—are cognizant and intelligent." - Samael Aun Weor

Basically, to inwardly find the elements that are responsible for poor education(said elements exist in all of us to some degree), as to comprehend and eliminate them from within our psychological interior; and to outwardly promote a holistic and integrative culture based on progressive, Revolutionary Psychology and Universal principles. Very similar to Waldorf Schools, but even more profound.

There's much more that could be said about this, however this would be the best place to start. After all, "The exterior is the reflection of the interior". If we change ourselves, then we will see a corresponding change in society. Although this is not to say that we shouldn't speak up when we have opportunities to do so, as: "It is wrong to speak when one should be silent, as well as to be silent when one should speak".

Originally posted by Wildbob77
I've read a number of posts complaining about the educational system.
My question to you all, is how do we improve the educational system.
It's one thing to point out the flaws, it's quite another to actually look at ways to improve the status quo.
So what needs to be done?

My post in this thread gave plenty of suggestions to improve the Educational System in the United States.

1.) Do not educate to the lowest common denominator. "No Child Left Behind" ensures that our smartest and brightest will be denied an education, while ensuring our dumbest and dullest will graduate.

2.) Do not attempt to teach all students as if they are the same. In education One-Size does *NOT* Fit-All. Every child is different and learns differently.

3.) Do not teach what to think but rather how to think. Teaching something that can be learned from a text-book is not teaching! That is nothing more than recitation and if that is considered to be "teaching" then computer software could probably do it better than any teacher could! Education should be about providing the experiential tools necessary for a child to educate themselves throughout life. Education should be teaching *HOW* to think, providing the other "R"s that are too often overlooked in our three "R"s educational system (Reading, (w)Riting, (a)Rithmetic). These other "R"s which are equally as fundamental are Reason, Rhetoric, Research. If you teach these skills to a child there is nothing that they cannot learn on their own.

4.) Stop the "Cram and Purge" mentality that our educational system is based upon. Since funding is dependent upon Standardized Testing and Grades, the emphasis of our Educational system has no longer been about instructing our children and providing them the necessary tools they will need in order to succeed in life, but rather to make it to the next Test, Pass, and Forget. When the Educational System is about "Cram and Purge" all we do is train our children like monkeys to be really good at preparing and passing a test while not learning a single fundamental thing. With "Cram and Purge" we are successfully creating a workforce that can and will be replaced by machines or lower wage workers in impoverished nations.

5.) Teach the method rather than the details. The devil is in the details. Any half-wit can Google the details upon a whim. Dates, People, Places, Tables and Equations are not teaching our children anything that they themselves couldn't already look up. Teach them instead the bigger picture so that children can put the information they come across into it's proper context on their own. Teach them how mathematics works from a Euclidean or Archimedean model rather than starting out with a Descartian model. The numbers and equations in Descartian Mathematics are too abstract for many children to understand when they are lacking the primary fundamentals and logic behind what those numbers and equations represent. Teach children *HOW* various advances in History contributed to the evolution of Civilization rather than the Who, What, Where, and When. Who, What, Where, and When pertains to Journalism, not to learning which should be exclusively about the How.

6.) Encourage life-long learning rather than make education to be a relay race to the finish-line. A properly educated child should never stop learning. The moment we stop learning is the moment we begin to die! For example, in my field I have to read 10 manuals a week (equivalent to university text-books), and every 6 months my knowledge-base has become out-dated and irrelevant. If I don't continue re-educate myself I would be permanently out of a job. Without having acquired the thirst for knowledge and learning that I did at such a young age I would be flipping hamburgers for a living and would not be able to Innovate, contribute to my Industry, to the Work-Force, or able to help keep our Nation competitive in the World Market.

7.) Reward thinking outside of the box. The memorization of Tables, Dates, People and Places never contributed to anything other than in a game of Jeopardy! Being able to think, and to think abstractly in a way never thought before, is the fundamental requirement of Innovation. Necessity may be the Mother of Invention, but without the ability to assess a need and determine a resolution to fulfill that need that has never been conceived of before then Innovation would be unlikely to occur in the first place. Innovation is what once made the US economically strong, and if we would ever like to be economically strong ever again we need our children to be able to Innovate by thinking outside of the box, not by winning a round on Jeopardy!

