Path: csiph.com!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!news.nk.ca!rocksolid2!i2pn2.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: D Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: The joy of actual numbers, was Democracy Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2024 10:34:02 +0100 Organization: i2pn2 (i2pn.org) Message-ID: <9880da7b-5955-9b72-c2a5-3f2ec49618eb@example.net> References: <2ItTO.338744$v8v2.95701@fx18.iad> <1190130485.752353610.782141.peter_flass-yahoo.com@news.eternal-september.org> <38b4c4eb-2ab5-df94-0baa-c2d7fcdda60d@example.net> <7c5edef0-d4ec-a8fc-3f70-8ffa2a2b1df0@example.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Injection-Info: i2pn2.org; logging-data="1037124"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@i2pn2.org"; posting-account="w/4CleFT0XZ6XfSuRJzIySLIA6ECskkHxKUAYDZM66M"; In-Reply-To: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 4.0.0 Xref: csiph.com alt.folklore.computers:228628 comp.os.linux.misc:60608 On Tue, 5 Nov 2024, rbowman wrote: > On Mon, 4 Nov 2024 21:41:30 +0100, D wrote: > >> Today... many are not capable today. But give it a 100 years or two, and >> with the progress of psychology and the school system, I'm sure that >> focus will be to equip people to live meaningful lives, instead of just >> being compliant cogs. > > I had a very brief career as a math and science teacher. The school system > used homogeneous grouping meaning the classes were broken up according to > the perceived potential of the students. A was the college bound, B > possibly would make it to college or a skilled trade, C most likely would > be unskilled labor, and D was for dummies. > > Being the new hire I saw a lot of the D section. They were ineducable. To > put it plainly they didn't give a shit and their parents didn't give a > shit. They were marking time until they turned 16 and could get working > papers. To further clarify, there was one black kid. The rest were run of > the mill white trash. I did have to relieve the black kid of his straight > razor. The white kids knew better than to play with their toys in class. > > The tranches were roughly equal, so that was 25% of the student body. The > C kids might have fared better but this was a mill town and the mills were > leaving. > But surely things have gotten much better since the early 1900s? ;) Jokes aside, yes, todays educational system is a complete mess, and can be very depressing for teachers. I teach at the vocational level, and I try to give them a rough start to filter out the unmotivated ones. Out of the ones who remain, when I was allowed to educate as I wanted, 100% got jobs, and 100% got salaries above their industry average. The school was very excited, yet, angry that 40% quit. They never saw the connection between the two things. But fear not! The government is always there to make a good thing worse. ;) This year the government has changed the rules, so schools will be measured on how many students quit a program and will be punished for it. I think that new system has great potential to ruin a lot of programs for the students, since the schools won't accept teachers failing students since that means lost income for the schools and punishments from the state.