8.) The student should always surpass the teacher. A teacher should be a mentor that passes their knowledge down to the student who then adds to that knowledge with the knowledge they have gained through their own experience. With each generation Education should continuously exceed the previous generation. That is the very reason we instruct our children in the first place! If the standards for Education are not significantly raised with each generation then Education has stagnated and we begin the backwards slide into irrelevance. Education, as a necessity, must evolve or die!

9.) Tenure is the bane of Education. Does a dinosaur make for a good instructor about things that relevant to the Information Age? No! A dinosaur is only good for teaching us about dinosaurs! Likewise, a bad teacher shouldn't be ensured a job just because of the number of years they have been a teacher. Again, just as Education must evolve or die, so must teachers! Make the field of Education as a career far more competitive. Offer more competitive (and sustainable) salaries and benefits to attract better teachers, but take away the guarantees of position unless they continue to be competitively relevant to the evolution of Education.

10.) Make Education the #1 Priority in the United States. If that means we slip from having the #1 Military in the World to #18, then so be it! Our Military will cease to be #1 anyway after one or two generations of children who are taught with the Worlds #18 in Education. A Nation is not as strong as it's Military Force, rather it's might is as strong as the Minds of it's People. Even the Samurai in medieval Japan understood that the strength of the body is the strength of one's mind! We need to stop being satisfied with being #18 in the World in Education and do whatever it takes, no matter what the cost, to get back to being #1 in Education. Only then will we find certain strength, prosperity, and well-being as a Nation.

There are 10 specific suggestions.

reply to post by fraterormus


You have indeed hit a number of issues that I also find disturbing about education today.

My kids are currently in their late twenties. They received an outstanding eduction in the public school system. Both graduated near of at the top of their class and when on to distinguished college careers.

They attended schools in a University town. It was expected by most parents that their children would have an interest in education and that expectation was also held by many of my children 's peers. In this school district you could be an athlete and a scholar and a musician. (That's quite different then where I received my education).

There was a system in place, starting in junior high that divided the students according to ability. You needed permission from the teacher to take the "higher level" classes. It was disguised pretty well so most parents wouldn't be upset if their child didn't make the cut.

We, as parents, did spend a lot of time with our kids outside the school system helping them to develop a view of the world that would allow them to succeed.

I often find the blanket condemnations of the school system to be exaggerated. No matter what system you put in place, there will always be those children that succeed and those that don't.

reply to post by fraterormus


none of these suggestions will ever happen.

Not as long as we live under a monetary system.

the education programs are in place to keep the masses ignorant and obedient. or as George Carlin put it, "just smart enough to push the button and file the paperwork, but dumb enough to not realize how badly they are getting screwed over"

the oligarchy dont want us thinking, thats not what the education system is about. its simply a vocational trade school. its serfdom 101

www.youtube.com...

I'm still in school and I say the education system sucks. Teacher's can't teach their own ways, they have to go by the curriculum. I feel like they are just preparing us for stupid tests to show the scores of the districts. We can't think freely or do anything. Just sit there and listen. School just isn't the same anymore...

Learning will happen whether children and adolescents are sent to school or not. Learning is a natural process. State sanctioned learning need not be a process of indoctrination based on rote learning of facts and could be a more experiential program. However, reinventing the wheel seems difficult, and many people have a very negative viewpoint of mandatory schooling in general. I don't necessarily blame them, but these same people still want a capitalist, globalized economy. But that is antithetical. Children could easily learn to manipulate and navigate their environment in a country town where agriculture or mechanical skills are required and this could lead to just as full and rich a lifestyle as getting an MBA or PhD in chemistry and getting a job with a multinational corporation. In fact, it seems that our modern society shows that perhaps the former is more beneficial and nurturing than the latter when it comes to education.

However, it is a pipe dream to think that parents in the current society that supplies their jobs are going to move to a largely vacated countryside to create a start-up, self-sustainable homestead for the benefit of themselves and their children. Such a scenario cannot work in a world that requires disciplinary skills for various sectors of creative professions. I think the secret rests in the concept of interdisciplinary education, where rather than putting emphasis on one or few specialty studies, all aspects of learning become engaging in the classroom (and out of it!!!).

It's hard to see the "forest" when you spent 4 years in a BS or BA, 2 in a Masters and another 3 or 4 in a PhD program just to learn about the "tree" and how it relates to itself and other "trees" very much like it. Sometimes answers are to be found outside of one's area of expertise.